Why Secretary of State Blinken Does Not Know How Many Americans Are in Afghanistan
Normally when there is a crisis like the one unfolding in Afghanistan, the State Department would establish a Citizens Emergency Services Task Force. There is no such entity up and operating on the 7th Floor of State Department.
Let me explain how such a Task Force is supposed to operate. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990, the Secretary of State directed the Office of Counter Terrorism to stand up a Task Force. We were in the main Task Force room. In addition, the Bureau of Political Military Affairs set up a Task Force in room number 2. And down the hall, the Bureau of Consular Affairs tasked two of its most experienced diplomats–Elizabeth Ann Swift and Mary Ryan–to head up the Consular Affairs Task Force.
