Written just before the Kabul carnage 8/25-----How Many Americans Are Left? [Updated] | Power Line

How Many Americans Are Left? [Updated] | Power Line
"The Biden administration is gaslighting the fiasco in Afghanistan in a variety of ways, e.g. by hailing the current chaotic skedaddle as the biggest airlift on record, as though it were a positive achievement. 

But the administration knows its biggest problem is the likelihood–or inevitability–that it won’t be able to get all U.S. citizens out of Afghanistan.

This question has always been clouded by the fact that no one knows how many Americans were in Afghanistan when the exodus began. Administration spokesmen have offered various estimates, including 5,000 to 10,000; 11,000; and 10,000 to 15,000. 

Today(8/25), Secretary of State Antony Blinken implied that the true number is far lower:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken...“Over the last 10 days, roughly 4,500 of these Americans have been safely evacuated along with immediate family members. Over the past 24 hours, we’ve been in direct contact with approximately 500 additional Americans and provided specific instructions on how to get to the airport safely,” Blinken said...

These numbers suggest that there were more like 6,000 Americans in Afghanistan when the crisis began, a much lower number than we previously have been led to believe. Further, Blinken argued that quite a few of these may not want to leave:

“...Some Americans may choose to stay in Afghanistan … Blinken said some Americans “even change their mind from one day to the next, as has happened, and will likely continue to happen.”

So the administration is preparing to declare victory, no matter where the final numbers come to rest. We will be told that there weren’t so many Americans in danger after all, and that those who didn’t catch an outgoing flight probably wanted to stay...Read all.