At the end of July, the United States will begin to remove from Afghanistan those citizens who have provided assistance and assistance to the American military throughout their mission.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told about this at a briefing for journalists.

"The United States will begin resettlement flights for the first group of eligible and interested Afghan citizens and their families who have supported the United States and our partners and who are on the waiting list for a special immigrant visa, and we will begin these flights by the end of this month." Kirby said.

At the same time, he noted that the task of the Pentagon in this matter is only to provide the necessary support to the State Department, which will deal with the process as a whole.

Thus, the US defense department has already identified some points where it is planned to export Afghans and their families.

And they are, according to Kirby, outside the United States.

“The role of the Department (Defense. -

RT

) in Operation Allied Asylum will continue to be to provide options and support the interagency efforts led by the Department of State.

To date, we have identified overseas locations and we are continuing to explore overseas deployment options, including some War Department facilities that could support planned resettlement efforts with appropriate temporary accommodations and appropriate supporting infrastructure, ”said a Pentagon spokesman. ...

  • Pentagon spokesman John Kirby

  • AFP

  • © Mark Wilson / Getty Images

He did not specify exactly where the United States is going to export friendly Afghans, and whether the lists for the latter have already been formed.

“We have identified some of them as potential candidates.

We have not made final decisions on them.

And I would like to remind you that some of these places (for evacuation. -

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) are not objects of the United States and therefore will require - if they are in foreign countries - the consent of the host countries.

Therefore, we have not yet reached the final stage, ”said John Kirby.

State Department for the main

Earlier, White House spokesman Jen Psaki announced the organization of evacuation flights for Afghans.

According to her, "flights from Afghanistan for applicants for a special immigration visa will begin in the last week of July and will continue."

She also indicated that all eligible people will be removed before the withdrawal of American troops from the country, which is due to end on September 11 this year. 

According to US media reports, about 18 thousand of those who provided direct assistance to the US military, not counting their family members, are claiming the evacuation. These are mainly local translators who have worked with the military. In general, their number exceeds 50 thousand people. However, not all of them have passed, and some have not even begun, the 14-step process for the approval of a special immigrant visa for asylum. There are also those who were refused to apply to participate in the program. Thus, according to various estimates, 9 thousand Afghans have just applied, and only 5.5 thousand were able to go through the first third of the process.

In this regard, at a briefing with Kirby, journalists asked questions about how the Pentagon intends to resolve this situation.

To which the press secretary of the department suggested that they contact the State Department, which, according to him, is in charge of the whole process.

He also stressed that military forces and equipment will not be involved either for organizing the safety of the evacuees or for their removal.

All the Pentagon is in charge of is finding evacuation sites, Kirby added.

The plans of the United States to evacuate their Afghan allies were commented on by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, noting that the United States did not manage to democratize Afghanistan, despite its almost 20 years of stay in the country.

“I remembered Zhvanetsky:“ Adjusted.

Everything is like this - at least don't come, the order is complete. "

The Americans have regulated such a democracy in Afghanistan that at least take the people out.

And don't come.

Everything is like this, "Zakharova noted in Telegram.

"They will try to impose restrictions"

Experts note that for the United States, the evacuation of their Afghan assistants is now an "image issue".

At the same time, analysts say it is unlikely that the United States will be able to take out all asylum seekers.

“That part of the elite that was associated with the Americans can count on US migration visas or asylum in third countries.

But in this case, we are not talking about tens of thousands of people, but about thousands to whom Washington can help, "said Andrei Kazantsev, a professor at the Higher School of Economics, chief researcher at MGIMO, in an interview with RT.

He also pointed to the fact that the US itself is now in an immigration crisis, because of which the Americans are in no hurry to open any channels to enter the country.

“Considering that there is an immigration crisis in the United States, which causes tension in society, and there is a fear of terrorists entering the country, the Washington authorities are afraid to open a new migration channel.

I am sure they will try to impose restrictions on this channel in order to weed out many Afghans, ”Kazantsev added.

  • Refugees in Kabul

  • AFP

  • © Wakil Kohsar

His opinion is shared by Sergei Sudakov, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Military Sciences.

He noted that the United States always refers to the countries where its occupying troops were located, exclusively from a consumer position. 

“Today, the Washington authorities intend to evacuate and take out only those who were American agents and, accordingly, collaborated with the United States not for the good of their country.

At the same time, those who apply for a US visa are unlikely to be evacuated, because US intelligence only protects those they need.

In this situation, the Afghans who cooperated with the United States are traitors to national interests.

And if the American military does not evacuate them, then according to the Sharia law established in Afghanistan, they will simply be doomed to death, "Sudakov said in a commentary on RT.

The expert also suggested that the United States will export its Afghan assistants to Latin America and the Middle East.

“The immigrants from Afghanistan will definitely be evacuated to the countries of Latin America and the Near and Middle East, where Shiites live.

I do not exclude that the Afghans will be transferred to the Iraqi zones controlled by the United States, ”Sudakov said.

Throwing equipment and weapons

Recall that the United States began to actively withdraw its troops from the territory of Afghanistan, where for almost 20 years they conducted Operation Enduring Freedom.

Over the years, a different number of American troops were based in the country, but at the peak of the intervention, in 2010-2013, the number of foreign forces, including NATO forces, in Afghanistan exceeded 150 thousand people.

Currently, only 5% of the American contingent remains on the territory of the country, as reported by the Central Command of the US Armed Forces on July 13.

Such hasty actions of Washington were criticized by former US President Donald Trump.

“He (Biden. -

RT

) leaves equipment worth billions of dollars.

I told the generals that I want every nail back ... Instead, the Taliban * (openly) are now walking around with our weapons that Joe Biden left them.

It's a shame, "Trump said.

The "haste" of the Americans' actions was also noted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“The Americans have made a lot of things to understand over the 20 years of their presence in Afghanistan, ranging from the declaration of the victory of democracy and ending with such a rather hasty withdrawal, abandoning a huge amount of equipment and other equipment,” the minister said.

Earlier, he also stressed that by withdrawing troops, the United States de facto admits the failure of its operation in the country.

According to Andrei Kazantsev, Washington's lack of any positive result in Afghanistan is due to the fact that the Americans have not been able to find an approach to the situation in the country.

"The Americans have not been able to achieve any success in Afghanistan, because they have not been able to develop the necessary approach to a rather complex Afghan society," said the interlocutor of RT.

* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.