Hostages (not hostages)

Rep. Michael McCaul made news on FOX News Sunday yesterday morning. McCaul related the refusal of Joe Biden’s new partners among the Taliban to allow flights to leave from Mazar-i-Sharif Airport in northern Afghanistan. The blocked flights were to carry Americans others to safety out of Afghanistan.

The AP’s Kathy Gannon reported the story “Taliban stop planes of evacuees from leaving but unclear why.” The AP story paraphrases an unnamed State Department official to the effect that “the department will hold the Taliban to their pledges to let people travel freely[.]” NR’s Zachary Evans provided a useful round-up of the story.

The Free Beacon’s Adam Kredo reports the comments he received from the State Department:

“We do not have personnel on the ground, we do not have air assets in the country, we do not control the airspace—whether over Afghanistan or elsewhere in the region,” a State Department spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon. “We understand the concern that many people are feeling as they try to facilitate further charter and other passage out of Afghanistan.”

The State Department response approximates Freddie Prinze’s catchphrase: “It’s not my job.”

Reports this morning add to McCaul’s disclosure:“State Dept blocking private rescue flights from leaving Afghanistan, organizers say: ‘Blood is on their hands'” (FOX News) and “Glenn Beck group-funded planes to be used for evacuations being grounded by Taliban” (New York Post).

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