Pentagon may ask Biden to stay in Afghanistan past Aug 31, but won't retake Bagram to speed evacuations

A Department of Defense spokesman poured cold water on the idea of the U.S. military retaking Bagram Airfield.

The U.S. military, according to the Pentagon, has sped up evacuations from the Kabul airport, removing nearly 11,000 people in the past 24 hours — although the Pentagon won't say how many Americans it's evacuated. The military has also used helicopters multiple times to help Americans stranded in Kabul get into the airport, Kirby said.  But Kabul remains highly dangerous with the gates to the airport closing and opening without notice, the Taliban beating Americans trying to make their way to the airport, and at least one Afghan soldier dying in a gunfight outside the airport. Kirby said Monday that the military will continue evacuating as many Americans, U.S. allies and vulnerable Afghans as long as possible — and potentially past the end of the month which Biden previously set as a deadline.  "The goal is to get as many people out as fast as possible," Kirby said. "The focus is on trying to do this as best we can by the end of the month. And as the secretary said, if he needs to have additional conversations with the commander in chief about that timeline he'll do that — but we're just not at that point right now."