An American family of four has been rescued in a daring dash across Afghanistan to leave by an as-yet-unnamed land border. The Texan mother, Mariam, and her three children were greeted at the border by U.S. officials. Clearly, this appears a big win for President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly stressed that efforts were underway to rescue Americans and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders stranded in the turbulent country. However, reports from people who directly participated in the rescue attempt dispute the government's involvement, and in fact, suggest that the audacious evacuation was hindered by the State Department's refusal to facilitate it.
A war of narratives is underway that each side of the Fourth Estate is ready to advance. On one side are proclamations that the government is actively aiding the evacuation of at-risk persons. On the other are the people on the ground in Afghanistan who say their efforts are being frustrated by a refusal of the Biden administration to offer any sort of support. Who to believe?
The Government Case
According to reporting by CNN, a State Department official said, "Our Embassy greeted the Americans as they crossed the border into the third country" and confirmed that these four Americans were the first the government had "facilitated in this manner." Secretary of State Antony Blinken added to the tale, insisting that the rescuees "were in good condition" and had left unimpeded by the Taliban.
An email from the department to Fox News stated:
"The Department assisted four Americans depart Afghanistan via an overland route on Monday. We provided guidance to them, worked to facilitate their safe passage, and Embassy officials greeted the Americans once they had crossed the border."
But those who were actually involved in transporting the Texan family across the land border say that the State Department deserves zero credit for the operation.
A Damning Rebuttal
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
A team of military veterans led by organizer Cory Mills was ultimately responsible for getting Mariam and her family out of the country. The group detailed that, initially, they had tried to get the potential evacuees on a flight with the U.S. military; however, the mother was turned away at gunpoint and told not to return by the Taliban. The next effort involved having her board a private charter flight from Mazar-i-Sharif airport. Multiple reports from rescue groups say the State Department refused to provide clearance for these planes to land in third-party countries – meaning they could not take off.
Finally, as a Hail Mary attempt, Mills took the family on a dangerous overland journey through Taliban checkpoints and perilous terrain. This was ultimately successful.
Mills' condemnation of the government's lack of support was biting. He said:
"This is an attempt to save face by the administration for the Americans they left behind. This is a woman with three children from age 15 all the way down to two years old. And they did nothing to try to expedite this … But at the very last minute, you have these 'senior officials' at the State Department trying to claim credit for this like 'oh yeah, look what we've done.'
"It's like we carried the ball to the 99-and-a-half yard line and them taking it that last half yard and being like 'look what we did.'"
A Win At Any Cost
With the administration mired in a long series of failures, the need to secure a win – any win – is growing stronger. The southern border is in tatters, inflation is on the verge of robbing every single American, jobs reports are devastatingly negative, and even the expensive "human infrastructure" plan is on the ropes courtesy of Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). President Biden had hoped that the visuals of taking 120,000 people out of the Taliban firing line would be lauded as a success for his administration, but he neglected to accept that it was his personal decisions that created the need for a mad rush to the exit.
To steal the thunder and claim credit for actions that had little help – and potentially more than a little hindrance – for political benefit appears a desperate act for an administration in turmoil. That national news outlets would choose to ignore the primary sources on such a story suggests that the present government is relying more than ever on the Fourth Estate to provide kudos and credibility to a president whose sinking poll numbers are on the verge of derailing the entire Democrat agenda.
As American poet Criss Jami wrote, "Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction." The State Department may not be entirely deceptive in this matter, but the twisting of language, and the selective soundbites that are being used to create a narrative of usefulness, show that the D.C. Swamp is the natural habitat of these craftsmen of destruction.
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Read more from Mark Angelides.
