Let Newsweek editor-at-large Naveed Jamali be clear: just because the Taliban is not allowing private charter planes to evacuate American citizens and Afghan allies doesn’t mean that the Taliban is trying to keep American citizens and Afghan allies from leaving Afghanistan.
Just hear him out:
#BREAKING can confirm that 11 flights, 8 chartered by Glen Beck, are being held by the Taliban and include over 100 Americans. No pax on planes. No hostages. All pax are safe away from airport. https://t.co/nbnYRtouSf
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) September 6, 2021
Just because the passengers on Glenn Beck’s chartered evacuation flights aren’t allowed to leave doesn’t mean the Taliban are making them stay or anything.
Also @RepMcCaul was absolutely incorrect as characterizing any of these people as hostages. There is nobody being denied exit of the country, or being detained on a plane. Instead the Taliban has not granted clearance for the planes to leave. Spoke to two sources who confirmed.
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) September 6, 2021
Beck’s Nazerene Fund and Mercury 1 group paid $750K for each flight and is set to carry over 1k passengers – of which 123 are reportedly American (a second group reportedly had 19 Americans).
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) September 6, 2021
Again there is no evidence that the Taliban is targeting the passengers or explicitly denying them exit. What NGO officials told us was that this was likely due to an impasse between the State and Taliban.
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) September 6, 2021
It’s just an impasse, guys! Nothing to worry about.
We held back some details to protect those seeking to leave Afghanistan.
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) September 6, 2021
Jamali held back some details, all right. Like the detail that preventing people from leaving Afghanistan is denying them exit.
This is a hilarious take https://t.co/L0tu2a35RY
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) September 6, 2021
Newsweek editor-at-large on the nuances of whether the Taliban not letting you leave is really the same thing as the Taliban holding you hostage https://t.co/vP9EGjbx14
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) September 6, 2021
Just brilliant stuff.
They are not hostages, they are just being held against their will by a terrorist regime.
I understand, Naveed. I truly do. https://t.co/9Hq99vLDNk
— Nathan Wurtzel (@NathanWurtzel) September 6, 2021
The bank robber did not take hostages. He just forbid them from leaving through the doors.
They were not denied exit by jumping off the roof. https://t.co/pwjM0RHiKE
— WheelmanForHire (@WheelmanForHire) September 6, 2021
Was absolutely incorrect to characterize any of these people as POWs. There is nobody being denied exit of the country, or being detained. Instead the Vietcong had not granted clearance for them to leave. ~ Naveed Jamali https://t.co/WbNazr5e3k pic.twitter.com/BNHbnulRbE
— TheRightWingM 🇺🇸 (@TheRightWingM) September 6, 2021
Sounds like Hotel California https://t.co/p25OOQuG5a
— The H2 (@TheH2) September 6, 2021
You can evacuate anytime you like, but you can never leave.
I bet if you ask them they'd say they're hostages. https://t.co/etgvJVamGZ
— Homer (@Spoken_Easy) September 6, 2021
They're hostages. https://t.co/0UwjUzIpKG pic.twitter.com/mfNXRxcnzO
— Dave Van de Walle (@Area224) September 6, 2021
Not granting clearance is detaining them rain man https://t.co/iyDfeDCGx5
— DaveinTexas (@DaveinTexas) September 6, 2021
We thought that was obvious, but then again, we’re not Newsweek editors-at-large. So.
“Guys, they’re not being denied exit. They just haven’t been given permission to leave.”
My word. https://t.co/CpaKQPHKgy
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) September 6, 2021
When you don’t understand that air travel isn’t the only way out of Afghanistan. 👇🏽 https://t.co/VlLGQG3e6u
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) September 6, 2021
Oh. Well, we must admit, we hadn’t considered other possible methods of evacuation.
they could totally just call an uber https://t.co/vf2iYCwvhl
— Jessica O’Boy-Football-is-Back-Donnell (@heckyessica) September 6, 2021
I'm sure they have several rental car agencies to choose from… https://t.co/n7QiL33LcQ
— 🍹Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock (@kimmie_c_) September 6, 2021
Enterprise will pick them up!
Poor Naveed, he's trying so, so hard to downplay the hostage crisis in Afghanistan but simply can't do it. https://t.co/lYt3VuRCtY
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) September 6, 2021
That won’t stop him from trying, though.
The people dunking on Glenn Beck for saving lives is surprising even to me, even in 2021. https://t.co/Pxe9YPgudl
— Pudge – Expert-Level Expert in Everything (@pudgenet) September 6, 2021
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