The United States finally began evacuation operations for American citizens trapped in war-torn Sudan late Friday. A convoy left Khartoum on a long journey to safety. Armed drones are reported to have monitored its progress.

Two rival generals are battling it out for power and the country is in chaos. The United States evacuated its staff at the U.S. embassy and closed it down. There were words of disapproval of the escalating violence in the country – Joe Biden called the violence “unconscionable” and thanked the U.S. troops who evacuated the American staffers from Sudan. This left thousands of American citizens, many of whom are dual citizens, stranded in the country without an American embassy to help secure a way out to safety. Flashbacks to the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan came to mind. The message sent by Team Biden to Americans looking for assistance was that they were on their own.

A common criticism was that the embassy should have remained open, at least long enough to get those Americans who wanted to leave out of the country. The appearance was that the embassy staff was rescued at the expense of American citizens living and working in Sudan. Not a good look, to be sure. Why weren’t the Americans being evacuated? Other countries were getting their people out of there. The U.K., for example, got to work evacuating its citizens

The Biden administration has a very bad habit of cutting and running when American lives are on the line. To be blunt, it is a dereliction of duty. The commander-in-chief is responsible for keeping Americans safe and that includes doing what he can for those overseas. If Joe Biden wants to talk “unconscionable”, he needs to look no further than his withdrawal from Afghanistan. There are still Americans left behind there who are trying to get out. America used to have a motto – leave no man behind. Whatever happened to that? It’s vanished in Biden’s America.

The temporary ceasefire has not been held. A Sudanese-American doctor was stabbed to death as he took his father to the doctor. He was the second American death.

The death of Bushra Ibnauf Sulieman, a Sudanese-American father-of-four, was announced by the Sudanese American Medical Association.

He was in the capital Khartoum with his wife and two young children while caring for his parents and providing frontline medical help during the armed clashes.

He died from stab wounds after being attacked as he escorted his father to a medical appointment during a tentative ceasefire.

Earlier an American doctor has been identified as the second U.S. citizen to have died in fierce fighting that has rocked the African nation of Sudan.

‘He was someone who believed in Sudan,’ his friend and colleague Dr. Yasir Elamin told the BBC World Service.

‘He spent a significant amount of his time educating the next generation of Sudanese doctors. He was very charismatic … everybody loved him.’

The American effort is getting underway as other countries are ending their evacuation operations. Joe Biden leads from behind. The U.K.’s evacuation efforts have gone well enough that a lack of demand allows them to end evacuation flights within the next 24 hours. A State Department spokesman said several hundred U.S. citizens have left Sudan by land, sea, or air. Officials helped Americans get seats on flights operated by allies. The question is why is this taking so long? Sudan has been a hotbed for years. Isn’t there consistent monitoring of the situation on the ground? Why wasn’t there a plan in place that could be executed immediately when it became clear that it was time to evacuate?

The White House press secretary advised American citizens to get out now if they want to leave. Easy for her to say.

And Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the United States had deployed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to support air and land evacuation routes, which Americans were using.

‘This is a dynamic environment, and any option entails a degree of risk,’ she said Thursday.

‘But because the situation is unlikely to improve, we encourage Americans who want to leave to take advantage of the options that are available to them in the next 24 to 48 hours.’

So, late on Friday, a convoy of buses with about 300 Americans left Sudan. The plan was to make a 525-mile trip to the Red Sea. It was the first organized effort to evacuate private citizens. Would the Biden administration have made this effort if it had not come under criticism for leaving thousands of Americans behind while closing the embassy? That’s a question without an answer right now. Biden is up for re-election and his actions are suspect. For a man who touts his foreign policy cred, he remains hands-off when it comes to international affairs and protecting American lives.