Taliban insurgents take Kandahar, Herat as US plans to evacuate Americans from embassy in KabulNothing like a well planned and executed withdrawal.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/taliban-takes-kandahar

I just commented on this here

the US leaves amess behind (askmehelpdesk.com) (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=848232&p=3872877#post3872877)

All this leaves is the stench of defeat

How did the Australian withdrawal go when you pulled out the 25 truck drivers you had there (or whatever it was)? The country that does basically nothing is in no place to criticize.

military intelligence . The evacuation has to happen at the Karzai International Airport ;an airport right in the middle of residential areas in the city . We gave up Bagram base without a fight deserting it in the dead of night ,leaving some very expensive equipment behind .

What happens when Afghani's seeing the US Embassy bugging out realize the gravity of the situation swarm the airport in a mad dash to escape ? Will that powerhouse Afghan military be able to maintain a perimeter around the airport long enough for us to leave ? We could have scenes of Saigon with personnel being chopper-lift off the roof of the embassy and no way to evacuate them out of the country.

Comparison to Saigon withdrawal is bad enough. How about comparison to the Brit evacuation through the Khyber Pass.
After massacre, sole surviving British soldier escapes Kabul - HISTORY (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sole-british-soldier-escapes-kabul)

military intelligence . The evacuation has to happen at the Karzai International Airport ;an airport right in the middle of residential areas in the city . We gave up Bagram base without a fight deserting it in the dead of night ,leaving some very expensive equipment behind .

What happens when Afghani's seeing the US Embassy bugging out realize the gravity of the situation swarm the airport in a mad dash to escape ? Will that powerhouse Afghan military be able to maintain a perimeter around the airport long enough for us to leave ? We could have scenes of Saigon with personnel being chopper-lift off the roof of the embassy and no way to evacuate them out of the country.

Comparison to Saigon withdrawal is bad enough. How about comparison to the Brit evacuation through the Khyber Pass.
After massacre, sole surviving British soldier escapes Kabul - HISTORY (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sole-british-soldier-escapes-kabul)


Instead of crowing about a possible bad result for our soldiers and our country as it tries to extricate itself from a lousy situation, why don't you offer some encouragement to the brave men and women in uniform who find themselves in harm's way trying to protect our fellow citizens and our allies?

You mean like you would be doing if it was a Trump administration responsible for this mess?

One wonders why everyone wasn't evacuated at the same time, afterall it isn't as though the Taliban are rational

Very true. I'd love to see the rationale for this withdrawal being done in the mannerin which it has been done.

crowing ? Do you think we should've bugged out of Bagran the way we did ? Being there may have been folly (remember the emperor called it the good war )

I have nothing but admiration and respect for the troops . Left to their devises we would not be serving them the cr@p sandwich we did .

Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Molly Montgomery posted a tweet yesterday that said ;"Woke up with a heavy heart, thinking about all the Afghan women and girls I worked with during my time in Kabul,. They were the beneficiaries of many of the gains we made, and now they stand to lose everything. We empowered them to lead, and now we are powerless to protect them,"
She quickly deleted it ,no doubt under orders from the Administration .

We are welcoming in thousands of translators and others who assisted us . But it is sad to think of what is to become of the many women who were empowered during our time there.

It is a betrayal of trust .Our allies around the world must think that there is a time clock on American's commitments to them .

Russian representatives recently met with representatives of nations in the Caspian Sea basin , What was the Russian message to them ? The Russians have to be overjoyed at the chaotic withdrawal of the US from central Asia . Russia is telling them that they need to come back to the protection of the Russian bear because the US has walked away from it's commitment to a stable central Asia . https://www.aljazeera.com/.../central-asia-taliban... (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/6/central-asia-taliban-afghanistan?fbclid=IwAR38VkgNLTS1lpzHavCCp4-VrEAowTY_E4Nc9_NP8Ne6znWtkf--b_c5yPo)

Instead of crowing about a possible bad result for our soldiers and our country as it tries to extricate itself from a lousy situation, why don't you offer some encouragement to the brave men and women in uniform who find themselves in harm's way trying to protect our fellow citizens and our allies?

our soldiers are among them, what is deplored here is the shocking lack of leadership on the part of the nation that wants to lead

Yeah. It's a shame the lieutenant in charge of the three dozen Aussies wasn't in command.

Well at least he didn't run like a coward the experience might make him a General some day

Oh? He's still there? Really?

We all know that when the Americans started leaving, the Aussies immediately jumped on planes and headed out.

Madam Mim told members of the House that she has arranged for a House-wide, classified briefing on Afghanistan early in the week of August 23rd when members return. Here is what the briefing will say ...... The Taliban took over Afghanistan and Americans were stranded there while you were on vacation.

Taliban enters Afghan presidential palace after Ghani flees: Live | Joe Biden News | Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/15/taliban-continues-advances-captures-key-city-of-jalalabad)

US Says Kabul Airport Under Fire As Taliban Seize Afghan Capital (ndtv.com) (https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-says-kabul-airport-under-fire-after-taliban-enters-afghan-capital-2511117)

WATCH: The rush to flee Afghanistan, chaos at Kabul airport | French ambassador leaves on helicopter - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuNS2M0VMQ)

Chaos at Kabul airport, hundreds want to leave Afghanistan. Gunshots can be heard. #shorts #kabul - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Eup6vl6js)

Below is a chopper leaving the US Embassy . Deja vu


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E80EKPSWUAQRwxg?format=jpg&name=900x900

At least Biden managed to get a military that admits transgender individuals and places women in more combat positions. As to the rest...Oh well.

Madam Mim said :"The President is to be commended for the clarity of purpose of his statement on Afghanistan and his action. The Taliban must know the world is watching its actions. We are concerned about reports regarding the Taliban’s brutal treatment of all Afghans, especially women and girls."

ummm Quid is at Camp David . But yeah he makes good statements .

Madam Mim tweeted :"The U.S., the international community and the Afghan government must do everything we can to protect women and girls from inhumane treatment by the Taliban. As we strive to assist them, we must recognize that their voices are important and respect their culture."

The women have no protection .Taliban are forcing girls as young as 12 to be given to them for marriage. This is what happens with an unconditional hasty withdrawal . Americans are fleeing for their lives right now while the Kabul airport is under fire. Quid is to be commended ?
Afghans Tell of Executions, Forced ‘Marriages’ in Taliban-Held Areas - WSJ (https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghans-tell-of-executions-forced-marriages-in-taliban-held-areas-11628780820)

Madam Mim tweeted : "Congress shares the President's concern for Afghans who have assisted U.S. efforts in country. Most of all, we join the President in acknowledging the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and their families. " A poorly thought out exit led to this disaster American lives lost and treasure squandered .

Quid will address the nation about Afghanistan in the next few days,

(3) President Biden expected to address nation regarding Afghanistan in the next few days (cnn.com) (https://www.cnn.com/webview/world/live-news/afghanistan-taliban-us-troops-intl-08-15-21/h_fca9b795e966c68b7428381279612c47)

Crisis will be over by then except the negotiations to free the US hostages left behind.

Prediction. “It is all Trump’s fault.”

probably . But Trump is not presiding over this disaster . Quid wanted the optics of being able to say all US forces were out of Afganistan on the 20th anniversary of 9-11.

An orderly withdrawal was possible . The Taliban made no advances when the US was giving air support to the Afghan army. So we could've held out for as long as necessary . For 20 years the Taliban made an offensive in the spring and retreated to their Paki bases in the winter . Had Quid held out to the winter ,there would've been an orderly transfer.

Every single Quid stooge was there when the emperor made a hasty retreat from Iraq ;only to have to return to take on ISIS . The Taliban is releasing from jail not only Taliban fighters ,but also AQ terrorists that were detained .

At least Biden managed to get a military that admits transgender individuals and places women in more combat positions. As to the rest...Oh well.



U.S. Embassy Kabul



@USEmbassyKabul
(https://twitter.com/USEmbassyKabul)

The month of June is recognized as (LGBTI) Pride Month. The United States respects the dignity & equality of LGBTI people & celebrates their contributions to the society. We remain committed to supporting civil rights of minorities, including LGBTI persons. #Pride2021 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pride2021?src=hashtag_click) #PrideMonth (https://twitter.com/hashtag/PrideMonth?src=hashtag_click)

While we are discussing great accomplishments by the Biden admin, we learn yesterday that seizure of illegal drugs along the border (meth and fentanyl in particular) are more than twice as high in only eight months as the entire 12 months of last year. Plainly the cartels are far bolder in shipping drugs across the border.

well I guess you have to have pride in something


While we are discussing great accomplishments by the Biden admin, we learn yesterday that seizure of illegal drugs along the border (meth and fentanyl in particular) are more than twice as high in only eight months as the entire 12 months of last year. Plainly the cartels are far bolder in shipping drugs across the border.

that's what you take away from that?

No. I also took away that Australia is wonderful in all respects and an absolute world leader in military defense.

You can't hide the truth, our borders are closed

The fish aren’t trying to get in?

The fish aren’t trying to get in?

no, nor are the Chinese the abos like a little garlic with their chink

Back to the theme, another tiny nation has declared victory over the invader. The Taliban, like the Vietcong but unlike ISIS, have prevailed. Afghanistan has a long history of being the graveyard of invaders, something the US should have learned from. What this tells us is you should never write off the tiny nations

something the US should have learned from.Didn't you say earlier that the Aussies were there? Why didn't you guys learn that before entering?

Stupidly we followed you

We went to war against the Taliban after 9/11, with across the board support from allies and partners, as well as with clear moral sanction and justification . America’s military action against OBL's jihadiststan and their Taliban enablers was justifiable retaliation for the murder of thousands of U.S. citizens. The objective was clear ; to kill or capture OBL and other senior figures in his terrorist group, and those Taliban leaders who gave him safe haven. When OBL escaped Afghanistan and the Taliban driven from power ,we should've handed over the country to our Afghan allies ,the Northern Alliance. In this our troops and allies forces served bravely .

Bush and the emperor reformulated the goal from GWOT to “Overseas Contingency Operations” (OCO) . The mission became murky and ill defined .Neither wanted to be the one who "lost " ( the emperor called it the good war .)

Trump challenged the assumptions and was met with resistance that was the equivalent of a coup attempt by members of the US intel community ,military ,and state . Still he made the goal clear ;end our war in Afghanistan .

Quid was chosen to be VP by the emperor because of his foreign policy expertise . Enough said about that. The rapid fall of Afghanistan into chaos disproves that assumption .
Quid should've addressed the nation yesterday . Instead we are told he will in the coming days . Yesterday was a horrible disaster and he was AWOL .

Yesterday was a horrible disaster and he was AWOL .He is on vacation. Perhaps he is, in some ways, on permanent vacation. At any rate, the withdrawal was poorly executed. When Biden gets around to addressing the nation, he will no doubt blame the whole mess on Trump in the same way Obama spent several years blaming everything on Bush.

I don't see how he gets away with the non-evacuation of possibly thousands of US citizens stuck there after they were advised to "shelter in place" ......no doubt with masks ,vax ,and proper social distancing .

Quid's failures are cascading and he really doesn't seem to even recognize them. Even the legacy compliant press and his apologists on cable news are perplexed .
So far this month ,inflation ,covid ,the border are all out of control....and now Afghanistan . Clearly a good time to skip town and disappear.

This was CNNs reporting this morning :


Biden is expected to address the nation in the next few days about the crisis in Afghanistan, according to a senior administration official, though a final decision on a speech hadn't been made and the President hasn't yet cut short his summer vacation visit to Camp David.



(And this is not just here . Brit Foreign Sec Dominic Raab was on vacation all this week as the events unfolded .)

The really sickening part, aside from giving up what had been earned by American blood, is leaving the tens of thousands of Afghans who had helped us in the lurch who will now be rounded up and shot by the Taliban. Biden's performance in this whole mess has been abysmal. We were doing a relatively good job of holding the country with the ten thousand or so troops we had there. I wish we would learn that once we commit ourselves to a foreign nation and involve many of their people in supporting what is being done, we cannot under any circumstances just decide to pull out and hit the road. It was a terrible decision.

His strength was supposed to be foreign policy . Right now if being generous ,he is right up their with Lord Elphinstone . Already hearing reports of beheadings of prisoners


. I wish we would learn that once we commit ourselves to a foreign nation and involve many of their people in supporting what is being done, we cannot under any circumstances just decide to pull out and hit the road. It was a terrible decision.

Did you hear Trey Gowdy's powerful commentary yesterday ?
Trey Gowdy: 'Have we kept our word' to the Afghan people? | Fox News (https://www.foxnews.com/media/trey-gowdy-have-we-kept-word-to-afghan-people)

As I heard Trey Gowdy say, "It's not mission accomplished, but rather mission abandoned."

The mission was abandoned a long time ago, you kicked the shlt out of el Qaeda and that should have been an end to it, but no, the do-gooders stepped in and interfered in their civil war

AQ was not defeated . They are in Afghanistan still under the Taliban's patronage. Now that Taliban owns the country expect AQ bases to reconstitute . There were no US combat deaths there last year . A few thousand troops there in a non-combat intel and training mission would've had asset close enough to deal with them. That is why giving up Bagram was such a huge mistake (let alone all the equipment now in the Taliban hands ) A US base in a hostile nation ? Well we have had one in Cuba since 1960 .

The mission to prevent AQ from securing state sponsored sanctuary was ongoing until Quid gave a hard deadline for withdrawal. The nation-state building was a folly . Ending the original mission still ongoing until Quid decided on the optics of ending US involvement by the 20th anniversary of 9-11 will go down as one of the biggest policy blunders in US history .

I wonder how often the Taliban look at each other and think, "Man, those Americans sure are dumb. Look at all this combat gear they just left for the pickings."

Quid : we will retreat swiftly and forcefully .

"We were clear-eyed about the risk. We planned for every contingency."

The buck stops with me.”EXCEPT, I will blame everyone else and then tout the Bin Laden killing, which I opposed!

"We planned for every contingency but this one!"

Well, the good news is they're setting records at the southern border for illegal crossings and have no control over the latest Covid spike. No...uhm, wait a minute.

Is Jen Psaki the new Baghdad Bob ?

https://external-atl3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=AQEA_hi1ONHuWj9o&w=500&h=261&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.babylonbee.com%2Farticles% 2Farticle-9264-1.jpg&cfs=1&ext=jpg&_nc_oe=6e804&ccb=3-5&_nc_hash=AQHL1sPW_xMXGfr8

The White House has planned for every contingency, even joining the Taliban

Latest headline. "Biden admin plans transfer of power to Taliban killers once fighters agree to treat women better (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/anthony-blinken-speaks-on-the-fall-of-kabul)"
Earth to Biden. I think the transfer of power has already pretty much taken place.

Latest headline. "Biden admin plans transfer of power to Taliban killers once fighters agree to treat women better (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/anthony-blinken-speaks-on-the-fall-of-kabul)"

.

Yeh, like that is going to happen afterall you have their word for it

You mean the Taliban can't be trusted? We really should let Mr. Biden be aware of that.

I was wrong ... Madam Mim wins the Baghdad Bob award

"The President is to be commended for his strong leadership and exceptional focus on bringing American military involvement in Afghanistan to an end. He does so ensuring that Americans and our Afghan partners make it to safety as soon as possible"

Yes now your retreat, eh! rout, is complete. You can focus on other things, such as repelling the hordes on your southern border. Oh wait, you already tried that and have been routed there too. You should have kept Mexico when you conquered it. The Aztec revenge is at hand

Bitterness must be such a heavy burden for you.

No I'm lighthearted, can't you tell? I don't carry burdens whereas you carry the burden of manifest destiny


He does so ensuring that Americans and our Afghan partners make it to safety as soon as possible"
one C17 does not an exodus make, someone should tell Joe to wake up

Yeah. That must surely be it. “Lighthearted”.

Remember the words of the 23rd Psalm

one C17 does not an exodus make, someone should tell Joe to wake up

consider this scenario. There is NO security check of the Afghans that have swarmed into the airport. All that is needed is one suicide bomber clinging to a C-17 as it attempts to lift off . Evac operations over . The military there would have to forcefully clear the runway and set a hard perimeter at the point of the gun. Video that goes viral is a smoldering C-17 ;dead civilians ,and US troops firing on Afghan civilians .

The person who decided to leave Bagram and to attempt an evac from an airport in the middle of the city should be executed .

Just an unbelievably incompetent and botched evacuation/withdrawal. It's as though no one put one ounce of thought into it. This is after Biden promised us all that the withdrawal of our forces would not result in the same experiences we saw in South Vietnam.

After he blamed Trump ,the Afghanis ,almost anyone else for the disaster he said "the buck stops here " .

"The buck stops here after, of course, it first makes a couple of dozen stops elsewhere, by which time it is only worth a nickel."

He said he was just following Trump's policy. If that is so then why didn't he adopt other Trump policies like closing the border , prosperous economy , tax cuts etc. ?

Was he incapable of formulating his own policies? You know, like he did when he opened the military to TG's?

Where have all the liberal dems on this site gone? Did they just give up?

Here is another interesting factoid . Khairullah Khairkhwa, a Taliban commander, was released from GITMO n 2014 by the emperor in exchange for deserter/traitor Bowe Bergdahl. Khairkhwa was part of the Taliban delegation that negotiated the final terms of the withdrawal of US troops. .

Others released along with Khairkhwa were Mohammed Nabi, who served as chief of security for the Taliban in Qalat; Mohammad Fazl, who according to Human Rights Watch allegedly presided over the mass killing of Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan in 2000 and 2001; Abdul Haq Wasiq, who served as the Taliban deputy minister of intelligence and Mullah Norullah Nori, who was a senior Taliban commander in Mazar-e-Sharif in 2001.

fellow travellers all and all on a departing C17, no doubt

Quid campaign was going to cooperate with the allies ,especially NATO ,and keep communication and dialogue open ;in contrast to the unilateral Trump. But all I am hearing is shock shock shock that Quid ;the adult in the room apparently did his thoughtless withdrawal without any consultation and coordination with our NATO allies . 10s of thousands of them are stranded ;not only in Kabul ,but throughout Afghanistan.

Boris Johnson recalled the government from vacation. British Ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow could've bailed . But he stayed behind in Kabul and is helping coordinate the Brit evacuation and processing visas .

Contrast that with Congress not being recalled ;with Quid only showing up at the White House to regurgitate a speech full of lies and contradictions that someone else wrote for him before he went back to his bunker in Camp David .US ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson was one of the first evacuated and one of the 1st to leave the country . Americans in Kabul are being told by our military to make their way to the airport ;that the Taliban will safeguard their passage . The State Dept is telling all Americans in Afghanistan to 'shelter in place '.

The primary thing is to wear their masks and use the appropriate pronouns for any TG folks they might encounter.

I wonder who the Taliban is going to safeguard our people from, the Taliban?

The primary thing is to wear their masks and use the appropriate pronouns for any TG folks they might encounter.

I wonder who the Taliban is going to safeguard our people from, the Taliban?

The Taliban have said they would, they said it didn't they? Maybe it is a new day and Muslim doesn't speak with forked tongue. Then again old habits die hard

https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/taliban-kill-woman-for-not-wearing-burqa-on-same-day-it-vows-to-honour-womens-rights/news-story/bd1975d32af4a031677fd0be28a266ec

maybe from all those prisoners they unleashed on the city when they emptied the jails .

don't make excuses for them, they are afterall Muslim extremists

Safe passage to the airport .... I wonder what deal Quid pro Joe arranged . Was Hunter involved ? Maybe it was leaving the military hardware behind ? just speculating .Are there pallets of cash loaded on one of the C-17s ? It worked in negotiations with Iran.

Afghans are desperately erasing their internet histories Many are worried that any trace of promoting education or work with westerns, military or civilian NGOs will risk reprisal. At the same time ,many Afghans also need that information to get the necessary visas to leave. They can't carry the necessary documentation because they don't want to risk carrying that through Taliban check points .

Can you imagine the outrage if, while Trump was on vacation, Afghanistan had fallen into total chaos? And then Trump leaves his vacation long enough to make a speech basically blaming it on everyone but himself, and then returned to his vacation as though nothing serious had happened? The liberal news media would have exploded!

Joe needs his rest, being president and having to make a decision is exhausting

https://scontent-atl3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/p843x403/236828964_10158741261947408_4796704573319833986_n. jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=2c4854&_nc_ohc=J5uL614jp3MAX_KE6WL&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-2.xx&oh=160112bd5a2dcb47cad15d25dc52258a&oe=61448763

Biden in two minds again, typical politician

https://scontent-atl3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/p843x403/239648888_5917282605012218_7098095225020250640_n.j pg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=nvktli-HsrMAX9bsAxV&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-2.xx&oh=bd19ba90d947d54659a219779b98c857&oe=6124D79F