Family of US hostage in Afghanistan 'furious' at Biden for abandoning him: 'Statements are not enough'
The family of U.S. Navy veteran and aid worker Mark Frerichs, who is currently being held hostage in Afghanistan by the Taliban, is reportedly "furious" at the Biden administration over its alleged neglect and inaction in bringing him home.
What are the details?
In an interview with the New Yorker published Friday, Frerichs’ sister, Charlene Cakora, lashed out at President Joe Biden and his senior officials, claiming their promises to help proved to be nothing more than lip service when they left her brother behind during the administration's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.
"We are furious with the Biden administration," Cakora told the magazine. "The Taliban has been trying to trade my brother for someone in U.S. custody for over a year, and the White House has never given them a reply. Sending U.S. officials to Kabul as they did today did nothing to move the ball forward on Mark’s safe return."
Later, in a statement directed squarely at the White House, Cakora said: “President Biden, statements are not enough. You have had a way to bring Mark home since you took office. Now we need you to act. Please don’t leave my brother behind."
What's the background?
Frerichs, 59, of Illinois, was reportedly abducted by Taliban forces in February 2020 after spending a decade in the war-torn country as a civil engineer working on development projects. The U.S. government believes he is being held in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region by the Haqqani network, a militant terrorist organization in the country whose members have recently risen to positions of political power.
For months, his survival was in question. However, a recently released video obtained by the New Yorker appeared to show Frerichs alive and physically stable. In the video, allegedly recorded on November 28, 2021, he seemed to read from a script requesting the Taliban to "please, release me ... so that I may be reunited with my family."
Before the United States' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Frerichs was believed to be the last remaining American hostage in Afghanistan. Though during the withdrawal numerous reports indicated that hundreds, if not more, may have been added to that number.
Earlier this year, Biden issued a statement specifically mentioning Frerichs' name, calling on the Taliban to release him if they desired "any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy." But so far there hasn't been any movement on the matter.
What else?
Progress in bringing other Americans home is slowly being made, however. Just a few days ago, the U.S. secured the release of two other Americans: Safi Raouf, a 27-year-old Navy reservist and aid worker, and his brother, Anees Khalil.
Cakora said she is overjoyed for the former hostages and their families but couldn't help wanting the same for her brother, who she noted had been in captivity for longer.
She expressed frustration with both the Trump administration and now the Biden administration, claiming each has put her family on the back burner, adding that Biden officials have frequently assured her that they are doing all they can, yet without yielding any results.
The grieving sister went on to say that administration officials have repeatedly told her they would speak with her in person, but such a meeting has yet to take place.
Anything else?
Cakora has claimed that the Taliban have remained consistent in their demand: In exchange for Frerichs' release, they want convicted Afghan druglord Hajji Bashar Noorzai released from U.S. federal prison, where he has been for the last 17 years.
In recent months, Illinois Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin have joined Cakora's calls for the exchange to take place.
In response to the calls, an anonymous administration official told the New Yorker, "Not everything we do is discussed in public, but we will work relentlessly to bring all Americans home, where they belong, and reunite them with their families."
Here's more on the story:
Navy veteran Mark Frerichs still missing in Afghanistan as U.S. troops prepare for final withdraw… www.youtube.com
ISIS-K in Afghanistan could be capable of launching terror attack against US in just 6 months, defense official says
ISIS-K terrorists in Afghanistan could have the capability to conduct external attacks on other countries — including the United States — in as little as six to 12 months, a Pentagon official told members of Congress this week.
What are the details?
While testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl warned that the terrorist group has every intention of conducting such attacks but currently lacks the capability. The same is reportedly true of al Qaeda.
But Kahl said that could be changing in relatively short order, according to the Military Times.
"We could see ISIS-K generate that capability somewhere between 6 to 12 months, according to current assessments by the intelligence community. For al Qaida, it would take a year or two to reconstitute that capability," Kahl said during the testimony.
"We have to remain vigilant against that possibility," he added.
CBS News reported that the timeline greatly differs from the one offered by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley in September. At the time, Milley said that ISIS-K or al Qaeda would need six to 36 months to rebuild — and his timeline referred to only reconstitution, not the time it would take to generate capabilities to attack the U.S.
What else?
ISIS-K is the terrorist group responsible for killing 13 U.S. service members in a bombing outsid e the Kabul airport in Afghanistan in August.
In October, reports surfaced that the terrorist who carried out the attack was one of thousands of prisoners freed from Bagram Air Base in early August when the Taliban seized control of the facility.
The news only further increased criticism against the Biden administration over its bungled withdrawal process from the country, which resulted in tens of thousands of U.S. citizens and Afghan nationals scrambling to exit the country as the Taliban swept through. Many were left stranded.
Anything else?
Testifying alongside Kahl, Lt. Gen. James J. Mingus, joint staff director for operations, was careful to note that the short timeline is only if the U.S. and allies don't intervene.
Kahl, too, seemed to walk back some of the urgency of his report even while warning that "the terrorist threat continues" in the region. He noted that intelligence officials report that the risk to the American homeland "is at its lowest point since Sept. 11, 2001."
Conservative lawmakers reportedly bristled at the comment.
"It doesn't sound like a low risk when you have just told us that the possibility of an attack from ISIS-K on our homeland could come six to 12 months from now," Republican Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa) said.
Rescue UPDATE: Stranded Afghan interpreter who once helped rescue Biden has finally escaped — but not with Biden's help
An Afghan interpreter who helped save then-Sen. Joe Biden's life in 2008 was among those stranded in Afghanistan after Biden's troop withdrawal. He has now escaped the country with his family, but not with President Biden's help.
Thanks to private organizations, including The Nazarene Fund, the interpreter and his family have now been rescued.
Watch the video clip below to hear Glenn Beck share the details:
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Biden admin blocked charter plane from Kabul carrying more than 100 Americans and green-card holders from landing anywhere in the US: report
The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday denied U.S. landing rights to a charter plane carrying more than 100 American citizens and legal permanent residents attempting to flee Afghanistan, flight organizers told Reuters.
What are the details?
Bryan Stern, one of the organizers and a founder of the nonprofit group Project Dynamo, reportedly spoke with the news agency from the tarmac at Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates, where his chartered plane had been grounded for 14 hours.
Passengers had arrived on a flight from Kabul, Afghanistan. Once there, Stern said he planned to transfer them to a chartered Ethiopian Airlines plane for a flight to the U.S. that DHS Customs and Border Protection had cleared to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
But according to Stern, the CBP then changed the clearance to Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., only to then deny the plane landing rights anywhere in the U.S.
"They will not allow a charter on an international flight into a U.S. port of entry," Stern said.
"I have a big, beautiful, giant, humongous Boeing 787 that I can see parked in front of us," he added. "I have crew. I have food."
The plane, chartered from private Afghan airline Kam Air, was reportedly carrying 117 people — including 28 U.S. citizens, 83 green card holders, and six Afghan nationals with U.S. Special Immigration Visas. At least 59 of the passengers were children.
What else?
The DHS did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. But an anonymous administration official vaguely told the news agency that the U.S. typically takes time to verify manifests before clearing chartered flights to land in the country.
The administration officially completed its evacuation operation late last month but, in doing so, left behind a largely unknown number of American citizens and Afghan friendlies in the now Taliban-controlled country. President Biden has said repatriating those who wish to leave Afghanistan remains a top priority, but several ad hoc groups have argued their actions show otherwise.
Stern's group is reportedly one of several volunteer groups consisting of U.S. military veterans, former U.S. officials, and other activists that organized to aid evacuation efforts amid the Biden administration's bungled military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
These volunteer groups have assisted Americans stranded in the country in getting to the Kabul airport for evacuation and have also organized private chartered flights out of the country. Meanwhile, many activists have complained that the Biden administration — rather than facilitating their goodwill efforts — has routinely stood in their way.
Earlier this month, the administration stopped a plane full of American citizens and Afghan nationals chartered by Glenn Beck's charity from departing Kabul, even handing the manifest over to the Taliban.
Lawmakers from both parties 'angrily stormed out' of classified Afghanistan briefing after Biden admin refused to answer 'basic' questions: report
Multiple lawmakers from both parties "angrily stormed out" of a classified briefing on Afghanistan this week after Biden administration officials failed to answer simple questions about its ongoing evacuation efforts, CNN reported.
Citing three anonymous sources, the network said that both Republican and Democratic members of Congress "grew frustrated" after officials from the State Department, Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, and Office of the Director of National Security "failed to answer their basic questions."
The walkout reportedly occurred during a Wednesday morning briefing for members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Though CNN did not specify the exact questioning, the report seemed to note the frustration revolved around the administration's failure to offer precise information regarding the number of American citizens who still remain in Afghanistan following the U.S. military's official withdrawal last month.
A day after the last U.S. plane departed Afghanistan on Aug. 30, President Biden said in a speech to the American public that "about 100 to 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan with some intention to leave."
Since then, the administration has continued to say that roughly 100 Americans still remain in the now Taliban-controlled country.
But some lawmakers said "they do not understand that accounting, given the department has said that they evacuated more than 75 Americans from Afghanistan through evacuation efforts in the last few weeks," CNN reported.
In any case, the administration has apparently been vague and imprecise with its information both in public addresses and in private meetings with lawmakers.
Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, confirmed to CNN's Jake Tapper on Wednesday that "everybody walked out" of the intelligence briefing earlier that day.
He added that either the administration is "not being transparent" or officials don't "know the answer to that question" regarding the number of Americans still stranded.
"The fact is, I believe there's still hundreds of Americans still left behind enemy lines. The majority of the interpreters that you and I talked about for so long did not get out," McCaul said. "And now we're getting reports of executions, beheadings of their families and themselves, horrific stories."
"I don't think they know all the answers, quite honestly," he declared of the administration.
Republican Rep. Michael McCaul discusses the FBI director stating that the agency is concerned that terrorist netwo… https://t.co/bkkgJPR0HM
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In response to a request for comment, a State Department spokesperson told CNN that "as a general matter, we do not comment on communications with Congress, especially those conducted in a classified setting."
Military admits Biden admin’s 'righteous strike' in Afghanistan killed 10 civilians — including 7 children, aid worker — zero ISIS-K terrorists
The Biden administration's Aug. 29 retaliatory drone strike on supposed ISIS-K terrorists in Afghanistan failed to kill any terrorists but resulted in the deaths of 10 civilians — including an aid worker and 7 children — a U.S. military investigation has determined.
Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of the U.S. Central Command, made the announcement Friday afternoon in a Pentagon news conference, saying, "I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike."
"Moreover," he continued, "It is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS Khorasan or were a direct threat to U.S. forces."
"This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our forces and the evacuees at the airport, but it was a mistake, and I offer my sincere apology," McKenzie added.
#BREAKING: "It was a mistake" 10 civilians, 7 children KILLED in US drone strike www.youtube.com
The drone strike came on the heels of an ISIS-K terror attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 100 Afghan civilians while injuring hundreds more.
Following that attack, President Joe Biden vowed that the U.S. would retaliate, declaring in a speech from the White House, "To those who carried out this attack ... know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay."
And so the U.S. military did retaliate on Aug. 29 by striking a supposed ISIS-K planner believed to be transporting explosives in the trunk of his Toyota sedan.
"Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties," said U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban, USN, in a statement. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, later touted the revenge attack as a "righteous strike."
But in the days following, the success of the strike was called into question, namely by the New York Times. The paper, through an investigation of its own, concluded that the attack did not terminate an ISIS-K terrorist but actually killed an innocent man who worked for a U.S. aid group along with his family.
On Friday, the Times saw its reporting confirmed by the U.S. military.
"The explosives the military claimed were loaded in the trunk of a white Toyota sedan struck by the drone's Hellfire missile were most likely water bottles, and a secondary explosion in the courtyard in a densely populated Kabul neighborhood where that attack took place was probably a propane or gas tank, [McKenzie] said," the paper reported. "In short, the car posed no threat at all, investigators concluded."
Biden admin stopped planes chartered by Glenn Beck charity from taking off, handed manifest over to Taliban
The U.S. State Department is responsible for grounding and deboarding several planes holding American citizens and Afghan nationals at the Mazar-i-Sharif airport, BlazeTV host Glenn Beck reported on-air during his radio show Tuesday.
What are the details?
The planes — which held at least 100 American citizens and 1,000 Afghan nationals — were chartered by Mercury One and The Nazarene Fund, a charity founded by Beck aimed at facilitating evacuations from Afghanistan amid the U.S. military's withdrawal and the Taliban's takeover of the country.
Over the weekend, news broke that multiple planes had been prevented from taking off after the Taliban refused to grant permission for the departure. But according to Beck, it wasn't the Taliban that initially stopped the planes from exiting the country.
Rather, it was the State Department that refused to grant landing clearance to the planes, preventing them from departing. The department allegedly called off the flights at the last minute, declining to approve the manifest. He added that U.S. officials went on to hand over the manifest to the Taliban.
"They were on the plane, they were on the tarmac, they were [in] the seats ... [and] ready to go" before State Department officials intervened and deboarded the plane, Beck explained Tuesday morning on his radio show. "They were told to go back into the airport and hand everything in to the Taliban.
"They were dismissed from the airport while the State Department works this out with the Taliban," he continued, noting that many of the passengers are now waiting things out in safe houses, "but not all."
"This was like the State Department sending up flares, saying [to the Taliban], 'Hey, look over here,'" he added later.
The radio personality insisted that his team is working tirelessly to complete its mission despite the recent setback.
"We had all of it," he said on the radio. "We'll have to go back and get the people now for those planes. But as soon as we get the green light, those people will be able to go back on to those planes. And if there's one missing, I swear to you ... We have also eight to 10 other planes that are ready to fly out if the State Department will just let us be."
TheBlaze reached out to the State Department with regard to the allegations. In response, a department representative pointed to remarks made Tuesday by Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a press conference in Doha, Qatar.
"We're working around the clock with NGOs, with members of Congress and advocacy groups, providing any and all information and doing all we can to clear any roadblocks that they've identified to make sure that charter flights carrying Americans or others to whom we have a special responsibility can depart Afghanistan safely," Blinken insisted at the conference.
"We've also been engaged with the Taliban on this topic, including in recent hours," he added. "They've said that they will let people with travel documents freely depart. We will hold them to that."
What else?
Beck noted that several members of Congress — including Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) — were directly involved in the evacuation efforts and were furiously urging the State Department not to block the flights.
Cruz confirmed to TheBlaze on Tuesday that his office has been coordinating with The Nazarene Fund and other NGOs on evacuations and that the Biden administration has been obstructing efforts.
"I'm proud of that critically important work, but Biden-Harris officials can't even get out of their own way. Now their incompetence has created the entirely predictable risk of a hostage crisis," the senator said.
In response to inquiries about the situation, the State Department has effectively thrown up its hands and conceded that there's not much it can do.
"We do not have personnel on the ground, we do not have air assets in the country, we do not control the airspace — whether over Afghanistan or elsewhere in the region," a State Department spokesman told TheBlaze on Monday.
But Beck took issue with that claim, as well, telling TheBlaze that with its statement, the department is "knowingly misleading the American people."
He said that while the State Department doesn't control the airspace anymore, it does have control over whether commercial planes take off and land in approved locations.
TheBlaze reached out to Mercury One regarding Beck's recent comments and the organization responded, "Although Glenn Beck is a political commentator, Mercury One and The Nazarene Fund are not political organizations and sometimes the things Glenn says on the radio do not represent the charities."
As Taliban holds Americans 'hostage,' Biden admin says there's little it can do: 'We do not control the airspace'
Biden administration officials are reportedly at a loss for what to do in response to the current "hostage" situation in Afghanistan, telling reporters they "do not control the airspace" as several planes holding Americans have been prevented by the Taliban from leaving the country.
What's the background?
News surfaced on Sunday that as many as six planes holding American citizens have been stranded at the Mazar-i-Sharif international airport for days as Taliban leaders seek to extract concessions from the U.S. government before allowing them to leave.
In a document sent to members of Congress over the weekend, the State Department said the flights have been cleared to depart for Doha, Qatar, and will do so "if and when the Taliban agrees to takeoff."
"The Taliban is basically holding them hostage to get more out of the Americans," a congressional source told CBS News.
It's the latest blunder in the administration's bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan late last month, which concluded with hundreds of Americans and thousands of Afghan nationals still stranded in the Taliban-controlled country.
Having ended its military mission, the U.S. now reportedly lacks the military force or diplomatic personnel to ensure that those stranded Americans can complete their chartered passage out of the country.
What is the administration saying?
In response to questioning from TheBlaze on Monday, the State Department effectively threw its hands in the air and conceded there's not much it can do at this point.
"We understand the concern that many people are feeling as they try to facilitate further charter and other passage out of Afghanistan. However, we do not have personnel on the ground, we do not have air assets in the country, we do not control the airspace — whether over Afghanistan or elsewhere in the region," a State Department spokesman said.
The spokesman added that the department also does not have a "reliable means" to verify the identity of the passengers.
"Given these constraints, we also do not have a reliable means to confirm the basic details of charter flights, including who may be organizing them, the number of U.S. citizens and other priority groups on-board, the accuracy of the rest of the manifest, and where they plan to land, among many other issues," the spokesman said.
Despite all of this, the spokesman noted the State Department will continue to "hold the Taliban to its pledge to let people freely depart Afghanistan."
What else?
The administration's apparent inaction contradicts the message it relayed to the American people following the conclusion of its incomplete evacuation in late August.
At the time, Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie acknowledged, "We did not get out everybody we wanted to get out," but insisted that "our Department of State is going to work very hard to allow any American citizens that are left" to obtain passage out of the country.
Others in the administration likewise promised that the U.S. would work tirelessly to get the remaining Americans safely home.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby, while admitting he did not "foresee a military role" in evacuating the remaining Americans, stressed that the administration would "use other tools available to us as a government to help the safe passage of Americans get out of that country."
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