Few Americans on flight Taliban allowed to leave

 Salena Zito:

The good news that the Taliban let 113 foreigners leave Kabul on Thursday is overshadowed by the knowledge that few of them were Americans. An untold number of U.S. citizens remain, most of whom live in fear.

Retired Lt. Col. Jonathon Myers, along with fellow retired Marines Katy Garroway and Rico Reyes, said they will not stop their efforts to right this wrong until no man, woman, or child is left behind.

Myers said the Blue Passport flight Thursday could have taken 350 Americans out of Kabul, but “they only took 113 people, and only a handful of them were Americans. My Americans remain in hiding.”

The Thursday flight out of Kabul was the first commercial flight under Taliban rule. It carried 113 foreigners, including some U.S. citizens , according to Reuters.

Since the Biden administration evacuation of the U.S. military from Afghanistan ended on Aug. 30, a number of nonprofit organizations and private veteran groups have tried to coordinate getting U.S. citizens and thousands of Afghans who worked side by side with the U.S. military during the 20-year war out of the Taliban-controlled country.

“It was a massive logistical effort to locate the potential evacuees, communicate with them, guide them through dangerous situations, and get them transported to the location then kept safe,” he said.

Myers, Garroway, and Reyes began their efforts to make sure as many Americans, SIV’s, and green card holders got out long before the Aug. 31 deadline imposed by the Biden administration to evacuate all military personal. In the final days, Myers said, the commanders in the country turned away many of the people who presented themselves at the Kabul Airport.

Since then, Myers said he, Garroway, and Reyes have been working with other nonprofit groups and deep-pocketed veterans groups to find and remove those left behind. The biggest obstacle to their exit, said Myers, has been the U.S. government.

“My team managed to get CENTCOM clearance for at least two of the planes," he said. "But the State Department wouldn’t allow them to fly.”

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It is not clear why the State Department is so unhelpful in removing Americans left behind.  It is possible they are reluctant to anger the Taliban at this point. What is clear is that US civilians not associated with the government are doing the most to get our people back in this country.