Most experts have already agreed that if Joe Biden wants to get everyone off the ground, the August 31 deadline will have to be extended.

Biden was probably hoping to wait until the last minute to make that call, but the Pentagon has now put him on the clock.

According to a Reuters report, the Pentagon has told Biden if he expects to be on the ground past August 31, he has 24 hours to let him know.

Repercussions

On Tuesday, Joe Biden is expected to sit down with his fellow G7 members to discuss Afghanistan.

There will more than likely be significant pressure to extend the August 31 deadline from virtually everyone in attendance.

Pressure has already been applied, actually, with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas recently stating, “Even if the deadline is Aug. 31 or is extended by a few days, it will not be enough to evacuate those we want to evacuate and those that the United States wants to evacuate.”

Now the Pentagon is adding to that pressure because it will need to immediately start a troop drawdown if all boots are going to be off the ground within a week.

The danger for Biden, however, is that if he announces an extended deadline, he gives the Taliban all that much more time to react.

The Taliban has already stated that it has no plans to extend the deadline as well as there being “consequences” paid if we still have boots on the ground after August 31.

Will the Taliban start taking hostages or, worse, start to massacre people in the streets?

Biden has managed to back himself into a no-win situation here as I do not see how everyone gets out without either lives lost or a major concession to the Taliban that will enrage our allies and our own citizens.

Source: Reuters & New York Post