In Photos: Top Secrets of Afghanistan to Leave you Lost for Words
	Taliban Says Afghanistan War Over as President Ghani Flees
	Vietnam Actively Protect Citizens in Afghanistan Amid Chaos

A bipartisan backlash to how Biden handles the withdrawal from Afghanistan

Congressional outcry over the Biden's administration's handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban's takeover of the country has been swift.

Criticism of the administration was bipartisan: Republicans were scathing about the White House's actions, and Democrats, while acknowledging that President Biden was carrying out the policies of his predecessor, criticized the haphazard manner of the U.S. withdrawal.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, seen here last week at the U.S. Capitol, gave blistering remarks about the Biden administration's actions in Afghanistan. Photo: Getty Images

Biden addressed the increasing criticism Monday afternoon and defended his position in his first public remarks since the Taliban moved into Kabul, Afghanistan's capital.

A bipartisan group of senators, led by Democratic Sens. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, have called on the Biden administration to take swift action to protect endangered Afghan women, according to NPR.

"We strongly urge you to create a humanitarian parole category specifically for women leaders, activists, human rights defenders, judges, parliamentarians, journalists, and members of the Female Tactical Platoon of the Afghan Special Security Forces and to streamline the paperwork process to facilitate referrals to allow for fast, humane, and efficient relocation to the United States," the 47 senators said in a letter sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.

Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has pledged the committee will, "at the appropriate time", hold hearings into "what went wrong in Afghanistan and lessons learned to avoid repeating those mistakes."

Here's a closer look at what some members of Congress have said:

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.

Carper, a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and an ally of the president's, said in a statement that the withdrawal of U.S. troops "should have been carefully planned to prevent violence and instability."

"We must act swiftly to protect Americans and our Afghan allies and partners on the ground," he said. "We cannot abandon those who fought by our side who now face mortal danger from the Taliban's takeover. We have a moral obligation to act immediately to protect their lives and a national security imperative to ensure that Afghan soil does not again become a source of terrorist attacks on our allies and our homeland."

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.

Shaheen, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, said in a statement the images of Afghan civilians at the airport pleading to be evacuated are "seared into our minds."

"Dire conditions on the ground persist today and without swift, decisive action from the administration, Afghan civilians will suffer or die at the hands of the Taliban," she continued.

She called for an immediate expansion of the refugee program for Afghan women seeking asylum.

"A failure to act now will seal their fate, and the generation of girls who grew up with freedoms, education and dreams of building their country's future will die with them."

The US military evacuated about 1,100 people on Tuesday from Afghanistan

As reported by CNN, the United States military evacuated approximately 1,100 US citizens, permanent residents and their families on 13 flights from Afghanistan on Tuesday, a White House official said.

Photo: Guardian

Twelve of those flights were C-17 sorties and one was a C-130.

To date, more than 3,200 people have been evacuated and nearly 2,000 Afghan special immigrants have been relocated to the United States.

The White House expects those daily numbers to escalate.

Taliban vow to respect women, despite history of oppression

The Taliban vowed Tuesday to respect women’s rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists as part of a publicity blitz aimed at reassuring world powers and a fearful population.

According to AP, the Taliban have sought to portray themselves as more moderate than when they imposed a strict form of Islamic rule in the late 1990s. But many Afghans remain skeptical — and thousands have raced to the airport, desperate to flee the country.

Older generations remember the Taliban’s previous rule, when they largely confined women to their homes, banned television and music, and held public executions. A U.S.-led invasion drove them from power months after the 9/11 attacks, which al-Qaida had orchestrated from Afghanistan while being sheltered by the Taliban.

Zabihullah Mujahid. Photo: AP

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime spokesman, emerged from the shadows Tuesday in his first-ever public appearance to address those concerns at a news conference.

He promised the Taliban would honor women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law, without elaborating. The Taliban have encouraged women to return to work and have allowed girls to return to school, handing out Islamic headscarves at the door. A female news anchor interviewed a Taliban official Monday in a TV studio.

The treatment of women varies widely across the Muslim world and sometimes even within the same country, with rural areas tending to be far more conservative. Some Muslim countries, including neighboring Pakistan, have had female prime ministers, while ultraconservative Saudi Arabia only recently allowed women to drive.

Mujahid also said the Taliban would not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for attacking other countries, as it was in the years before 9/11. That assurance was part of a 2020 peace deal reached between the Taliban and the Trump administration that paved the way for the American withdrawal.

US taking steps to keep cash away from the Taliban

The United States Treasury has taken steps to prevent cash reserves managed by the Federal Reserve and other US banks out of the hands of the Taliban, officials tell CNN — a sign of the government-wide effort underway after the Afghanistan government.

As the Biden administration struggles to bring order to the chaos in Kabul, the move to effectively freeze assets is one example of something the US government can control.

The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post reported on the action earlier today.

CNN reported earlier this week that the abrupt collapse of the Afghanistan government on Sunday had raised questions from several veterans of previous administrations about assets of the Afghan Central Bank and whether any of the money could end up in the hands of the Taliban.

The “vast majority” of the Afghan Central Bank assets are not held in Afghanistan, a US official familiar with the matter told CNN. The assets in the US have been essentially blocked by reach of the Taliban.

Separately, a Biden administration official said Sunday that any assets the Afghan government has in the United States will not be made available to the Taliban.

US destroyed some Afghans' passports as they prepared to evacuate embassy in Kabul

American personnel destroyed the passports of some Afghans when they were getting rid of all sensitive materials at the US Embassy in Kabul in preparation for a full evacuation, according an update that Rep. Andy Kim’s office is sharing with people who request assistance with evacuations from Afghanistan.

Photo: CNN

It is unclear why the passports were destroyed, but it is possible diplomats determined it would have been dangerous for the documents to fall into the hands of Taliban members, who could then target those Afghans.

Not having a passport creates major complications for Afghans who are desperately and urgently trying to get out of the country.

Rep. Tom Malinowski said that the US will have to come up with ways to verify the identity of Afghans whose passports were burned.

The US is not protecting the fully evacuated US Embassy in Kabul, but the compound is in a heavily fortified area, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price, CNN said.

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