Biden vows U.S. will evacuate Afghans who assisted in war effort, tells Americans 'we will get you home'


President Biden while delivering remarks Friday on the ongoing evacuation effort in Afghanistan vowed to all Americans in the country, "We will get you home."
Speaking from the White House amid the chaos that has unfolded since Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Biden said the United States has evacuated about 13,000 people from the country since Aug. 14th amid "one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history." He went on to promise, "Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home," vowing to "mobilize every resource necessary" in this effort and saying his administration is focused on ensuring that "every American who wants to leave can get to the airport."
The president also said the United States will be making this "same commitment" to those Afghans who assisted in the war effort. Biden said, though, that he "cannot promise what the final outcome" of the "dangerous" evacuation mission will be, or "that it will be without risk of loss." He also didn't commit to the evacuation being completed by the end of August.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I think we can get it done by then," he said. "But we're gonna make that judgment as we go."
During his Friday press conference, Biden also continued to defend the United States' withdrawal amid criticism, asking, "What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point with Al Qaeda gone?"
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Trump's strikes on Iran: a 'spectacular success'?
In Depth Military humiliations 'expose the brittleness' of Tehran's ageing regime, but risk reinforcing its commitment to its nuclear program
-
5 expletive-laden cartoons about bad language
Cartoons Artists take on Trump's quest for a Nobel Peace Prize, cursing at the dinner table, and more
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from