Andrea Mitchell Asks State Department Spox About ‘Betrayed’ Afghans in American Embassy Saying They Prefer to ‘Die Under the Taliban’s Bullet Than Face the Crowds’ at Airport

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell asked State Department spokesman Ned Price on Monday about Afghan staffers at America’s embassy in Kabul who reportedly feel “betrayed’ by the department’s failure to extract them after the country’s fall to the Taliban.

Mitchell noted reports that the State Department had received a cable from Afghanistan expressing the negative opinions among staff after the department invited them to travel to the international airport in Kabul to come to America. “The physical situation was simply impossible,” Mitchell said, referencing the massive crowds thronging the facility. “Some staff reported being separated from children. They said, quote, it would be better to die under the Taliban’s bullet than face the crowds again.

“One staff member said they felt betrayed,” Mitchell added. “It undermined their sense of dignity, their loyalty — and this is embassy staff who should have been, presumably, prioritized.”

An unruffled Price replied, “I will tell you that I just came from meeting the secretary,” a reference to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. “And this was something that he proactively raised in that setting. And he also conveyed that it was something he has discussed with the president.”

President Joe Biden was expected to announce by the end of Tuesday whether he would extend an August 31 deadline for the United States military to leave Afghanistan. An estimated total of 10,000 to 15,000 Americans were still in the country as of August 17, two days after Taliban forces captured Kabul. Maj. Gen. William Taylor said at a Saturday press conference at the Pentagon that approximately 2,500 Americans had been evacuated since August 14.

Watch above via the State Department.

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