processing the total numbers when they are safely out of the country. we also verify our numbers to make we aren t inadvertently u.n. cutting or double counting so i wanted to lay all that out because i know it is a fundamental question that some you have and it truly merits going through the the information, the explanation so you see how we arrive at it. while evacuating americans is our top priority, we re also committed to getting out as many afghans at risk as we can before 391st. that starts with our locally employed staff. the folks who have about working side by side in our embassy with with our diplomatic team, and it includes special immigrant visa program participants and has other afghans at risk. it s hard tocomplexity and the this effort. we re operating in a hostile
question. will there any concrete steps about whether they will be for then, left behind and disappeared once the united states withdraws their military and can no longer ensure their safe passage to the airports and other livelihoods. the short answer is they will not be forgotten, and as i said we will use every diplomatic, economic and assistance tool at our disposal working hand in hand with the international community first and foremost to ensure that those who want to leave afghanistan after 391st are able to do so as well as to deal with other issues that we need to be focused on, including counterterrorism and humanitarian assistance and expectations of a future afghan government. i mentioned a few moments ago that we got 114 countries around the world to make clear to the
colleagues across government feel the same way and i can tell you that there will be plenty of time to to look back at the last six or seven months, to look back at the last 20 years and to look to see what we might have done differently, what we might have done sooner what, we might have done more effectively, but i have to tell you that right now my entire focus is on the mission at hand, and there s going to be, as i said, plenty of time to do an accounting of this when we get through that mission. thank, mr. secretary. could you speak today about the future of the u.s. embassy in kabul, whether it will remain or american diplomats will remain in kabul after the military withdrawal on 391st and also more broadly we re already seeing women being repressed by the taliban and people being attacked and intimidated and being kept from getting to the airport. i m wondering if you can give us any concrete examples of steps
being criticized for taking a secret trip to afghanistan. good morning, jackie. reporter: good morning to you guys. the president said that we are on pace to finish the evacuation by august 31, and he s keeping his eyes on that deadline, but he seemed to be opening the door potentially to pushing that, telling the g-7 leaders that the completion of the mission will depend on achievement of our objectives, however, that depends on if the taliban lets people through. the completion by august 31 depends upon the taliban continuing to cooperate, and allow access to the airports. i ve asked the pentagon and the state department for contingency plans to adjust the timetable should that become necessary. reporter: what those contingency plans look like is a big question. jen psaki conferred to adhere to that withdrawal date. the military would need to start pulling out before 391st. it s unclear how many americans are left in the country. only 4,000 passport holders and their families have
0 these are known passport holders. okay. but have have lprs also been contacted? yes. and what about siv applicants, people who are we re in contact will we get i m sorry. i don t expect you to have all of it, but then, you know, since this whole thing began there s been a lot of criticism of the administration over how it handled it and there s been a lot of pushback from people within the administration about the hand that you were basically dealt or what you say you were dealt by the previous to deal with the taliban in terms of the siv program in terms of the broader refugee program. you guys have been in office for eight months. it s been five months since the president s decision was made. is there anything about the shortcomings have about been so readily identified by all sorts of people that you are actually willing to take responsibility for yourselves? thanks, matt. let me say two things. with regards to numbers in these different categories, as you ve