Biden Says U.S. Will Respond to Kabul Attacks; ‘We Will Hunt You Down’
Deadly blasts Thursday killed U.S. service members, Afghans
WASHINGTON—President Biden said the U.S. would seek retribution for the attacks Thursday in Afghanistan that killed at least 13 American service members and dozens of Afghans and promised to continue evacuation efforts.
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Mr. Biden said during remarks Thursday evening at the White House as an already fraught humanitarian and political crisis worsened.
Mr. Biden faced calls from some lawmakers to extend the mission in Afghanistan, but the president planned to stick with his Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline, according to advisers.
The president said he had instructed his military commanders to develop response plans to the attack, including initiatives to strike assets, leadership and facilities of ISIS-K, the Afghan affiliate of Islamic State, to which the Pentagon attributed Thursday’s deadly explosions.
The U.S. evacuation effort will move forward, Mr. Biden said, though he called the situation on the ground volatile. He said the effort wouldn’t cease, even after troops are withdrawn, until any American who wants to get out was able to. He also said the U.S. would work to extract Afghan allies, but he noted the difficulty of guaranteeing that they all could be evacuated.
The attacks prompted an outpouring of criticism, mostly from Republican lawmakers. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) should call the House back into session for a briefing by the administration and a vote on legislation to prevent the troop withdrawal until every American is out of Afghanistan.
“Mr. President, there is a clear choice before you now: Either rip up the August 31 deadline and defend evacuation routes—by expanding the perimeter around the Kabul airport or by retaking Bagram—or leave our people behind in your retreat,” said Sen. Ben Sasse (R., Neb.). He referred to the air base north of Kabul that the U.S. departed from earlier this summer as part of the withdrawal.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. was sticking with Mr. Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw.
Mrs. Pelosi said lawmakers remained concerned about the security and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, and she called on the administration to continue to brief members. “Congress must continue to be kept closely informed,” she said.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D., N.H.) said the U.S. must complete its evacuation mission, “regardless of any arbitrary deadlines.”
Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for operations in Afghanistan, said the U.S. estimated that about 1,000 Americans remained in Afghanistan.
The initial reports of the first explosion outside Hamid Karzai International Airport emerged as Mr. Biden began a previously scheduled meeting in the Situation Room. A team provided Mr. Biden information on the explosion during that meeting, aides said. The president continued receiving updates throughout the day and was in regular touch with Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser, as well as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and military commanders, White House officials said.
Vice President Kamala Harris joined Mr. Biden’s Thursday morning briefing virtually during her return to the U.S. following a week-long trip to Southeast Asia. Ms. Harris was scheduled to make a campaign appearance Friday on behalf of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, but her spokeswoman said she would instead return to Washington. Douglas Emhoff, the second gentleman, also canceled planned events in Hawaii following his trip to the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Mr. Biden was scheduled to have his first face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the president was to meet virtually with governors who have agreed to temporarily house or resettle Afghan refugees. The meeting with Mr. Bennett was reset for Friday and the meeting with governors was canceled.
Hours later, as he appeared in the East Room, Mr. Biden was at times emotional. “We are outraged as well as heartbroken,” he said, noting one of his sons served in Iraq. He called the fallen troops heroes who “engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others.”
Mr. Biden directed that flags across the country be flown at half-staff in honor of the fallen U.S. troops.
The White House said it was no time for politics, but the developments come during a rough stretch for Mr. Biden. While Americans support ending the war in Afghanistan, his approval rating has declined during the withdrawal, according to recent polling that was conducted before Thursday’s bloodshed. He has also been hurt by rising cases of Covid-19 and concerns about the economy.
The violence in Kabul and renewed fears over terrorism hot spots could distract from the president’s desire to shift his foreign policy focus to competition with China and various concerns about Russia, including cyberattacks. Domestically, he is still pushing for two major spending bills, including roughly $1 trillion in infrastructure that has attracted bipartisan support.
The White House has been frustrated by criticism of the withdrawal and has been emphasizing the scope of the airlift mission in Kabul. “Over 95,000 in 11 days—over 100,000 since we launched the Operation,” Ron Klain, Mr. Biden’s chief of staff, tweeted just after 7 a.m. Thursday about the number of people evacuated from Afghanistan, before reports of the explosions emerged.
The attacks, which also wounded more than a dozen U.S. service members, quickly shifted focus to the threat of terrorism and the chaos that has marked the start of the withdrawal. Mr. Biden has said the pullout was the right thing to do following nearly two decades of war.
The president and senior administration officials have been warning in public and private for days that the airport was a possible target of terrorist attacks from ISIS-K.
Mr. Biden had asked his national security team to come up with contingency plans for staying beyond Aug. 31 but made clear he intended to meet that deadline. “Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops,” he said Tuesday at the White House.
The president warned last week that “any attack on our forces or disruption of our operations at the airport will be met with a swift and forceful response.”
Rank-and-file Republicans erupted at Mr. Biden, accusing him of botching both the planning and execution of the withdrawal despite being warned of the risks, including what they said were recent warnings by his advisers of credible intelligence about imminent threats.
“The president and his team clearly are not up to the task at hand, they are trying to operate inside of a false reality, and the future is likely to only get worse,” said Rep. Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.), a veteran of the Iraq war.
The attacks came one day after a classified briefing for members of the House Armed Services Committee at which lawmakers were told of what one person familiar with the matter said was a specific, credible threat in Kabul related to ISIS-K. On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul warned Americans to stay away from the airport, calling on U.S. citizens near three airport gates to “leave immediately.”