U.S. Orders Commercial Airlines to Join Mass Afghanistan Evacuation

The Pentagon on Sunday ordered a string of American commercial airlines to join its chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and foreigners fleeing Kabul after its fall to Taliban terrorists.

AFP reports Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin activated the little-used Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) to move people arriving at U.S. bases in the Middle East.

“The DOD’s ability to project military forces is inextricably linked to commercial industry, which provides critical transportation capacity as well as global networks to meet day-to-day and contingency requirements,” a statement announcing the move said.

In this image provided by the U.S. Marines, a Marine assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command assists evacuees during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. (Sgt. Isaiah Campbell/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

Eighteen civilian craft from American Airlines, Atlas, Delta, Omni, Hawaiian and United will aid dozens of military cargo transports involved in the evacuation, the statement said.

The civilian planes would not be allowed to fly to and from the beseiged Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul; instead, they would transport the thousands of Americans and Afghan allies in airbases in Qatar, Bahrain, and Germany onwards in their journeys.

This force multiplier would relieve the strain on bases in the region, which are quickly being filled with Americans and Afghans who have been lucky enough to make it to the aiport in Kabul.

This is insane! https://t.co/hjnV3DFq8G

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 18, 2021

With thousands of troops trying to secure Kabul’s airport, Washington has set a deadline to complete one of the largest evacuation missions the Pentagon has ever conducted by August 31.

Despite the repeated promises of help, simply getting those who want to escape Afghanistan through airport security and onto planes remains a huge problem on the ground.

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, a U.S. Air Force security forces raven, assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, maintains a security cordon around a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in support of Operation Allies Refuge at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. (Senior Airman Taylor Crul/U.S. Air Force via AP)

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