"Not an Evacuation," Insists State Dept. as DoD Sends 3K Troops to Evacuate

[Eupher]

Far be it for me to sound like I'm defending the utter incompetence of #JoeTheFraud, but I'm not sure anybody could have executed any kind of withdrawal plan and not come out covered in shit.

Conceding defeat in any endeavor (and that's what it is when we just pull up stakes and leave) has political ramifications and it certainly affords the reigning regime - whether that's Trump or Biden or anyone - the opportunity to be smeared in feces.

I believe the central objection to this whole shitstorm isn't just "pulling out." It's HOW it was done. Plans put in place by Trump were cast aside; the intelligence community's reports to #JoeTheFraud were ignored. Definitive dates - 11 Sep 21 - were announced. Little to no effort was made to recover expensive equipment (I find it astounding that so much was just "given" to the Afghani Army) and God only knows what kinds of classified information were just left and forgotten about.

What I mean is that a stable, basically honest government where corruption of public officials is seen  by the governed to be stamped out vigoroisly would have been a prerequisite for this to have any kind of happy ending. And lo; what sort of Afghanis were the sort of people to be "Public Enemy No.1" to the Soviets, the Taliwhackers, the Opium cartels and just about any other faction in the region looking to enrich themselves? Exactly the sort of people with sufficient personal integrity to make that kind of good government stick. Our own 20 year occupation hasn't really done the region any favors in that regard either (that I'm aware of; if y'all are aware of efforts that I'm not, then PLEASE educate me).

This entire effort was predicated and driven by nation-building. Again. Fostered and driven initially by GWB, it was an effort that was doomed to fail from the start. If an entire nation/regime is going to foster terrorism, turning it from an 11th century shithole into something approximating what we have isn't going to work in the long run. Lessons learned from Vietnam were completely forgotten.

That being the political calculus which obtains, it was almost inevitable that whenever we pulled out of Afghanistan, however we did it, this was going to be the outcome. The damn of it all is that the options available due to the Clinton Regime's corrupt mismanagement of the region and the Sept.11th attacks didn't allow for many alternatives to choose from at the time.

GWB just had to show the world he had a bigger dick. And for a while, he did have a bigger dick. But then, not having an extrication plan that didn't involve spending huge amounts of US taxpayer cash (and enriching lots of contractors), here we are 20 years later.

It's been argued that loss of life in the past 2-3 years in A-stan has been completely dwarfed by the murders in Shitcago. That may be true. And that a small military presence of 2-3K in A-stan would have been no worse than what we currently have in Germany and other parts of the world. Also true. But a complete abdication, along with running away from our embassy is a completely different animal, and that is exactly what #GropeyJoe decided to do.

[Ptarmigan]

US Diplomats Warned State Dept of Swift Taliban Takeover in July
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/diplomats-statedepartment-taliban/2021/08/19/id/1033085/

An internal State Department cable from July, confirmed received by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, warned of a swift Taliban takeover, punching a hole in President Joe Biden's claim he was not warned before last weekend's Taliban insurrection, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In his lone public remarks on the Taliban takeover, Biden claimed the surrender of the U.S.-trained Afghanistan military unexpected, but a source familiar with the July 13 cable told the Journal the Taliban's advance was imminent and the Afghanistan military would not stop it.

The confidential cable was sent over the State Department dissent channel and also offered recommendations on expediting evacuations and pleaded with the administration to speak out against the Taliban's "atrocities being committed," sources told the Journal.

Diplomats warned that the Taliban could take over Afghanistan quickly.

[Ptarmigan]

Pentagon says terrorist threats from Afghanistan could be worse than anticipated
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/08/pentagon-says-terrorist-threats-from-afghanistan-could-be-worse-than-anticipated/

The Department of Defense said this week it is studying signs of worsening terrorism potential out of Afghanistan after the Taliban seized near-total control of the country in recent weeks.

Biden administration officials — including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken — told senators during a Sunday call that officials now believe terror groups like Al-Qaeda may be able to grow much faster than they expected in June, the Associated Press reported.

In June, Austin had told senators that Pentagon assessments showed a terrorist group like Al-Qaeda may be able to regenerate in Afghanistan and pose a threat to the U.S. homeland within two years of the American military’s withdrawal from the country. At the time, Austin had called it a “medium” possibility.

History repeating itself.

[old dog 2]

A real president would simply say "No American citizen will be left behind."

[DefiantSix]

A real president would simply say "No American citizen will be left behind."

That's how you know for certain #JoeThePretender isn't a real US pResident. His entire regime put together couldn't give a rat's ass whether any actual US citizens lived or died.

[thundley4]

A real president would simply say "No American citizen will be left behind."

The state department is saying that evacuees will have to reimburse the government for the price of the flight.

[enslaved1]

The state department is saying that evacuees will have to reimburse the government for the price of the flight.

Americans in Afghanistan need to identify as illegal immigrants.  Biden will fall up the stairs to get them back to the states. 

[DLR Pyro]

Americans in Afghanistan need to identify as illegal immigrants. Biden will fall up the stairs to get them back to the states.

he's actually quite good at that...

[Ptarmigan]

Day Six: 2,500 Americans in Total Evacuated, 7,500-Plus Still Stranded
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/21/day-six-2500-americans-in-total-evacuated-7500-plus-still-stranded/

President Joe Biden has only saved a total of 2,500 Americans behind enemy lines in Afghanistan since the country’s collapse. Media reports suggest 7,500 to 40,000 Americans remain.

During Saturday’s Pentagon press conference, Major General Hank Taylor said only 2,500 Americans have been evacuated. “That’s the race that we are in right now,” he added about the Taliban-enforced deadline for American forces to withdraw by August 31.

Also during the press conference, Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said he would not go into details of whether ISIS and Al-Qaeda are operating outside the gates at the Kabul airport.

“We’re not going to get into specific details about the threat environment,” he said. President Joe Biden claimed Friday Al-Qaeda was gone from Afghanistan, a statement fact checked by Breitbart News as false.

Many are still stranded in Afghanistan. Only 2,500 have evacuated.

[enslaved1]

he's actually quite good at that...

Yup, very intentional choice of words.   

[DefiantSix]

he's actually quite good at that...

Everybody has to be good at something. Dog knows #JoeThePretender isn't good at/for anything else...