As the US drags its heels over evacuating its diplomatic staff from Khartoum, US officials have raised questions about “lessons learned” following the disastrous evacuation in Afghanistan in August 2021.
By late Friday, the United States government had still not made a decision on whether to evacuate its diplomatic personnel from Sudan, but according to John Kirby, the communications coordinator for the National Security Council, preparations were underway for a “possible evacuation”.
He said at a press conference on Friday that any decision to evacuate would be made by President Joe Biden.
Numerous officials have however voiced concerns about Biden’s failure to evacuate diplomatic staff in Khartoum.
One official was US House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul who sent a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking clarification of several key issues necessary for a safe evacuation.
He reminded Blinken of the chaotic evacuation in Afghanistan in August 2021 and said in his letter that this “demonstrated the consequences of failing to plan adequately for worst-case scenarios, mixed messaging by the State Department, unclear chains of command, the inadequate coordination between the State Department and the Department of Defense, and the failure to coordinate with private organizations evacuating American citizens.”
“Not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the Afghanistan evacuation, I seek clarification of several key issues necessary for a successful evacuation of American citizens in Sudan,” he said.
Among the list of questions he asked, was whether the State Department had “developed and disseminated messaging and guidance for American citizens in Sudan.” He also asked if the US embassy in Khartoum can house US citizens and nationals that have no alternative safe place to go.
“If not, what alternative locations may US citizens and nationals go to seek safety?”
On Friday, Kirby said “there has not been a decision made,” adding that “it’s just a matter of making sure that we’re ready for it.”
White House, State Department, and Defense Department officials have stressed that they are closely monitoring the volatile situation in the country, where hundreds have been killed and injured since intense fighting between rival military factions broke earlier in the week.
However, officials stated Friday that while Washington evaluates its option to evacuate its diplomatic staff in Khartoum, there are no plans at the moment to evacuate other American citizens there.
“Due to uncertain security situations in Khartoum and closure of the airport, Americans should have no expectation of a US government-coordinated evacuation at this time,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Friday.
Citing a US defense official, CNN meanwhile reported that the US is considering deploying the Army’s Immediate Response Force to assist with an evacuation and that this team has deployed several times in the last few years, including to Afghanistan during the 2021 withdrawal.
Patel, made it clear however that “US citizens in Sudan make their own arrangements to stay safe in these difficult circumstances.” He added that the State Department has been in touch with “several hundred American citizens who we understand to be in Sudan” to discuss “security precautions and other measures that they can take on their own.”
“We’re taking appropriate actions that are in line with previous lessons learned, not just as it relates to Afghanistan, but in other circumstances where we have had personnel on the ground and they are in harm’s way,” Patel said at the briefing.
“I would push back on the notion that we are acting too late. That is certainly not the case. We have been working diligently. Ambassador John Godfrey and his team have been working diligently to take appropriate steps to keep his team and our personnel safe. And we’ll continue to do that,” he said.
The State Department does not keep official counts of US citizens in foreign countries and Americans are not required to register when they go abroad. Officials said Wednesday that there could be an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, most of whom are dual nationals.
