On Tuesday, the State Department and the White House drew scrutiny after they disclosed that there were still Americans and legal residents trapped in Afghanistan over three months after President Biden abandoned them there. Yet on Wednesday, when ABC was the only network to cover the ongoing humanitarian crisis there, they failed to mention those Americans.
ABC originally ignored the Tuesday discloser. And as NewsBusters reported, World News Tonight, along with CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News, spent a combined four minutes and six seconds covering holiday shipping and carrier deadlines.
“The White House today was again forced to defend itself against discrepancies in the number of Americans left stranded in Afghanistan, after the State Department released figures showing the number was far higher than President Biden claimed in August,” reported Fox News State Department correspondent Benjamin Hall on Tuesday's Special Report.
With roughly a dozen Americans reportedly still trapped in a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, ABC chose to focus on the worsening humanitarian crisis Biden created by withdrawing the way he did. Although Biden was never once mentioned in their reports.
“You have sanctions, frozen aid, the pandemic, and despite the snow, there’s also a drought in the country. All that means is that hunger and starvation aren’t just at the door, they’re endemic throughout the country,” reported ABC senior foreign correspondent Ian Pannell reported on Wednesdays Good Morning America.
In visiting a children’s hospital in Kabul, Pannell introduced viewers to two-year-old Mohamed Chakri, “he weighs just 11 pounds, less than half the average two-year-old boy in America. His mum can’t get the tests he needs or the medicine that might keep him alive. They have no money.”
During World News Tonight later that evening, Pannell was back to discuss how “Taliban militants are facing two new battles” starvation and attacks from ISIS-K:
The last time we were at Kabul airport, it was controlled by the U.S. military. But today, it's these fighters. The Taliban, armed with U.S.-made M4 rifles. However, having forced Americans and NATO to withdraw from the country, and now having to battle an insurgency of their own against ISIS.
ISIS carried out that devastating attack on U.S. forces and Afghan civilians in August that left 13 U.S. servicemen and women dead. Since then, they've taken the fight to the Taliban. The U.S. military fears ISIS or Al Qaeda could use Afghanistan to launch terror attacks against America again.
“$280 million in emergency aid has been okayed by the United States and others, but it is likely not enough,” he lamented to anchor David Muir. “It won't reach hungry mouths until the end of the year and the situation right now in Afghanistan seems as bad as I can remember it in 20 years of reporting here.”
The humanitarian crisis is certainly worth covering. But ABC and the other broadcast networks also need to keep an eye on how many Americans were still stranded in the country by the President.
ABC’s failure to mention the Americans still trapped in Afghanistan was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from WeatherTech and Disney. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
December 15, 2021
6:42:20 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: Overseas tonight, our team is back in Afghanistan, and what they've witnessed is truly horrifying. A humanitarian crisis now unfolding. Children on the edge of starvation. A 2-year-old weighing just 11 pounds. And with the Taliban now in control, ISIS is now taking aim at them. Our Ian Pannell from Afghanistan tonight.
[Cuts to video]
IAN PANNELL: Tonight, Taliban militants are facing two new battles, four months after they seized power in Afghanistan and American troops left.
The last time we were at Kabul airport, it was controlled by the U.S. military. But today, it's these fighters. The Taliban, armed with U.S.-made M4 rifles. However, having forced Americans and NATO to withdraw from the country, and now having to battle an insurgency of their own against ISIS.
ISIS carried out that devastating attack on U.S. forces and Afghan civilians in August that left 13 U.S. servicemen and women dead. Since then, they've taken the fight to the Taliban. The U.S. military fears ISIS or Al Qaeda could use Afghanistan to launch terror attacks against America again.
But Taliban commanders like Mawlawi Mohammad Salim Saad try to play down the threat.
“They aren't that strong," he says. Though many of his fighters are on the front lines against ISIS in the east.
But the bigger battle tonight isn't ISIS, but hunger.
A mix of sanctions and drought has brought the country to the brink of catastrophe. The beds at this children's hospital are now overflowing with malnourished children. Mohammed is 2 years old and weighs just 11 pounds. That's less than half the weight of an average American 2-year-old boy.
You can see, poor little thing, just skin and bone. You must feel very hopeless, very helpless.
Mohammed’s mom says she has a prescription to help ease size suffering, but no money to get it.
The U.N. warns a million children are at risk of dying of starvation this winter. These images may be difficult to watch, but the lives of these children now depends on the world's attention and response.
[Cuts to video]
David, $280 million in emergency aid has been okayed by the United States and others, but it is likely not enough. It won't reach hungry mouths until the end of the year and the situation right now in Afghanistan seems as bad as I can remember it in 20 years of reporting here. David?
MUIR: Just awful to see the faces of those children. Ian Pannell back with our team tonight and we sure do appreciate it.
