U.S. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala D. Harris on Sunday morning met with their national security team for an update on Afghanistan, a White House official said.
“This morning, the President and Vice President met by secure videoconference with their national security team to hear updates on the drawdown of our civilian personnel in Afghanistan, evacuations of SIV applicants and other Afghan allies, and the ongoing security situation in Kabul,” the official said.
The official added that the President and Vice President met with Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, Chairman Milley, Director Burns, Director Haines, National Security Advisor Sullivan, Ambassador Wilson, Ambassador Khalilzad, General McKenzie, and other senior officials.
President Biden has been monitoring the situation from Camp David where he is on vacation while Vice President Harris is around the capital.
The situation in Afghanistan has been deteriorating by the minute after the Taliban made gains and surrounded Kabul.
President Ashraf Ghani has also fled Afghanistan and the United States has started evacuating civilians. The U.S. embassy in Kabul will be shuttered on Tuesday.
Afghan national defense force has not put up a fight and has just been handing over town after town to the Taliban, reinforcing the argument that the United States has no business staying in Afghanistan any longer or training more forces to counter the Taliban.
President Biden said in a statement on Saturday that he will not hand over the war in Afghanistan to a fifth president, insisting that it was time to bring American troops home.
“That is what we are going to do,” the American leader wrote, detailing steps that will be taken to evacuate Americans and Afghans and end America’s longer war after 20 years and trillions of dollars spent.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.