Department of Defense (DOD) spokesman John Kirby denied claims Wednesday that U.S. military forces are relying on the assurances of the Taliban extremist group in its mission to evacuate thousands of Americans still trapped in Afghanistan.
“I’m not going to walk you away from the idea that that’s not important. Of course it’s important,” Kirby told reporters Wednesday in a non-televised briefing, according to a DOD transcript. “But to say that the evacuation all hinges on [the] goodwill of the Taliban I think is to overstate all the efforts that have to go into this.”
