afghans. we want to provide the american people with a brief update on the situation in afghanistan. since i spoke to on monday, we have made significant progress. we have secured the airport, enabling flights to resume. notjust military flights, but civilian charters and from other countries and the ngos taking out civilians and vulnerable afghan civilians. we now have almost 6000 troops on the ground, including the 82nd airborne, providing runway security. the army tenth mountain division standing guard around the airport. the 24th marine expedition units the billing —— assisting in the civilian departure. this is one of the largest and most difficult and less in history. and the only country in the world capable of projecting this much power on the far side of the world with this degree of precision is the united states of america. we have already evacuated more than 18,000 people