Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) slammed the Biden administration when it was revealed that US officials reportedly handed the Taliban a list of Americans and vulnerable Afghans that the US planned to evacuate from Kabul.
“I am deeply troubled by your revelation that your administration may have given the Taliban a list of American citizens, lawful permanent residents, and vulnerable Afghans,” Rubio said in a letter to President Biden on Friday.
“Regardless of the assurances your government may have gotten from the Taliban, your decision to believe them was reckless and naive,” Rubio continued.
Biden told reporters on Thursday that military officials had urged the Taliban to let buses carrying specific groups of civilians to go, but he couldn’t tell whether the group was given an actual list of evacuees.
“I can’t say with sure that there was a list of names.
There may have been, but I’m not aware of any circumstances.
That is not to say it did not exist “Biden stated.
“It very well may have occurred.”
Politico reported that in the early days of the operation to evacuate individuals from Afghanistan, the combined US military and diplomatic coordination team at Kabul’s airport handed the Taliban a ‘kill list’ of persons the US intended to evacuate.
In his letter, Rubio slammed the alleged decision, citing “revenge executions” in which the Taliban murdered those who “stood with the United States, and its mission in Afghanistan, for the previous twenty years.”
The Florida senator pushed Biden on if his administration’s “position on the possibility of Taliban revenge killings” had changed and whether everyone on the alleged evacuee list had been safely evacuated.
Rubio also stated that he will vote against any of Biden’s nominations for national security positions unless the issues are answered.
“This move has jeopardized Americans and our allies who have been unable to leave Afghanistan and severely calls your administration’s decision making into question,” he said.
Recently, 13 US Marines were killed in Kabul, Afghanistan, fueling the media’s perpetuation of the Biden smear.
