Top GOP Lawmaker: Taliban Holding Americans Left Behind ‘Hostage’

By
David Rufful
-
OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.

Joe Biden did the unthinkable when his administration abandoned between 100 and 200 Americans in Afghanistan.

As the last American soldier left the region, those left behind were stranded under the rule of the Taliban.

“It’s clear the Taliban is now in charge,” reported CNN’s Clarissa Ward on the ground in Kabul, Afghanistan.

“Taliban fighters have flooded the capital. Smiling and victorious,” CNN’s Ward said. “They took this city of 6 million people in a matter of hours — barely firing a shot.”

Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, who is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has confirmed a CBS News reporting that the Taliban is holding Americans hostage.

McCaul described the situation to Fox News as a hostage crisis.

McCaul said, “In fact we have six airplanes at Mazar-i-Sharif airport, six airplanes, with American citizens on them as I speak, also with these interpreters, and the Taliban is holding them hostage for demands right now.”

“State has cleared these flights, and the Taliban will not let them leave the airport,” he added.

Fox News’ Chris Wallace pressed further, askign what demands the Taliban is making.

McCaul said they want money and diplomatic legitimacy.

“This is really, Chris, turning into a hostage situation where they’re not gonna allow American citizens to leave until they get full recognition from the United States of America,” McCaul said.

To make matters worse, McCaul says the Biden administration might grant the Taliban legitimacy and recognize them as the official government of Afghanistan.

The Taliban is notorious for its ruthless past. As explained by U.S. Army special forces master sergeant Tim Kennedy, the Taliban are “brutes.

“They’re gangsters. They burn people alive,” Kennedy says. “They hang them from trees. They throw gays off the rooftops.”

“They throw acid on little girls trying to walk to school,” Kennedy continued. “They are a radical extremist organization that is violent.”

“There’s not an element that I have seen, personally in 20 years, that is a characteristic that I can embrace as an American,” Kennedy concluded.

More on this story from CBS:

American citizens left behind in Afghanistan are reportedly being held “hostage” by the Taliban, who purportedly are seeking “more out of Americans” before releasing planes that have permission to land in Qatar.

CBS News correspondent Christina Ruffini reported Sunday that “multiple flights are being held on the ground at the Mazar-i-Sharif airport in Northern Afghanistan… by the Taliban.”

An email sent by the State Department to members of Congress reportedly explained the flights held by the Taliban have permission to land in Doha, Qatar — but only “if and when the Taliban agrees to takeoff.”

“The Taliban is basically holding them hostage to get more out of the Americans,” a congressional source told CBS News.

More from Ruffini: The group Ascend, an NGO that teaches young women leadership through athletics, told CBS News they have two planes that have been waiting for six days ready to take between 600 and 1200 people — including 19 American citizens and two permanent residents.

“The U.S. airfield in Qatar that has been standing by, ready to receive, is now beginning to pack up,” Marina LeGree, the executive director, told CBS News. “We hope visibility will add pressure to force a solution. Six days of talks are not encouraging.”

The State Department advised members of Congress to tell groups seeking to evacuate out of Mazar-i-Sharif that the US does not have personnel on the ground in that location and does not control the airspace. Congressional and NGO sources say here are at least two physical plans on the ground and six more with approved clearance. The obstacle is the Taliban — which controls the airport and is not letting people board or the planes take off.
Anything else?