Afghanistan

mickeyrat

 https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-middle-east-evacuations-kabul-11e1590d8f9976fae13e7ee83a6b193a

IS threat forces US changes to evacuations at Kabul airport

By AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ, KATHY GANNON and LOLITA C. BALDOR

1 hour ago

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Potential Islamic State threats against Americans in Afghanistan are forcing the U.S. military to develop new ways to get evacuees to the airport in Kabul, a senior U.S. official said Saturday, adding a new complication to the already chaotic efforts to get people out of the country after its swift fall to the Taliban.

The official said that small groups of Americans and possibly other civilians will be given specific instructions on what to do, including movement to transit points where they can be gathered up by the military. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

The changes come as the U.S. Embassy issued a new security warning Saturday telling citizens not to travel to the Kabul airport without individual instruction from a U.S. government representative. Officials declined to provide more specifics about the IS threat but described it as significant. They said there have beenno confirmed attacks as yet.

Time is running out ahead of President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw most remaining U.S. troops. In his remarks on the situation Friday, he did not commit to extending it, though he did issue a new pledge to evacuate not only all Americans in Afghanistan, but also the tens of thousands of Afghans who have aided the war effort since Sept. 11, 2001. That promise would dramatically expand the number of people the U.S. evacuates.

Biden faces growing criticism as videos depict pandemonium and occasional violence outside the airport, and as vulnerable Afghans who fear the Taliban's retaliation send desperate pleas not to be left behind.

The Islamic State group — which has long declared a desire to attack America and U.S. interests abroad — has been active in Afghanistan for a number of years, carrying out waves of horrific attacks, mostly on the Shiite minority. The group has been repeatedly targeted by U.S. airstrikes in recent years, as well as Taliban attacks. But officials say fragments of the group are still active in Afghanistan, and the U.S. is concerned about it reconstituting in a larger way as the country comes under divisive Taliban rule.

Despite the U.S. Embassy warning, crowds remain outside the Kabul airport's concrete barriers, clutching documents and sometimes stunned-looking children, blocked from flight by coils of razor wire.

Meanwhile, the Taliban's top political leader arrived in Kabul for talks on forming a new government. The presence of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who returned to Kandahar earlier this week from Qatar, was confirmed by a Taliban official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media. Baradar negotiated the religious movement’s 2020 peace deal with the U.S., and he is now expected to play a key role in negotiations between the Taliban and officials from the Afghan government that the militant group deposed.

Afghan officials familiar with talks held in the capital say the Taliban have said they will not make announcements on their government until the Aug. 31 deadline for the troop withdrawal passes.

Abdullah Abdullah, a senior official in the ousted government, tweeted that he and ex-President Hamid Karzai met Saturday with Taliban’s acting governor for Kabul, who “assured us that he would do everything possible for the security of the people” of the city.

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HughFreakingDillon

cincybearcat said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

senile old man? seriously? this is what the right has to cling to? senility (which is clearly false) and his son's laptop shenanigans. 

trump was a raging fucking loon for over 4 years and because biden stutters, he's "senile". well done, R's, well done. 

Just because Trump was an idiot doesn’t mean Biden isn’t a little short of a full deck

I just don't see it. But what I do see is the obvious hypocrisy of them going along with his claims of being the smartest president ever, and now calling Biden senile. it's ridiculous. but not off brand. 

Merkin Baller

cincybearcat

Merkin Baller said:

Seems like a valid decision…other options to, but who knows if really worth it.  The execution is a totally other topic and there is no doubt that it has not been handled very well. And it’s too late to make it ok in many instances.

Merkin Baller

cincybearcat said:

Merkin Baller said:

Seems like a valid decision…other options to, but who knows if really worth it.  The execution is a totally other topic and there is no doubt that it has not been handled very well. And it’s too late to make it ok in many instances.

It’s also too late for the administration who negotiated this withdrawal to have worked together with the administration that executed it for the best possible outcome for all parties involved. I wonder why that didn’t happen. 

Not to mention chaos has been predicted for this withdrawal since America sent troops over there, but sure let’s act surprised and get upset it didn’t go better and that what was predicted is what happened. 

mace1229

Ledbetterman10 said:

EdsonNascimento said:

mcgruff10 said:

Nothing on Afghanistan for awhile from my repub friends on fb, I m guessing the evacuation is getting more efficient? 

Or…the evidence of what this Administration is laid so bare even a senile old man could see the truth…oh, wait….

Biden said in his presser that the Taliban is being cooperative in letting Americans past their checkpoints, and that Al-Quada have been completely run out of Afghanistan. An hour later, the Pentagon spokesman contradicted both of those claims. He said he’s concerned of reports that Americans have been beaten by the Taliban, and that Al-Quada is still in Afghanistan, but aren’t a threat to America in a 9/11 sort of way. 

He also said there’s been no killing. And when asked about the plane he responded “o that was 4 or 5 days ago.” As of that even mattered, but it had only been 2 days anyway.

cincybearcat

Merkin Baller said:

cincybearcat said:

Merkin Baller said:

Seems like a valid decision…other options to, but who knows if really worth it.  The execution is a totally other topic and there is no doubt that it has not been handled very well. And it’s too late to make it ok in many instances.

It’s also too late for the administration who negotiated this withdrawal to have worked together with the administration that executed it for the best possible outcome for all parties involved. I wonder why that didn’t happen. 

Not to mention chaos has been predicted for this withdrawal since America sent troops over there, but sure let’s act surprised and get upset it didn’t go better and that what was predicted is what happened. 

Or we could excuse it like you seem to want 

nicknyr15

So sad 

https://nypost.com/2021/08/22/fatal-stampede-outside-kabul-airport-takes-place-as-people-attempt-to-flee/

mickeyrat

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-kabul-541407d25701283e539017bccb9bcfe2

Joe Biden Taliban Kabul Afghanistan National security Evacuations  Biden planning to give an update on situation in Afghanistan  By ROBERT BURNS  25 mins ago  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military is considering “creative ways” to get Americans and others into the Kabul airport for evacuation from Afghanistan amid “acute” security threats, Biden administration officials said, and the Pentagon on Sunday ordered six U.S. commercial airlines to help move evacuees from temporary sites outside of Afghanistan.  At the one-week mark since the Taliban completed its takeover of the country, U.S. officials expressed growing concern about the threat to the evacuation from the Islamic State group. That worry comes on top of obstacles to that mission from the Taliban, as well as U.S. government bureaucratic problems.  President Joe Biden planned to provide a public update on Afghanistan later Sunday. He also was meeting with his national security team. Afghanistan will be the chief topic of discussion when leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, including Biden, meet virtually on Tuesday.  “The threat is real, it is acute, it is persistent and something we’re focused with every tool in our arsenal," said Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.  Sullivan said on CNN's “State of the Union” that 3,900 people had been airlifted out of Kabul on U.S. military flights over the past 24 hours. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public, said those people were flown on a total of 23 flights — 14 by C-17 transports and nine aboard C-130 cargo planes.  That represents an increase from 1,600 flown out aboard U.S. military planes in the previous 24 hours, but remains far below the 5,000 to 9,000 that the military says it has the capacity to airlift daily. Sullivan also said about 3,900 people were airlifted on non-U.S. military flights over the past 24 hours.  The Biden administration has given no firm estimate of the number of Americans seeking to leave Afghanistan. Some have put the total between 10,000 and 15.000. Sullivan on Sunday put it at “several thousand.”  Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged the desperate situation at the Kabul airport.  “We’ve seen these wrenching scenes of people crowded at the gates. People hurt, people killed. It’s an incredibly volatile situation and we’re very focused on that,” he said on CBS' “Face the Nation.”  The British military said Sunday another seven people had been killed in the unceasing crush of crowds outside the airport. The U.S. military took control of the airport for evacuations a week ago as the capital fell to the Taliban. But Taliban forces controlling the streets around the airport, and the throngs of people gathering outside in hope of escape, have made it difficult and dangerous for foreigners and their Afghan allies to get through.  Republicans in Congress stepped up their criticism of Biden's response and called for the addition of U.S. troops to help Americans get safely to the airport so they can leave.  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told ABC's “This Week” that as Biden's Aug. 31 deadline for ending the evacuation operation approaches, he will recommend whether to give it more time. Tens of thousands of Americans and others have yet to be flown out of the country.  Austin's interview aired Sunday but was taped Saturday as other U.S. officials cited increased concerns about security threats at the airport from militants affiliated with IS. The U.S. Embassy on Saturday warned citizens against traveling to the airport without individual instruction from a U.S. government representative. Officials declined to provide more specifics about the IS threat but described it as significant.  In a notice Sunday, the State Department urged people seeking to leave Afghanistan as part of an organized private evacuation effort not come to the Kabul airport “until you have received specific instructions” to do so from the U.S. Embassy’s flight organizer. The notice said that others, including American citizens, who have received specific instructions from the embassy to make their way to the airport should do so.  Austin said the airlift would continue for as long as possible.  “We’re gonna try our very best to get everybody, every American citizen who wants to get out, out,” Austin said in the interview. “And we’ve got -- we continue to look at different ways to -- in creative ways -- to reach out and contact American citizens and help them get into the airfield.” He later said this included non-Americans who qualify for evacuation, including Afghans who have applied for Special Immigrant Visas.  Austin noted that the U.S. military on Thursday had used helicopters to move 169 Americans into the airport from the grounds of a nearby hotel in the capital. That is the only announced example of U.S. forces going beyond the airport to get evacuees, who often are blocked by chaos, violence and crowds at airfield gates.  Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said the U.S. should send more military convoys to help Americans.  “If the Taliban is saying that Americans can travel safely to the airport, then there is no better way to make sure they get safely to the airport than to use our military to escort them," Ernst, an Army veteran, said on ABC.  Criticism of Biden's strategy also came from the diplomatic sector.  Ryan Crocker, who was the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan under Presidents George W, Bush and Barack Obama, said Biden's management of the withdrawal was “catastrophic” and had unleashed a “global crisis.”  Crocker focused his criticism on Biden’s execution of the withdrawal, saying it “does not speak to competence.”  A central problem in the evacuation operation is processing evacuees once they reach other countries in the region and in Europe.

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mickeyrat

China.....

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-china-afghanistan-2079e85db59e3242ce6e869fe0a9d4e3

RoleModelsinBlood31

HughFreakingDillon said:

I'm waiting to see footage of anyone from fox news on the front lines in Afghanistan. 

just sayin'. 

https://deadline.com/2021/08/fox-news-rescues-three-afghans-who-aided-corporation-1234819571/

mickeyrat

search doesnt show any article by fox itself on this....

static111

mrussel1 said:

curmudgeoness said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Gern Blansten said:

mrussel1 said:

Gern Blansten said:

The vaccine experts in my FB feed are now Afghanistan experts. 

1. Covid
2. Voting machines and associated state law
3. Vaccines
4. Afghanistan

You have some really smart friends who didn't pay attention in high school or go to college. 

I remember back in 2008 I was pretty forward on FB.  I would post a lot of anti-McCain/Palin stuff and pro-Obama things thinking some of my idiot friends might think "you know Gern is a smart guy, maybe I am wrong about some of this shit" but that didn't work.  They think I'm stupid and I finally figured out that there is no way out for them.  

The internet will be the downfall of this stupid country.

The internet will be the downfall of this stupid country.

Qanon says "hold my beer"

Social media has been an accelerant. There always have been conspiracy theorists and loons. But now the drunk at the end of the bar can go online to share his thoughts and to find like-minded individuals, and once you have a chat room or FB group of Cliff Clavins encouraging each other and trying to outdo each other, you get QAnon.

Right,  now the outcasts and loons have a community.  I'm not sure the upside of the internet outweighs the negative. 

The positive of the internet has never outweighed the negative, we were just largely unaffected until recent times.

mcgruff10

mrussel1

static111 said:

mrussel1 said:

curmudgeoness said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Gern Blansten said:

mrussel1 said:

Gern Blansten said:

The vaccine experts in my FB feed are now Afghanistan experts. 

1. Covid
2. Voting machines and associated state law
3. Vaccines
4. Afghanistan

You have some really smart friends who didn't pay attention in high school or go to college. 

I remember back in 2008 I was pretty forward on FB.  I would post a lot of anti-McCain/Palin stuff and pro-Obama things thinking some of my idiot friends might think "you know Gern is a smart guy, maybe I am wrong about some of this shit" but that didn't work.  They think I'm stupid and I finally figured out that there is no way out for them.  

The internet will be the downfall of this stupid country.

The internet will be the downfall of this stupid country.

Qanon says "hold my beer"

Social media has been an accelerant. There always have been conspiracy theorists and loons. But now the drunk at the end of the bar can go online to share his thoughts and to find like-minded individuals, and once you have a chat room or FB group of Cliff Clavins encouraging each other and trying to outdo each other, you get QAnon.

Right,  now the outcasts and loons have a community.  I'm not sure the upside of the internet outweighs the negative. 

The positive of the internet has never outweighed the negative, we were just largely unaffected until recent times.

Well I don't have to read those horrible Chilton's books when I try to fix my car.  There's a friggin' video for anything you want to fix.  Just sayin...

Lerxst1992

mcgruff10 said:

Alex, I’ll take “because white people didn’t do it for $1000 please.”

mace1229

mcgruff10 said:

Because this is the accumulation of 20 years of war, Thousands of American lives, many more lives around the world. The prospect of even more lives of those left behind. Billions of dollars of equipment and buildings are now in the hands of those we were fighting, people who have treated other brutally. The continued mishandling and lack of honesty of of the situation. Wondering what the heck was going on the last 20 years. There’s a lot to be angry about.

Halifax2TheMax

mace1229 said:

mcgruff10 said:

Because this is the accumulation of 20 years of war, Thousands of American lives, many more lives around the world. The prospect of even more lives of those left behind. Billions of dollars of equipment and buildings are now in the hands of those we were fighting, people who have treated other brutally. The continued mishandling and lack of honesty of of the situation. Wondering what the heck was going on the last 20 years. There’s a lot to be angry about.

How’d you feel in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2011? Were you angry then?

The Juggler

37,000 evacuated in 8 days with no US casualties so far. 

mace1229

Halifax2TheMax said:

mace1229 said:

mcgruff10 said:

Because this is the accumulation of 20 years of war, Thousands of American lives, many more lives around the world. The prospect of even more lives of those left behind. Billions of dollars of equipment and buildings are now in the hands of those we were fighting, people who have treated other brutally. The continued mishandling and lack of honesty of of the situation. Wondering what the heck was going on the last 20 years. There’s a lot to be angry about.

How’d you feel in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2011? Were you angry then?

I didn’t know that our efforts were going to collapse within days back then.