Học Để Thi

  Secretary of State  Antony Blinken on Wednesday called on the Taliban to stop blocking charter flights containing Americans from departing  Afghanistan . The State Department has come under fire for not doing more to pressure the Taliban to allow planes to leave Afghanistan amid reports several planes carrying Americans have been stuck at Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport in Kabul. Blinken said during a press conference Wednesday at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany that the U.S. government has "made clear" to the Taliban that "these charters need to be able to depart." "Those flights need to be able to leave, and the United States government, State Department – we are doing everything we can to help make that happen," he said. "Those flights need to move. I pointed out some of the complications that are there, but those flights need to move." Blinken’s comments came after he confirmed Tuesday that the State Department had identified a "...

  Secretary of State   Antony Blinken was criticized on Monday for not taking questions from reporters following his speech commemorating the military withdrawal from   Afghanistan .  During his address, Blinken touted the ending of troop presence in Afghanistan following 20 years of war. He expressed optimism in pursuing a diplomatic path with the Taliban as the terror group has taken control of the country. The secretary of state did acknowledge, however, that a "small number of Americans- under 200" are still in Afghanistan and want to leave.  At the conclusion of his speech, several reporters attempted to shout their questions at Blinken, who ignored them as he walked away from the podium.  My goodness I don’t think I’ve ever transcribed a more robotic speech and delivery in my life. Just watch it if you don’t believe me. But anyway, to Blinken’s point about helping Americans leave, how exactly will he do that? The Taliban are in control of the whole...

  Secretary of State  Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he believes less than 1,000 American citizens are still in  Afghanistan  and attempting to leave. Blinken said that there were 6,000 Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan on August 14 and 4,500 of them have been evacuated within the last 10 days. He added that 500 of the remaining number have been instructed on how to leave within the last 24 hours. That leaves roughly 1,000 Americans left in the country, but Blinken said the actual number is lower for a variety of reasons, including situations where Americans want to stay or have already left and not notified the government.  "From the list of approximately 1,000, we believe that the number of Americans actively seeking assistance to leave Afghanistan is lower, and likely significantly lower," Blinken explained. According to Blinken, 82,300 people have been flown out of Kabul since August 14. "It's hard to overstate the complexity and the danger of...