The streets of Kabul are jammed with panicked civilians fleeing the Taliban’s invasion of the Afghan capital. The national government propped up for two decades by US money and power is now surrendering with hardly a fight.
Biden on Saturday authorized the deployment of 5,000 troops to Afghanistan to aid in the pullout.
“I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 US troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of US personnel and other allied personnel and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance,” Biden said in a statement.
https://twitter.com/BryanDeanWright/status/1426710333264
The level of mismanagement is astonishing. With no military background, I could have told you to 1) Ship all military equipment home, 2) Establish a plan to get US civilians & embassy members out in advance & 3) Offer asylum to all of the natives who assisted us during that time.
— Political Prostitution (@PoliticalPol) August 15, 2021
This is happening in Kabul right now.
Biden has allowed the Taliban to regain control.
Now civilians are fleeing the country.
Watch as they stampede onto an evacuation flight.
Biden did this. pic.twitter.com/GDdNDNjGPQ
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) August 15, 2021
We give the last word for this latest update to FT op-ed writer Gideon Rachman who presciently notes:
If Donald Trump were presiding over the debacle in Afghanistan, the US foreign policy establishment would be loudly condemning the irresponsibility and immorality of American strategy. Since it is Joe Biden in the White House there is instead, largely, an embarrassed silence.
One thing of note – which we are sure Fauci and Biden will quickly clamp down on – none of the evacuees appear to be wearing masks!!
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Update (1200ET): The Taliban are now in charge.
TALIBAN FIGHTERS ENTER AFGHAN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE – TWO SENIOR TALIBAN COMMANDERS IN KABUL
TALIBAN SAYS THEY HAVE CONTROL OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE: REUTERS
Meanwhile the US embassy in Kabul is also about to fall to the Taliban who are set to return to power after 20 years…U.S. EMBASSY IN AFGHANISTAN SAYS REPORTS OF KABUL AIRPORT TAKING FIRE, INSTRUCTS U.S. CITIZENS TO SHELTER IN PLACE
Security Alert – U. S. Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan (August 15, 2021)
Location: KabulEvent: The security situation in Kabul is changing quickly and the situation at the airport is deteriorating rapidly. There are reports of the airport taking fire and we are instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place. The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan has suspended consular operations effective immediately. Do not come to the Embassy or airport at this time.
U.S. citizens needing assistance in departing the country should register for any option that might be identified to return to the United States, by completing this Repatriation Assistance Request for each traveler in their group. Spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens in Afghanistan who are awaiting immigrant visas should also complete this form if they wish to depart. Please do so as soon as possible. You must complete this form even if you’ve previously submitted your information to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
Do not call the U.S. Embassy in Kabul for details or updates about the flight. This form is the only way to communicate interest in flight options.
… having retaken Kabul in less than 8 hours.
Are we about to have another Libya on our hands, with one or more embassy staffers about to die as Taliban hostages?
NBC is reporting that the US Ambassador has left the embassy. He and the flag are at the airport. And perhaps even more notably, NBC News appears to be turning against the Biden admin…
Meanwhile, according to the AP, a Taliban official says they will soon declare the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the presidential palace in Kabul.
And as Afghanistan falls, expect much more humiliation for SecState Blinken and Joe Biden in the coming days and years.
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Update (1005ET): “Run Away!”
Reuters is reporting that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has fled the country as the Taliban enter the capital Kabul. Ghani is reportedly in Tajikistan.
The president left the country accompanied by his “close aides,” TOLO, an Afghan news channel, reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
A source told Russia’s RIA-Novosti news agency that Ghani had fled to Tajikistan and would soon travel from there to a third country.
The Taliban is claiming it has engaged in talks with the government about a “peaceful surrender” of the city to the group.
“Until the completion of the transition process, the responsibility for the security of Kabul is with the other side [the Afghan government],” the Taliban wrote in a statement posted online.
Afghanistan’s acting interior minister, Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal, said that a transfer of power will happen peacefully, while security forces will remain in the streets to “ensure Kabul’s security.”
“A transitional administration” will be formed in Afghanistan, the minister said, as quoted by Reuters.
The Taliban is expecting a “peaceful transfer of power” from the Afghan government “in the next few days,” the radical group’s spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, told the BBC.
“We assure the people, particularly in the city of Kabul, that their properties, their lives are safe,” Shaheen said, adding that the Taliban also intends to protect the rights of women and media freedom in the country.
The group noted that Kabul is a large and densely populated city, and it won’t enter “by force or war,” suggesting that fighting to capture the capital would result in heavy losses and damage.
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US intelligence services – by now fully woke and focused on the existential threat to the country’s future that are white, middle-class American males – had predicted just 4 days ago that Kabul could fall in 90 days. It turned out to be less than 90 hours.
Source: ZeroHedge
