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→Antony Blinken
American embassy staff in Afghanistan were apprised by the State Department to leave the embassy and make their way to Kabul airport. Staffers reported being jostled, hit, spat on and cursed at by Taliban fighters at checkpoints near the airport. Some staff members reported that they were almost separated from their children, while others collapsed in a crush of people and had to be taken to hospitals with injuries. Others said they had collapsed on the road because of heat exhaustion. “It would be better to die under the Taliban’s bullet” than face the crowds again, a staff member was quoted as saying in a State Department cable. “Happy to die here, but with dignity and pride," according to ''[[NBC News]]''.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/afghan-staff-u-s-embassy-losing-faith-evacuation-efforts-diplomatic-n1277397</ref> Meanwhile, back at the White House, chief propagandist Jen Psaki said: “It’s irresponsible to say that Americans are stranded.”<ref>https://youtu.be/CNxVzQo0Z8s</ref>
American embassy staff in Afghanistan were apprised by the State Department to leave the embassy and make their way to Kabul airport. Staffers reported being jostled, hit, spat on and cursed at by Taliban fighters at checkpoints near the airport. Some staff members reported that they were almost separated from their children, while others collapsed in a crush of people and had to be taken to hospitals with injuries. Others said they had collapsed on the road because of heat exhaustion. “It would be better to die under the Taliban’s bullet” than face the crowds again, a staff member was quoted as saying in a State Department cable. “Happy to die here, but with dignity and pride," according to ''[[NBC News]]''.<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/afghan-staff-u-s-embassy-losing-faith-evacuation-efforts-diplomatic-n1277397</ref> Meanwhile, back at the White House, chief propagandist Jen Psaki said: “It’s irresponsible to say that Americans are stranded.”<ref>https://youtu.be/CNxVzQo0Z8s</ref>
Eric Montalvo, who organized a series of private evacuation flights, shared several emails with ''Fox News''. A September 1, 2011 underscores the extent to which private evacuation efforts ran into State Department roadblocks:
{{quotebox-float|"No independent charters are allowed to land at [Al Udeid Air Base], the military airbase you mentioned in your communication with [[Samantha Power]]. In fact, no charters are allowed to land at an [sic] [[DoD]] base and most if not all countries in the Middle Eastern region, with the exception of perhaps [[Saudi Arabia]] will allow charters to land...You need to find another destination country, and it can't be the U.S. either."<ref>https://www.foxnews.com/politics/state-department-afghanistan-private-rescue-flights-leaked-email</ref>}}
===Jake Sullivan===
===Jake Sullivan===