Psaki Claims This Is The Leverage On The Taliban That Should Keep Americans Safe

The Taliban just held a celebration where they draped an American flag over a coffin giving us a mock funeral. They claim we fled the country and they are right. We allowed the Taliban to take control and kick us out of the country. But Press Secretary Psaki claims we have leverage over the Taliban that should ensure all of the stranded Americans’ safety, access to the global market…

Reporter: ” …first, on Afghanistan.  The President said that any additional evacuations will go through diplomatic channels and that the United States has leverage over the Taliban.  Can you tell us what those channels look like and what kind of leverage the United States has?”

MS. PSAKI:  “Absolutely.  Well, first, I would say — I would point you to the remarks that the Secretary of State provided last night.  But let me give you some highlights of that: We have enormous leverage over the Taliban, including access to the global marketplace; that’s not a small — it’s not a small piece of leverage. 

And in order to gain access to the global marketplace, we’re going to be watching closely, as will the global community.

I would note that yesterday, the U.N. Security Council also signed a — passed a resolution that made clear to what the expectation is, in terms of safe travel and evacuation — or departure, I should say, of individuals who want to leave Afghanistan.  And nearly half of the countries in the world have also signed on a sta- — to a statement making clear that is the expectation.

That’s the diplomatic side.  And the other diplomatic components that our Secretary of State will be focused on include establishing a presence in Doha — which is already underway — which is a place where we will be able to operate from, diplomatically, so we can have access with consular officers and diplomats who can engage with American citizens or others — our Afghan partners who want to depart.  We’re working to set that up now.

The other piece is engagement with the Taliban, which we’ll continue through our ongoing channels that we have with the Taliban on the diplomatic front… ”

Watch The Clip Below. 

Yeah, that doesn’t sound like any real leverage. China is already getting buddy-buddy with Afghanistan and really there are plenty of countries that would be willing to help them because of their anti-American stance. The Taliban has the money and weapons to get whatever they want right now. I hope for the sake of the Americans stranded there that Psaki is right, but I doubt it.