IT’S A HOSTAGE CRISIS, WHERE THE HOSTAGES ARE KEPT IN AFGHANISTAN BY . . . U.S. THE STATE DEPARTMENT? State Dept. won’t give private rescue flights OK to leave Afghanistan. “The State Department said it will not formally approve the departure of chartered planes from Afghanistan carrying Americans and allies — complicating efforts by private citizens to complete the evacuation of the left-behind, according to an email obtained by Fox News.”

Plus: “Since the American military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan ended Aug. 30, private citizens and nonprofit groups have scrambled to arrange transportation out of Taliban-controlled territory for the dozens of American citizens and estimated thousands of Afghans who assisted US-led NATO forces during the two-decade-long war. White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued last week that the notion that the Biden administration was stopping such initiatives was incorrect.”

Well, Jen Psaki argues a lot of things.