Even in the final days of Washington's chaotic airlift in Afghanistan, Javed Habibi was getting phone calls from the US Government promising that the green card holder from Richmond, Virginia, his wife and their four daughters would not be left behind.
He was told to stay home and not worry, that they would be evacuated. Late Monday, however, his heart sank as he heard that the final U.S. Flights had left Kabul's airport, followed by the blistering staccato sound of Taliban gunfire, celebrating what they saw as their victory over America.
“They lied to us,” Habibi said of the US government. He is among hundreds of American citizens and green card holders stranded in the Afghan capital.
Victoria Nuland, undersecretary of state for political affairs, would not address individual cases but said all U.S. Citizens and lawful permanent residents who could not get evacuation flights or were otherwise stranded had been contacted individually in the past 24 hours and told to expect further information about routes out once those have been arranged.
“We will communicate directly to them personalized instructions on what they should do, when they should do it, and how the United States government feels we are best positioned to help them do that," added State Department spokesman Ned Price.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised the evacuation effort despite the scenes of thousands of people jammed outside the gates at Kabul's airport.