Last Flight From Kabul - WSJ
By: The Editorial Board (WSJ)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The last American troops left Kabul on Monday—before the Aug. 31 deadline as the Taliban and President Biden had insisted—ending a 20-year conflict but also diminishing the hope of escape for tens of thousands of Afghan interpreters and others who helped America. The frantic evacuation flights managed to get many out, but this was a shameful day in American history, no matter how much the White House wants to spin it otherwise.
Aug. 31 was the arbitrary deadline Mr. Biden set when he thought he would be able to boast on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 that he had ended a "forever war." He refused to extend the date despite pleas from NATO allies and knowing the date was too soon to evacuate the deserving. Mr. Biden nonetheless told Americans that he would evacuate all Americans who wanted to leave.
His deadline meant that the evacuation failed as much as his withdrawal strategy did. An unknown number of Americans—perhaps a few hundred—weren't able to leave on the last flights. Nonprofit groups estimate that as many as 60,000 Afghans who fought or assisted the NATO mission were left behind.
Many are in hiding amid reports that special Taliban squads are searching for the names on lists they may have acquired in the willy-nilly U.S. withdrawal. Many will be tortured and killed, and their families too.
Incredibly, Mr. Biden plans to rely on the mercy of the Taliban to get the remaining people out on commercial or charter flights. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is already laying the groundwork for this American pleading as he says that the Taliban have reason to cooperate to earn international goodwill and presumably access to foreign aid. The apt phrase for this is paying diplomatic ransom.
The catalogue of strategic and military misjudgments that led to this ignominious day are many, and they flow from the current President of the United States. He insisted on a rapid, complete departure, despite the recommendation of most advisers to keep a residual force. He insisted on leaving Bagram and other airfields, taking U.S. contractors who were needed to keep the Afghan air force flying.
After the government fell, Mr. Biden refused to alter his plan in order to create safe spaces beyond the Kabul airport to help with the evacuation. That would have required more troops and Mr. Biden was set on rapid withdrawal to vindicate his original decision.
The Washington Post reports that, amid the Afghan government’s collapse, the Taliban offered to let the U.S. provide security in Kabul. Mr. Biden and the U.S. military said all they needed was the airport. Mr. Biden also chose to rely on the Taliban for security around the airport—with deadly results for 13 young American servicemen and women.
Mr. Biden and his aides have been repeating like a mantra that there will be time for assessing responsibility for what went wrong and why after the evacuation ends. That should start immediately. A national-security calamity of this magnitude demands an accounting, and it should start at the top.
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He met his deadline but he won't get his desired photo op
The feeling of we are finally out will only last so long. Soon the remaining consequences of Joe Biden's foreign policy blunders will become widely known.
Biden will get his photo op, when the first US civilian he abandon is taken hostage by ISIS/ISIL, ISIS-K, Al Qaeda, or even the Taliban. The hole world will get to see it in graphic detail all across social media.
Hopefully it isn't ISIS/ISIL (and one can only assume ISIS-K) as they favor beheading over ransoming hostages.
Dark days ahead for Biden, his handlers and the US.
You are assuming the Democrats in Congress will do anything.
Pelosi and the House Democrats are far too concerned with the Jan 6th investigation to be bothered with anything else. Unless it is spending a shitload of taxpayer money that is.
Schumer is Biden's buddy, and hasn't said much of anything. He is hoping this will die on the vine if he ignores it long enough.
That they will - with a mere 50 votes - until the US dollar is completely worthless.
You sound like you are on the brink of hysteria Vic.
In a few weeks this will be a back burner issue. The American people dont give a dang about Afghanistan and the natural speed of news cycles will erase the burning "passion" of the moment.
Biden's 'choices' to leave in this way will be seen as quite distressing in the moment but correct in the long run.
If the Republicans plan to make Afghanistan the centerpiece of their campaign efforts going forward I think they are in for a big disappointment.
You hope. You forget that the left now has a record to defend: A record of open borders, unsafe streets, rising inflation and indoctrination.
So long as there are Americans abandoned on the ground in Afghanistan this will never go away.
Don't worry John, the rest of the world will be around to remind you repeatedly of Biden's abject failure.
Back burner until the woman swings in the soccer stadium.
They might not use a soccer stadium. That will be reserved for the stoneings.
But this might a better audience than a simple stadium anyway.
Shocking footage appears to show the Taliban flying seized US Black Hawk helicopters over Afghanistan — including with someone hanging below one from a rope.
“Our Air Force!” Talib Times — which claims to be the English language official account of the Taliban-run Islamic Emirate Afghanistan — gloated on Monday.
“At this time, the Islamic Emirate’s air force helicopters are flying over Kandahar city and patrolling the city,” the tweet said.
In one clip, someone is clearly seen hanging below the chopper as it lowers in the sky. However, it is not immediately clear exactly how he is attached or if he is alive, and the Talib Times made no mention of it.
Some journalists insisted that it showed someone who had been hanged — and then paraded in the skies.
“Another landmark picture taking the world in a new era of terror,” tweeted Indian TV host Sudhir Chaudhary, the editor-in-chief of Zee News and WION.
“Taliban hang a person, presumed to be an American interpreter, from a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter. The leftover US helicopters will now be used in #Afganistan like this,” Chaudhary predicted.
Conservative podcaster Liz Wheeler said she “could vomit” if it is “what it looks like… the Taliban hanging somebody from an American Blackhawk.”
“Joe Biden is responsible,” she tweeted.
Really? Are YOU going to tell the families of the AMERICANS that scumbag Biden and his merry band of ass lickers left behind that? Are YOU going to tell them that their lives don't in the news cycle?
AMERICANS ARE ABANDONED BY THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
That's what the news cycle will be reporting Mr. Russell.
If the Democrats plan to make 6JAN21 the centerpiece of their campaign efforts going forward I think they are in for a big disappointment.
It will gradually become obvious that all who wanted out didn't get out.
Then there is the matter of how many unvetted terrorists made it out
We may have saved the terrorists a walk across our southern border. Instead they get a free ride; plus room and board; right into the US.
They couldn't ask for better service.
We saved at least one formerly convicted and deported rapist the trouble. He was found among the Afghans flown to Ft McCoy in Wisconsin.
Now, I guess we have the option of putting him in prison or deporting him? If we deport him, can we tattoo an American flag on his forehead first before we drop him off in Kabul?
Are you kidding me; the Taliban love rapists. Better still if they like young boys. They fit right in with their entire cultural view.
A US flag tattoo would be needed. That and a signed letter of recognition from the US armed forces for services done in the field.
They had better deport him. No way should the US taxpayer be on the hook for him.
The Biden regime placed a higher priority on random afghans than on both afghans who helped us and American citizens wanting to leave.
”… Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday. Fewer than 200 Americans who wanted to leave are still in the country, he added.”
There’s a fuckin bargain.
Except he is lying again. Milley who spoke before him said it was in the hundreds- perhaps 500 or more.
Truth is they don't know how many US citizens are there; and they don't give a damn. They are hoping all of them disappear w/o a trace; that would be best for the administration. No rescued Americans screaming "You abandoned me" into every media outlet on their return home. No images of US citizens held hostage by whatever faction gets a hold of them. No beheading by ISIS/ISIL or ISIS-K. No more frantic phone conversations with US media on the conditions they are forced endure while hiding in Afghanistan.
If they all disappear w/o a trace Biden can claim, "We accomplished our mission and got every US citizen that wanted to go out. See, we were right!"
They were probably the wrong Americans, ones known to be associated with the wrong political party.