US Officials: Lists of Names Were Shared With Taliban

Conservative News DailyAugust 30, 2021

The United States shared lists of names with the Taliban, U.S. officials confirmed on Sunday, as they disputed accusations that the terrorist group was given the identity of many Americans and Afghans trying to flee Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, appearing on Sunday cable shows, confirmed the information was shared with the Taliban.

Blinken said that there were certain times when the Taliban was given lists of people on buses that were en route to the U.S.-held airport in Kabul, but needed to get through Taliban checkpoints.

“You’ll share names on a list of people on the bus so they can be assured that those are people that we’re looking to bring in,” Blinken said. “And by definition, that’s exactly what happened.”

Sullivan disputed a report that the United States gave a list of names to the Taliban but indicated that some identities were shared.

“We have given no list of all of the American SIV holders [sic] to the Taliban or any other kind of big list,” he said, referring to Special Immigrant Visas, which are given to Afghans.

Sullivan also referred to situations where buses of Afghans and others were headed to the airport but had to go through Taliban checkpoints.

“That is the type of coordination we’ve done with the Taliban. That has resulted in journalists and women and pilots and other SIVs being able to get through and get on planes and out of the country,” he said.

Pressed on whether the Biden administration was disputing the notion that any lists were shared, or just not big lists, Sullivan didn’t answer directly.

US Officials: Lists of Names Were Shared With Taliban 1

President Joe Biden last week did not deny that his administration shared lists of American names with the Taliban, telling reporters: “There have been occasions where our military has contacted their military counterparts in the Taliban and said, ‘This bus is coming through with X number of people on it, made up of the following group of people. We want you to let that bus or that group through.’”

Biden also said he could not confirm whether there’s been a list.

“There may have been, but I know of no circumstance. It doesn’t mean it’s not—it didn’t exist, that, ‘Here’s the names of 12 people; they’re coming. Let them through.’ It could very well have happened,” he said.

Blinken was speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Sullivan was speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), on ABC’s “This Week,” denounced the sharing of names with the Taliban.

“They passed a list of American citizens and America’s closet allies, people who fought alongside us, they passed those lists to the Taliban, relying on them, thinking they could trust on them. It was stupid then. It’s insane now. And their plan still seems to be let’s rely on the Taliban,” Sasse said.

The U.S. military is leading an effort to evacuate tens of thousands of Afghans and nationals from various countries from Afghanistan before the military withdraws, a pullout currently slated to take place on Aug. 31.

U.S. troops hold the airport in Kabul, but the Taliban controls everywhere else in the city, making it a necessity to pass through Taliban checkpoints to reach the facility.

Asked if the United States would continue coordinating with the Taliban after the withdrawal, with an eye toward combating ISIS, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declined to answer on Monday.

“I don’t think it’s useful to get into hypothetical operations, future operations one way or the other,” he said.