Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy questioned press secretary Jen Psaki on the logistics of getting American citizens out of Afghanistan once all troops were out of the country.
Doocy asked what kind of leverage the United States is expected to have, once there was no U.S. military presence, against the Taliban — who seemed reluctant in many cases to allow Afghan allies and even American citizens and green card holders to pass through checkpoints en route to the airport in Kabul. (RELATED: Biden Puts His Head Down After Peter Doocy Reminds Him Trump Is No Longer President)
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Doocy began with a question about Biden’s promise to hunt down those responsible for Thursday’s terror attack in Kabul, which killed 13 American service members.
“The president says we will ‘hunt you down and make you pay,’ what does that look like? Will he order a mission to kill the people responsible or be satisfied if they are captured and brought to trial?” Doocy asked.
“I think he made clear yesterday he does not want them to live on the earth anymore,” Psaki replied.
Doocy went on to ask about the known terrorists, some of whom have American bounties on their heads, who have been working within the Taliban.
“Will we try to bring those known terrorists to justice before we leave the country?” he asked.
Psaki said that the top priority was still to make sure that American citizens and Afghan allies were evacuated as quickly and safely as possible.
“This is not a preferred relationship or a situation that we would have designed if we had started from scratch. I think that is very clear,” she said.
“You said you think we will have a great deal of leverage over the Taliban after we leave. Do you think we will have more leverage with no troops on the ground in Afghanistan than with thousands of troops on the ground in Afghanistan?” Doocy pressed. (RELATED: PATEL: Who’s Really To Blame For Afghanistan?)
Psaki argued that the leverage the United States would have once troops were gone was through a partnership with other allies. She pointed to economic measures that the U.S. and other actors could take as well as cooperative efforts to ensure that the airport in Kabul remained operational.
“That is something we need to work with our international partners on, we will update you with more,” she said.