Live Thread 3: The Fall of Afghanistan

[mystery-ak]

Tom Cotton Aide: American Woman Stranded in Kabul, Beaten by Taliban

https://twitter.com/mpdowner/status/1429858482057105414

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/23/tom-cotton-aide-american-woman-stranded-in-kabul-beaten-by-taliban/

[Hoodat]

Psaki and the Admin continues to use the highly legalese-sounding phrase "Americans who want to come home" talking point.

There is a reason why they are using this phrase and I think we as American's need to brace for what's coming.

They are setting the table for justifying why they are leaving Americans stranded in a hostile foreign country once the August 31st deadline passes. 

Mark my words...Biden & Co are about to willing leave American citizens to die at the hands of foreign terrorists.

That's what I'm sensing, too.  When stories start surfacing of Americans trapped in Afghanistan after the last flight leaves, they will simply say, "Hey, we told them to get to the airport.  Not our fault."

[Hoodat]

I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt as Biden’s astounding stupidity caught everyone by surprise.

If I was a US expat working overseas, and I saw Joe Biden being sworn in as President of the US, I would be in no rush to return to the US either.

[mystery-ak]

Biden to decide on Afghanistan troop withdrawal extension in next 24 hours: report

President Biden will reportedly decide whether or not to extend the timetable for the U.S.’s troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in the next 24 hours, as the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate amid the Taliban’s offensive.

Reuters reported, citing an administration official, that Biden will decide within 24 hours if the U.S. will extend its Aug. 31 deadline for the troop withdrawal mission to give the Pentagon more time to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies.

The U.S. military has ramped up its evacuation effort since the Taliban seized control in Afghanistan over the last week, working to pull American citizens and Afghan allies from the country.

Roughly 48,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since Aug. 14, including 10,900 individuals who were pulled from the country in the first half of Monday.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/569100-biden-to-decide-on-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal-extension-in-next-24

[libertybele]

ALL Americans need to come home period.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Hate to say this, but I agree with this POV.

The Americans inside Afghanistan knew FULL WELL that once Bagram AF Base was abandoned, they had just a couple of weeks at most to get to Kabul and to GET THE HELL OUT OF DODG

Read the advisory again @DCPatriot   And remember, through July the administration was telling them and the world to relax ---there's nothing to worry about because 300,000 Afghan soldiers have their backs.  When this advisory was issued, Bagram was still open.



"Strongly suggest" is not an order.  An order would have included a "Leave List", would have been nonnegoiable and passage home would have been made available. 

I'm sick and tired of hearing about the moral obligation the military and administration has for the safe departure of the Afghan national sitting next to a US citizen ---- but not to the US citizen.  This is so wrong it almost makes my head explode.  It is indefensible.

[mystery-ak]

ALL Americans need to come home period.

If they can't get them home we will be seeing be-headings and all kinds of torture of Americans on television.

[DCPatriot]

@Right_in_Virginia

Okay...you're right, although am hard-pressed to visualize anybody here on the forum that wouldn't have made immediate plans to skidaddle out of there once Biden was inaugurated.   Yes, I know we're all political junkies, but how tone-deaf can people get?  The signs to get out were everywhere.

I know damned well, I would have been out of there, the evening of January 20th, 2021.   

[Right_in_Virginia]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ColumbiaBugle/status/1429100333775704064

[Right_in_Virginia]

@Right_in_Virginia

Okay...you're right, although am hard-pressed to visualize anybody here on the forum that wouldn't have made immediate plans to skidaddle out of there once Biden was inaugurated.   Yes, I know we're all political junkies, but how tone-deaf can people get?  The signs to get out were everywhere.

I know damned well, I would have been out of there, the evening of January 20th, 2021.   

I don't think being abandoned by the US military and the whole of the US government is part of the American conciousness.  Hell, even in Saigon the Marines brought out the Americans.

The American image, stature and conciousness is forever changed.

[Elderberry]

7 die at Kabul airport, US airlines activated to help evacuation

American Military News by Michael Collins - TNS   August 23, 2021

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/08/latest-from-afghanistan-7-die-at-kabul-airport-us-airlines-activated-to-help-evacuation/

It’s been a week since the Taliban entered Afghanistan’s capital city and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled.

And the scene at Hamid Karzai International Airport remains frenzied, with seven people killed as crowds try to get out of the country, the British military reported on Sunday.

“Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

On Saturday, troops from several nations tried to control the crush of people pressing to get into the airport, as temperatures hit the mid-90s. Soldiers sprayed water from a hose on those gathered or gave them bottled water to pour over their heads. It wasn’t immediately clear whether those killed had been physically crushed or died from other health conditions.

A NATO official told Reuters on Sunday that 20 people have died in the last week at the airport amid the evacuation.

[EdinVA]

7 die at Kabul airport, US airlines activated to help evacuation

American Military News by Michael Collins - TNS   August 23, 2021

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/08/latest-from-afghanistan-7-die-at-kabul-airport-us-airlines-activated-to-help-evacuation/

So the USAF has nearly 500 transport aircraft, C-130, C-17 and C-5.... Is the USAF refusing to fly in and get people?   Is that why we are using civilian companies?

[txradioguy]

That's what I'm sensing, too.  When stories start surfacing of Americans trapped in Afghanistan after the last flight leaves, they will simply say, "Hey, we told them to get to the airport.  Not our fault."

Did you ever think you'd even consider the possibility that something like that could happen?

[txradioguy]

So the USAF has nearly 500 transport aircraft, C-130, C-17 and C-5.... Is the USAF refusing to fly in and get people?   Is that why we are using civilian companies?

More seats in some of those aircraft than what you can safely put in the military transports.

[SZonian]

So the USAF has nearly 500 transport aircraft, C-130, C-17 and C-5.... Is the USAF refusing to fly in and get people?   Is that why we are using civilian companies?

It takes a lot of time to reconfigure those aircraft from cargo to pax.  Besides, I'm not sure if there are enough seats for all of those aircraft combined.  Faster to use civil aviation.

[EdinVA]

It takes a lot of time to reconfigure those aircraft from cargo to pax.  Besides, I'm not sure if there are enough seats for all of those aircraft combined.  Faster to use civil aviation.

So, they have to have cushy seats in order for us to save their life?

I flew 7 and 9 hours in c130's with web seats, I think I could tolerate a ride on the floor if my life depended on it..

[Hoodat]

Did you ever think you'd even consider the possibility that something like that could happen?

Never.

[mystery-ak]

U.N. Warns Joe Biden: Executions, Torture Continue as U.S. Readies to Leave Afghanistan

https://twitter.com/BreitbartNews/status/1430129495172960265

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/24/u-n-warns-joe-biden-executions-torture-continue-as-u-s-readies-to-leave-afghanistan/

[mystery-ak]

Adam Schiff: Evacuations in Afghanistan Likely Not Over by August 31, Airport Terror Threat ‘Very Real’
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/23/adam-schiff-evacuations-in-afghanistan-likely-not-over-by-august-31-airport-terror-threat-very-real/

[mystery-ak]

Pentagon Spox Kirby: Won’t Rule Out Airlifts to Kabul Airport If It’s ‘Best Way’ – Commanders Have Authority They Need

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said commanders “have the authorities they need to pursue opportunities to bring people in,” including by helicopter and that we won’t rule out future helicopter missions to


more
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/08/23/pentagon-spox-kirby-wont-rule-out-airlifts-to-kabul-airport-if-its-best-way-commanders-have-authority-they-need/

[Bigun]

Did you ever think you'd even consider the possibility that something like that could happen?

When I was in Vietnam fighting communists over there, I never considered that I would one day wind up fighting them right here at home but here I am doing exactly that!

[mystery-ak]

https://twitter.com/VickiMcKenna/status/1430165309638467591

[mystery-ak]

Jack Posobiec Flag of United States
@JackPosobiec
 · 50m
BREAKING: Biden sent CIA director to Afghanistan yesterday to ask the head of the Taliban for safe passage of Americans

[mystery-ak]

The Associated Press
@AP
 · 16m
BREAKING: A Taliban spokesman says the U.S. must complete its evacuation of people from Afghanistan by the Aug. 31 date the Biden administration set for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops. The Taliban say they will accept “no extensions” to the deadline. http://apne.ws/QzMoNSG

[mystery-ak]

BBC Breaking News
@BBCBreaking
·
14m
The Taliban are no longer allowing Afghans to go to Kabul airport to try and leave the country, spokesman says https://