In a recent Pentagon briefing about Afghanistan, John Kirby and others seemed very reluctant to give a yes or no answer to a simple question as to whether or not the US was buying fuel from the Taliban in Kabul. They did not admit nor completely deny the question.
Let’s look at the backstory. After joining the Presidential office, one of Biden’s first things was to cancel the Keystone pipeline. Now this pipeline would’ve solved America’s fuel issues completely. Moreover, after denying the pipeline, the Biden administration urged OPEC to pump more oil to control hiked fuel prices, but they have also refused to comply so far. There is a possibility that US aviation is buying fuel for the C-17’s from the Taliban. The simple question asked at the Pentagon briefing was whether or not US aviation was buying power from the Taliban for its airlift operations. John Kirby and Gen. Hank Taylor stumbled upon the answer that HKIA has plenty of fuel sustainment capability. Both the Bureaucrat and the Military commander did not have any solid answers to the questions. They could not even deny the question entirely.
In one question asking how the fuel for the aircraft was being arranged and whether they were now in a position to take power from the Taliban, Taylor replied that the assets at HKIA are what they need to fulfill the fuel requirement. And when confronted if the answer is no, Kirby replied with a meaningless ‘there’s plenty of fuel’ remark. Both referred to the fuel at HKIA airport in Kabul, a city now under complete Taliban occupation. If the US aviation is indeed getting fuel from there, there was most probably a financial exchange.
