Uncertainty lingers for Americans trying to leave Afghanistan after U.S. withdrawal
CBSN
No American citizens made it out on the last five flights out of Kabul, General Frank McKenzie said Monday, noting that "although we continued our outreach...none of them made it to the airport" in the final hours of the U.S. presence in Kabul.
The administration doesn't know exactly how many Americans remain. "We believe there are still a small number of Americans, under 200 and likely closer to 100, who remain in Afghanistan and want to leave. We're trying to determine exactly how many," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday. U.S. military forces oversaw the evacuation of about 6,000 Americans in recent weeks, and the Biden administration insists the U.S. is committed to Americans who still want to leave Afghanistan.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.