Kabul evacuation was hindered by pleas from Jill Biden and the Pope
February 11, 2022, 4:50 pm

Kabul evacuation was hindered by pleas from Jill Biden and the Pope

the Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The Arab News reported, US operation’s commander said, the American-led evacuation of NATO allies from Afghanistan was hindered by appeals from First Lady Jill Biden and the Pope.

It said that rear Admiral Peter Vasely said calls, emails and texts — which also flooded in from veterans and the media — were a “distraction” that “created competition for already stressed resources.”

He said that social media further exacerbated some difficulties — including campaigns for the military to save certain dogs.

Vasely said that the priority was to evacuate American citizens first, followed by permanent residents and then Afghans who had assisted the US throughout 20 years of occupation and counter-terror operations.

“But you had everyone from the White House down with a new flavor of the day for prioritization,” he told army investigators in a declassified report obtained by The Washington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Military troops in Afghanistan/Shutterstock

Asked by the army’s lead investigator whether it was true that the Pope and the first lady requested help on behalf of specific people, Vasely said: “That’s accurate. I was being contacted by representatives from the Holy See to assist the Italian military contingent.

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“I cannot stress enough how these high-profile requests ate up bandwidth.”

So many appeals flooded in during the 17-day evacuation that Vasely had to divert personnel into a “co-ordination cell” to process the pleas.

Vasely was speaking in a sworn testimony for the US army investigation of a suicide bombing that killed an estimated 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US service members outside Kabul’s international airport on Aug. 26.

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The White House said information was sent to the airport that might help to identify those in need of assistance, with operational control left to Vasely.

An official said: “That was people in good faith trying to facilitate the evacuation of people they were concerned about."

Source: arabnews

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.