Jeh Johnson: Kabul Airport ‘Is Going to Get a Lot Worse Before it Gets Better’

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said Monday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that the chaotic situation on the ground at the Kabul airport was “going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”

Mitchel said, “I also want to ask you about the debate internally in terms of leaving when we left in May, in the middle of going into the fighting season rather than delaying it. If you’re going to leave, you know, pull out completely, getting the military out safely first, that’s the argument for taking Bagram out first before you get the civilians and the diplomats and the Afghan allies out. That priority, which was debated internally, is really coming into question.”

Johnson said, “Clearly had we predicted what we’re facing now at Hamid Karzai International Airport with Americans and Afghans surging on the airport, we would have left in place our military. We’ve had to put back in something up to 6,000 to deal with the situation at the domestic airport now. So for whatever reason, in the Situation Room, they concluded that they wanted to move the so-called boots on the ground first. Obviously, we’ve had to rethink that. I believe the situation at the airport is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. This is a country of 38 million people. We’ve got to deal with the American citizens, those who qualify for special immigrant visas, but then those who will qualify for refugee status under our laws. That population could snowball.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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