U.S Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has defended the evacuation of American diplomats from Afghanistan, rejecting the comparisons with the exit from Vietnam decades ago.
Gatekeepers News reports that Blinken on Sunday, in a series of US media interviews, backed President Joe Biden’s decision to pull U.S troops out of Afghanistan by the end of August, despite criticism that the quick US withdrawal added to the country’s deteriorating security situation.
“Remember, this is not Saigon,” Blinken told CNN, referring to the fall of Saigon in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War.
“We went to Afghanistan 20 years ago with one mission, and that mission was to deal with the folks who attacked us on 9/11 – and we have succeeded in that mission.”
Gatekeepers News reports that a picture that immortalised the US’s defeat in Vietnam, showing evacuees boarding a helicopter on the roof of a building, went viral on social media after Washington said it would deploy about 3,000 U.S soldiers to help embassy staff leave Afghanistan.
Biden, however increased the deployment with authorization of 5,000 soldiers.
Blinken on Sunday confirmed that as part of that ongoing effort, U.S personnel were being moved from the embassy compound in Kabul to a facility at the airport.
Gatekeepers News had reported that the diplomats were being carried by helicopter to the airport, where U.S troops were providing security.
“It’s why the president sent in a number of forces to make sure that, as we continue to draw down our diplomatic presence, we do it in a safe and orderly fashion and at the same time maintain a core diplomatic presence in Kabul,” Blinken said during an interview with ABC News.
U.S official on Sunday disclosed that Pentagon authorised another 1,000 US troops to help with the evacuations, making the total number of troops 6,000.
Blinken also warned the Taliban of a “swift and decisive response” should the group interfere with U.S personnel or the withdrawal.
