Taliban defeats America

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A potentially deadly blunder by President Joe Biden’s administration effectively handed the Taliban a “kill list” to target Afghans who aided the US, according to a report Thursday — and admitted it may have happened when asked later at a White House briefing.

Following the Taliban takeover of Kabul, US officials there gave the Islamic extremist group the names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies so they could be allowed to enter the Taliban-controlled perimeter around the Hamid Karzai International Airport, according to Politico.

The decision was reportedly made despite the Taliban’s notorious reputation for brutally executing Afghans who helped the US military and other Western forces during the war and occupation that followed the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday glossed over his broken promise to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan until the last Americans are out and offered the faint assurance — even with the last U.S. planes gone — that it’s never too late for U.S. citizens to leave.

“There is no deadline,” Biden said. But with its forces withdrawn, the U.S. is left with diplomatic persuasion instead of military muscle to get the Taliban extremists who’ve been fighting the U.S. for 20 years to give remaining Americans safe passage out.

BIDEN: “The bottom line: 90% of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave. For those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out, if they want to come out. Secretary of State Blinken is leading the continued diplomatic efforts to ensure safe passage for any American, Afghan partner or foreign national who wants to leave Afghanistan.” — White House remarks.

THE FACTS: For the record, Biden vowed that he would get 100% of Americans out before withdrawing forces.

AP FACT CHECK: Biden skirts broken promise on Afghan exit

Source: https://apnews.com/article/ap-fact-check-41a83656d872e2a5d5d79e18fffae6d7

Source: https://nypost.com/2021/08/26/biden-admits-admin-may-have-given-taliban-kill-list-of-afghans-who-aided-us/

But at least there weren't any mean tweets...

Blood on Biden’s hands.

Leaked notes from a White House Situation Room meeting the day before Kabul fell shed new light on just how unprepared the Biden administration was to evacuate Afghan nationals who'd helped the United States in its 20-year war against the Taliban.

Why it matters: Hours before the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan's capital on Aug. 15, 2021, senior Biden administration officials were still discussing and assigning basic actions involved in a mass civilian evacuation.

Outsiders were frustrated and suspicious the administration was having plenty of meetings but was stuck in bureaucratic inertia and lacked urgency until the last minute.
While the word "immediately" peppers the document, it's clear officials were still scrambling to finalize their plans — on the afternoon of Aug. 14.
For example, they'd just decided they needed to notify local Afghan staff "to begin to register their interest in relocation to the United States," the document says.
And they were still determining which countries could serve as transit points for evacuees.

[...]

The bottom line: Many outside advisers were sounding the alarm as the Taliban swept through provincial capitals heading into August.

"I kept being told by people in the [White House] the thing they were most concerned about was the optics of a chaotic evacuation," said Matt Zeller, a former CIA officer who contacted administration officials in February 2021 about protecting Afghans who worked with the Americans. "They treated us like we were Chicken Little. They didn’t believe the sky was falling."
"On the 13th of July, we offered to work with them to help evacuate our partners," Zeller added. "We all saw this disaster coming before the inevitable occurred. They didn’t get back to us until Aug 15, the day Kabul fell."

Mark Jacobson, deputy NATO representative in Afghanistan during the Obama administration, told Axios: "That so much planning, prioritizing and addressing of key questions had not been completed, even as Kabul was about to fall, underscores the absence of adequate interagency planning."

"This is especially surprising given the depth of experience on Afghanistan and contingency operations at that table."