‘The war is not over, we’re not going to be able to rescue everybody’: Retired Colonel Jack Jacobs on Afghanistan

Retired Colonel Jack Jacobs told CNBC that President Joe Biden will be unable to fulfill his promise of ending the war in Afghanistan and rescuing all Americans and U.S. allies from the country. 

“The war is not over, we’re not going to be able to rescue everybody, and I’m afraid that if we’re not careful, if our allies aren’t careful, if the Taliban’s not careful, we’re going to wind up with terrorists who are out of everybody’s control, and are going to be threatening us and our allies again in the future,” said Jacobs, an NBC News military analyst.

Biden alluded to plans to develop targets among ISIS-K during his Thursday evening remarks, after a suicide bomber outside the city’s airport killed at least 113 people, including 13 U.S. service members.

“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said on Thursday, speaking from the White House.

Jacobs told “The News with Shepard Smith” that the war would not be over because of the continued fighting among the terror groups in the country. 

“You’re going to see a continuation of battles among the Taliban, and all the splinter groups who are trying to dispossess the Taliban,” said Jacobs, a recipient of the U.S. Army Medal of Honor and Vietnam war hero. “That’s going to go on for a long period of time.”

Jacobs told host Shepard Smith that he’s spoken to people on the ground in Afghanistan who said that Afghans are realizing they won’t be able to evacuate through Kabul and are scrambling to find additional ways out. 

“They’re making their way to the border, trying to get past Taliban checkpoints on the border through Uzbekistan and other places,” said Jacobs. “I think, unfortunately, we’re going to hear about a lot of unpleasantness even after we leave.”

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.