Conservative commentator and Mercury Radio Arts CEO Glenn Beck alleged on Tuesday in his program that President Joe Biden's administration stopped rescue planes from leaving Afghanistan by handing the manifesto to the Taliban.
The Blaze said the planes, which carried 1,000 Afghan nationals and 100 American citizens, were at the Mazar-i-Sharif airport when the United States Department interfered with the scheduled departure. This is in line with Beck's ongoing "Operation Nazarene Rescue" with The Nazarene Fund which he launched on August 18 to raise funds to evacuate Afghanistan's Christians and religious minorities.
Beck, whose "Operation Nazarene Rescue" has raised more than $30 million and has evacuated 5,100 Americans and Christians by end of August, has earlier stated the U.S. State Department is standing in the way of evacuation procedures in Afghanistan by making it "more difficult."
He cited that the State Department told governments of neighboring countries to Afghanistan to stop taking refugees. Beck tweeted that the U.S. Department specifically "old Macedonia to stop taking Afghan refugees. @SenTomCotton tells me he's heard similar reports."
"If our govt won't save these people, WE WILL. But the State Dept. must stop standing in the way," Beck declared.
In his radio program this week, Beck retorted news on the Talibans refusing to grant permission for departure over the weekend. He disclosed that it was the U.S. State Department who refused permission, not the Taliban. Beck specifically cited the U.S. State Department making last minute decisions to stop flights by declining to grant landing clearance to planes and then handing these over to the Taliban.
"They were on the plane, they were on the tarmac, they were (in) the seats...ready to go. They were told to go back into the airport and hand everything in to the Taliban. They were dismissed from the airport while the State Department works this out with the Taliban," Beck disclosed.
"This was like the State Department sending up flares, saying (to the Taliban), 'Hey, look over here'," he added.
Despite the setback, Beck revealed his team will continue with their mission as soon as they get the "green light" to do so. Beck expressed his teams ever-willingness to rescue people from Afghanistan especially he has ready planes to undertake it.
"We had all of it. We'll have to go back and get the people now for those planes. But as soon as we get the green light, those people will be able to go back on to those planes," Beck said.
"And if there's one missing, I swear to you," he stressed, "We have also eight to 10 other planes that are ready to fly out if the State Department will just let us be."
In addition, Beck said that several legislators who work with him directly in the mission have urged the State Department to assist the flights instead. Some of the said legislators includre Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Cruz, who has confirmed with The Blaze of his involvement with The Nazarene Fund regarding the evacuation, condemned the Biden Administration for obstructing the mission that endangers those being rescued.
"I'm proud of that critically important work, but Biden-Harris officials can't even get out of their own way. Now their incompetence has created the entirely predictable risk of a hostage crisis," Cruz told The Blaze.
Meanwhile, the State Department denied allegations that they have "personnel on the ground" since they have "no air assets in the country" nor do they "control the airspace--whether over Afghanistan or elsewhere in the region."
State Department Secretary Antony Blinken during a briefing on Tuesday, however, pointed out that they are taking efforts of removing "roadblocks" identified by various groups to ensure people will be evacuated from "Afghanistan safely."
"We're working around the clock with NGOs, with members of Congress and advocacy groups, providing any and all information and doing all we can to clear any roadblocks that they've identified to make sure that charter flights carrying Americans or others to whom we have a special responsibility can depart Afghanistan safely," Blinken said.
