A CNN reporter standing outside the abandoned U.S. embassy in Kabul said Monday that Taliban members chanting “death to America” seemed “friendly,” video shows.
“They’re just chanting ‘Death to America,’ but they seem friendly at the same time,” said CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward. As Ward reports, Taliban members can be seen in the background sitting in a vehicle, chanting and holding weapons and a Taliban flag. (RELATED: A ‘Mistake That Will Haunt Us For Decades’: McCarthy Calls For Biden Admin To Be Investigated Amid Afghanistan Collapse)
CNN reporter on the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan: “They’re just chanting ‘Death to America,’ but they seem friendly at the same time.” #Afghanistan #Talibans pic.twitter.com/hYtCBVqeTc
— Sophia Fisher (@sophiabfisher) August 16, 2021
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, tweeted, “Is there an enemy of America for whom @CNN WON’T cheerlead? (In mandatory burkas, no less.)”
Is there an enemy of America for whom @CNN WON’T cheerlead?
(In mandatory burkas, no less.) https://t.co/9O6pe8yROM
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 16, 2021
The communications team at CNN responded by tweeting, “Rather than running off to Cancun in tough times, @clarissaward is risking her life to tell the world what’s happening. That’s called bravery. Instead of [retweeting] a conspiracy theorist’s misleading soundbite, perhaps your time would be better spent helping Americans in harm’s way.”
Rather than running off to Cancun in tough times, @clarissaward is risking her life to tell the world what’s happening. That’s called bravery. Instead of RTing a conspiracy theorist’s misleading soundbite, perhaps your time would be better spent helping Americans in harm’s way.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) August 16, 2021
After the Biden administration began the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban was able to capture several of the country’s major cities in a matter of days. President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he would send 1,000 U.S. troops to Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, to assist with evacuating American personnel. The administration will also continue to evacuate thousands of Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants and their families.
Biden defended his decision in a statement Sunday. “Over our country’s 20 years at war in Afghanistan, America has sent its finest young men and women, invested nearly $1 trillion dollars, trained over 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, equipped them with state-of-the-art military equipment, and maintained their air force as part of the longest war in US history,” Biden said in the statement.
“One more year, or five more years, of US military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country. And an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me,” the statement continued.