'You own this, @POTUS': State Dept. reportedly believes up to 14K US LPRs are still stranded in Afghanistan

Late last month, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told GOP Sen. Joni Ernst that “we did not leave Americans behind” in Afghanistan.

.@SenJoniErnst asks if Americans behind were left behind.@ColinKahl: We did not leave Americans behind. They continue to get out.

Gen. Mingus: Yes ma'am, the last airplane left the evening of the 30th, the morning of 31st.

Ernst: Thank you for your straight-forward answer. pic.twitter.com/7YaWHGXcMu

— CSPAN (@cspan) October 26, 2021

We knew then that he was lying through his teeth.

And now, it looks like we’ve got confirmation:

NEW: State Dept believes as many as 14,000 U.S. legal permanent residents are still in Afghanistan.

Officials demurred on revealing the figure when quizzed by GOP lawmakers today, insisting USG doesn’t track LPRs. (w/ @RobbieGramer, @kellyruthk) https://t.co/63Bu0Sy5ko

— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) November 3, 2021

The number sheds light on the extent to which the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan left U.S. citizens, residents, and Afghan allies in the lurch.

State Dept officials revealed 289 U.S. citizens remain in Afghanistan as of Tuesday. 81 are ready to depart.

— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) November 3, 2021

More from Foreign Policy:

The State Department believes as many as 14,000 U.S. legal permanent residents remain in Afghanistan, Foreign Policy has learned, as the agency faces increasing scrutiny from Congress about the status of U.S. citizens and green card holders that are still stranded in the Taliban-controlled country.

The finding, disclosed by a congressional aide familiar with the matter, has been transmitted by the State Department to aides on Capitol Hill in private, but officials demurred on revealing the figure when questioned by Republican lawmakers on Wednesday, insisting the agency doesn’t track the figure.

…

Lawmakers have criticized the State Department for being too slow to release specific numbers on how many citizens, legal permanent residents, and Afghans who supported the U.S. war effort remain in the country. Administration officials said the numbers are difficult to track and constantly shifting while infuriated U.S. lawmakers charge the administration is failing in its duty to keep track of the statistics or is keeping the full scope of people left behind under wraps. In the month after the U.S. withdrawal, the State Department repeatedly said there were around 100 U.S. citizens still in the country seeking to leave—until it revealed in recent weeks there were around 400 people.

Reminder: LPRs are Americans in all but status. Their homes are here. Their bank accounts are here. Their lives are here. To abandon them to the mercies of an Islamist outfit allied with sworn terrorist enemies of the United States is maladministration. https://t.co/Jpr4ASmhMk

— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) November 5, 2021