* President Biden has defended the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, and insisted: 'One more year, or five more years, of US military presence would not have made a difference'
* The withdrawal was blasted by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as an 'embarrassment to our nation'
* Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell called for airstrikes against the Taliban on Friday
* US Embassy will be evacuated in 72 hours, with some staffers already at Kabul airport, according to reports
* News of the evacuation broke shortly after the Taliban took the northern Afghan stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif, and now controls the territories to the North, South and East of Kabul
* US Embassy staff in Kabul will destroy 'sensitive' materials, which a Department of State spokesperson said was 'standard operating procedure' to avoid propaganda efforts
* The first two waves of 5,000 Marines and Army soldiers arrived to help evacuate Kabul and the rest are expected to reach the city by Sunday evening
* Officials said two Marine battalions and an Army battalion were deployed to the Embassy
* The Taliban has moved within seven miles of Kabul and tightened their grip around the capital
* Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said, 'Afghanistan is in serious danger of instability'
* He said he's engaging with Afghan and international leaders, and consultations are 'urgently ongoing and the results will soon be shared'
* President Joe Biden was on his way to Camp David in Maryland on Friday but didn't speak to reporters and hasn't made any public comments Saturday
President Biden has defended the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan even as the Taliban take over whole swathes of the country - and has blamed predecessor Donald Trump for a deal that left the warlords 'in the strongest position militarily since 2001'.
He also announced that he was increasing the number of US troops being deployed to protect the withdrawal from the US embassy to 5,000.
Around 1,000 service members are already on the ground and 3,000 more were already being sent next week, before officials announced the deployment of an extra 1,000 as the situation escalated Saturday.
The US Embassy in Afghanistan will be evacuated in 72 hours under the protection of the military, and some staffers have already arrived at the Kabul international airport, according to reports.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: I do not call this a U.S. drawdown. This is a mass evacuation with panic in the air.
As for blaming former President Trump for this disaster. It is not working. The media is overwhelmingly blaming President Biden.
Update: Former President Trump has responded to President Biden blaming him for the unfolding disaster .... Trump slams Biden for not 'following the plan' he left on Afghanistan (The Hill).
More News On President Biden Restating His Commitment to Withdraw From Afghanistan
Biden sends 5,000 troops to Afghanistan, blames Trump for Taliban resurgence -- Washington Examiner
Biden restates commitment to Afghan drawdown amid Taliban offensive -- Politico
Biden adds forces for the Afghan evacuation and defends his withdrawal decision -- CNBC/Reuters
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