They were shocked by Austin's response and it was a foreshadowing of what many members, Republicans and Democrats, see now as a failure of the Biden administration in adequately preparing for the avalanche visa applications and the urgent need to evacuate Afghans from Afghanistan as the Taliban continue to make territorial gains.My view is that evacuations should have begun immediately after we announced our withdrawal. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), an ex-Army Ranger who served as an Afghan Ranger, stated that the evacuation was too late. But it did start. It's progressing, which I applaud and the fact that they are doing it now aggressively.Republicans were harshly critical of Biden's decision to withdraw all U.S. troops unconditionally and to end nearly 20 years of war. However, lawmakers from both sides agreed that it was necessary to protect Afghans, who served as interpreters and translators for American forces.Biden and his national security staff have been accused of abandoning the lives of those who risked everything to support the U.S. military. There are growing concerns that those Afghans left behind after the last combat troops leave will be tortured, murdered, or both.This was the main focus of the legislators who gathered in a secure room at the Capitol to ask Biden's top deputies about the plans for Afghanistan and intelligence assessments regarding the rapidly deteriorating ground situation.According to people present, another lawmaker asked during briefing if it would have been prudent to have these plans in effect before the withdrawal announcement.Biden directed evacuation flights to be launched at the end this month for approximately 700 applicants and their families, which could mean as many as 3,500 people. Tracey Jacobson was the head of a new taskforce focused on relocation efforts. She spoke to the group's State Department headquarters this week.From Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, the first group of Afghans arrived in Washington at Dulles Airport on Friday morning. They were then bussed to Fort Lee (Army base in Virginia) where they will spend upto a week finishing their application process.Many thousands of people remain in Afghanistan, even in the areas that the Taliban controls. Legislators claim that the State Department failed to establish a taskforce until July 19, despite growing public pressure and military gains made by the Taliban.They spent so much time discussing which direction they wanted on Afghanistan writ large, according to Rep. Mike Gallagher (R.Wis.), who was part of the congressional push for expanded access to special visas. They didn't expect some of the unintended effects or how the details (visas) would play out when they made the quick surrender and withdrawal decision.John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, defended Austin's participation in the effort. He stated that the secretary had been involved in this discussion since the beginning. Austin, who was once the head of U.S. Central Command believes in our responsibility to these brave men, women, and their families. He is also committed to finding suitable locations to help them complete their visa process.The briefing between Austin and the lawmakers was very early in the process. There was still much to be figured out, a defense official stated.All government officials are working overtime to avoid a potentially disastrous outcome. Senator Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D.N.J.), has been regularly briefed on the matter and stated that the Biden administration is now on a full surge in order to make up lost time. There are still doubts about whether the U.S. government will be able to complete the task.There is no plan that will cover thousands of applicantsWhile the Biden administration has expedited some applicants to the final stages of the process, thousands remain waiting for answers.Afghans seek refuge in the U.S. via the State Departments Special Immigration Visa program. This visa program was created by Congress in 2009 to help Afghan translators, interpreters and other nationals who have contributed to the American war effort. The program has faced significant delays over the years and is currently home to approximately 20,000 applicants at any given stage.Afghans waited for approval of their applications in nine months despite a congressional mandate. This delay was exacerbated by the Trump administration.Biden's Sept. 11 deadline to withdraw from Afghanistan has made the threat more serious. According to intelligence assessments, the Taliban have made vast territorial gains and are now threatening to take over the country in a matter of months. The militants have threatened to kill and capture their families as a retaliation.Already, Senate Intelligence Committee leaders have stated that the current backlog is not compatible with the pace of withdrawal or the rapid deterioration of security in Afghanistan.Gallagher said that this whole situation is a disaster and it won't get better anytime soon.I'm not timing it according to military withdrawalThe administration still praised the arrival of the first flight from Kabul to the U.S. on Friday morning. Just over 200 passengers were transferred onto buses to Fort Lee to complete their application. Russ Travers (Bidens deputy homeland security advisor) previewed the process for reporters on Thursday.The families of the applicants will remain at Fort Lee to undergo final medical and administrative checks before being allowed to move to the U.S. Travers stated that the rest of 700 applicants and their families, which now totals around 2,500, will be moved to the U.S. in the coming weeks. They will join the 70,000 Afghans who have settled in the U.S. since 2008 through the special visa program.Another 4,000 applicants, and their families, were also approved by the U.S. chiefs of mission but did not complete security background checks. The Biden administration is working to secure safe passage to Kabul from other countries.Jacobson wouldn't say where these Afghans would go, but POLITICO reported POLITICO that the administration was in final talks to move the individuals to U.S. military bases there.Jacobson stated that the task force's goal is to start relocation flights for the second tranche of applicants in August. She estimates that this group could include as many as 20,000 people, not including their families.According to the State Department, roughly 50 percent of applicants (or approximately 10,000 people) were still in the initial stages of the process. They will need to provide additional information to enable the U.S. government to begin processing their case. About 30 percent of the remaining applications are still waiting approval from the chief mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.The task force doesn't have a plan in place to expedite processing of the thousands of applicants still in the pipeline, despite troop withdrawal being essentially complete.Jacobson stated that I am not timing it according to the military's withdrawal. Because we have just begun this pipeline, it is difficult to predict the future so I cannot say what it will look like in two months.Washington is urging Americans to not ignore the withdrawal timeline. The military apparatus is crucial to removing as many Afghans as possible from Afghanistan. The U.S. can still conduct airstrikes against the Taliban and maintain a combat presence in Afghanistan up to Aug. 31. The U.S. military's Afghanistan operation hub, Bagram, has been closing for 20 years. Officials now have to coordinate flights from Kabul's main airport.This lag, combined with the military's acceleration of their withdrawal, is when we started to get worried, said Rep. Michael Waltz (R. Fla.), a former Army Green Beret who was deployed in Afghanistan and worked alongside Afghan interpreters. You have given them a death sentence when those wheels come down.Waltz said that we now have no military infrastructure, helicopters, bases or anything. I believe we are still in a very poor place.You are being taken off guardOfficials at the Pentagon and State Department were well aware of the dangers faced by applicants as the Taliban gained ground in the country. However, officials claim that the Biden administration was surprised by the rapid decline in security in Afghanistan after the announcement by the president to withdraw.One senior defense official said that the State Department is struggling to cope with the burden of the task. Also, I don't think anyone expected that Afghanistan would be so disastrous so quickly.Afghans living outside Kabul find it more dangerous to travel to Kabul as Taliban militants expand their reach throughout the country. To apply for a visa, applicants must travel to Kabul and submit documents to prove employment. Those who are being evacuated have to get to Kabul in order to board the flights. According to a senior defense official, intelligence has indicated that Kabul could be overthrown by the Taliban within six months.We were out of time. Crow stated that people are now dying. The situation is worsening. With each passing day, it becomes more difficult to reach Kabul.Since April's announcement of the withdrawal deadline, the military has been closely monitoring the deteriorating security situation and associated humanitarian threat to special visa applicants and thousands more Afghans.Garry Reid, Defense Departments' lead on the relocation effort, stated that the State Department demanded documents from the Pentagon starting in May to verify applicants employment history. This was a critical step in the application process.Reid explained that the idea was to speed up the processing of visas stuck in the application process due to difficulty validating applicants' claims that they met the two year employment requirement. He said that DoD has submitted the corroborating information for approximately 6,000 to 7,000 applicants. They are currently working on more.Officials at the time said that the State Department had increased staff at Washington's embassy and Kabul to speed up the processing of administrative applications.Jacobson stated that while critics claim the administration took too much time to act, she was proud of the work done by the task force to coordinate between the various agencies, primarily State and the Pentagon, to reach a battle rhythm.It has happened several times. Jacobson stated that this is a powerful force multiplier.She declined to answer questions about whether the task force should be established sooner.We were happy to be there at the center of it all. As for what should've been, could have happened before, I wasnt there so I can't comment, she said.Kelli Ann Burriesci, the Director of the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans, stated in an interview that many agencies had been working on this issue since before the taskforce was established. However, she acknowledged that it is a bit more challenging in a virtual environment.Burriesci said that this is the most important thing I have worked on in my time at DHS from 2007 to 2007, and possibly my entire career.In the meantime Congress has tried to correct the Biden administration's mistakes and speed up applications.The Senate and the House passed Thursday a bill which eliminates certain steps in the vetting process and raises the admission cap. It also allocates $600 million more for the resettlement of Afghans in the U.S.Some legislators stated that although the legislative effort is necessary, it was to be expected that there would be push-and-pull between legislative and executive branches.These risks were not something the president seemed to be aware of, according to me. We had to push harder to ensure that there was swift action, stated Rep. Dean Phillips (D.Minn.). There is no daylight between the administration and Democrats and likely most Republicans.Pentagon as a support roleThe Pentagon was criticized early in the process for not doing more for applicants, many of whom have close ties to American troops who fought in conflict. They also failed to immediately create an evacuation plan.Officials said that the Pentagon's role was limited to supporting the State Department program. Reid stated that the Pentagon created a crisis group in July to assist Jacobsons parallel effort at State Department. It launched about a week later.The group spent the last few weeks searching for suitable relocation sites and preparing them to receive applicants. They also conducted a walk-through at Fort Lee with Jacobson last week.He said that we couldn't have done that in April or May unless the State Department had provided that level of detail.Reid stated that in addition to the Afghans who arrived at Fort Lee, the State Department requested that the Pentagon offer options for the relocation of another 20,000 applicants and their families at U.S. facilities in the U.S., as well as other countries.Although the Fort Lee applicants are expected to be there for a few days only, Reid stated that the department plans for future groups of people to remain at U.S. bases abroad for a longer period, potentially up to nine to twelve months. The construction of temporary housing facilities could be necessary at some of the relocation sites, much like the tent cities that were built for large numbers U.S. troops in transit to conflict zones.Reid stated that at least two locations will be required to house all 20,000 people.It will take a lot of effort to evacuate the thousands of Afghans who are eligible for the visa program. However, Reid and his top officials and allies showed confidence.Menendez stated that the most important thing is to reach your goal.
