There are mixed feelings about private groups attempting to fly Afghans out of the country. The Wall Street Journal reports:
A disparate group of American veterans, military contractors, aid workers and former spies is scrambling to get as many people out of Afghanistan as they can before President Biden shuts down the window for rescues in coming days.
The window to whisk people out of the country is quickly closing. While the United States says the military will leave the country by August 31st, aid organizations have reportedly been told evacuation flights won’t continue past Friday. This shorter deadline is in place to give crews time to remove equipment and troops. The problem is these private missions are facing the same issues as government-run flights. It’s become more difficult to get to the airport. According to the WSJ:
Private rescue efforts are facing growing obstacles this week, just as the urgency grows. Chartered planes are flying out of Kabul with hundreds of empty seats. New Taliban checkpoints on the road to Pakistan have made driving out of the country increasingly risky. Confusing bureaucratic hurdles have prevented countless people from leaving Afghanistan.
While the WSJ points out most of these evacuation efforts are “driven by genuine empathy,” a particular operation is causing controversy. American defense contractor Erik Prince is reportedly asking $6500 per seat for a chartered flight out of Kabul. There is apparently an extra cost to get passengers who are trapped in their homes safely to the airport. Prince is best known as the founder of Blackwater, a private military company that made news when its guards killed Iraqi citizens civilians back in 2007. The Daily Beast writes that he is now “attempting to turn a profit on desperate Afghans who want out of their country.”
The WSJ says, “It remained unclear whether Mr. Prince had the wherewithal to carry out his plans.”
