WASHINGTON — The U.S military said Wednesday within a 24-hour period, 90 flights departed Kabul and 19,000 people were evacuated out of Afghanistan, with a plane taking off every 39 minutes.
The Pentagon said since evacuations began, a total of 88,000 people have been taken out of the country.
President Joe Biden publicly has stuck to his August 31 troop withdrawal deadline, but he asked the Pentagon and the State Department for contingency plans to adjust the timetable "should that become necessary."
"He wants to see this mission complete by the end of the month," said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby. "We are still working towards that goal, but we will be drafting up potential -- what we call in the military 'branches and sequels' -- if, in fact, we believe a conversation needs to be had later in the month that the timeline might need to be extended."
Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Virginia, 2nd District) is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. She said August 31 is an artificial deadline which should be adjusted if need be.
"Drawing that deadline is really problematic,' she said. "We really need to be ready to continue that mission until the mission is complete."
Luria went on to say: "I definitely think we need to flexibility on that deadline. This is a monumental task, and our forces have done an incredible job getting approximately 80,000 people out of Afghanistan, but we can't leave until the job is done."
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Virginia, 1st District) is criticizing the Biden administration's handling of the exit from Afghanistan, calling it "a debacle."
In a statement Wednesday, he said: "The President must promise the world that we will not leave Afghanistan until we have evacuated every American citizen."