The Fall Of Kabul To The Taliban

[MajorHoople]

Taliban declare their political leader the new Afghan President | Daily Mail Online

"The co-founder of the Taliban has been declared the new President of Afghanistan after the terror group announced the 20-year Western occupation 'is over now' and proclaimed an Islamic state during a triumphant speech from the Presidential Palace in Kabul.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who fought in the Soviet-Afghan War during the 1980s and helped ex-chief Mohammad Omar create the Taliban in 1994, has already been installed as the head of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, according to reports in the Arab world."

 

[abr]

Horrible. I feel so bad for all of those people, especially the women and girls. And the good men who are helpless to protect them.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Taliban expected to declare Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Though Kabul had been expected to fall, the speed of its collapse clearly caught the Biden administration off-guard.

Biden set a deadline of Aug. 31 to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan and bring an end to the 20-year conflict. Last week, an American military assessment estimated it would be a month before the capital would come under insurgent pressure.

 

[Tippy Lynn]

The exit, "including the frantic evacuation of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from Kabul is a shameful failure of American leadership," McConnell said in a statement.

"This is an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions," Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said on CNN's "State of the Union." "This will be a stain on Biden's presidency, and I think he is going to have blood on his hands for what they did."

The Biden administration "totally blew this one" and completely underestimated the strength of the Taliban, said McCaul, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

A White House official said Sunday that Biden had spoken to members of his national security team "on the situation in Afghanistan" and would continue to get updates throughout the day. Biden has continued to defend his decision.

'Blood on his hands': Republicans criticize Biden as Taliban storm Kabul

 

[MajorHoople]

From the BBC - Afghanistan conflict: Taliban push into Kabul as president flees

"The Taliban are on the brink of victory in Afghanistan, after their fighters entered the capital Kabul and seized the presidential palace.

The government has collapsed, with President Ashraf Ghani fleeing abroad.

Kabul descended into chaos, as residents and foreign nationals tried to escape.

For many Afghans it was a terrifying day that marked the return of Taliban rule almost 20 years after they were ousted by a US-led coalition.

At the capital's international airport, an eyewitness told the BBC that staff had abandoned their desks and people were running to planes.

Kabul was the last major city in Afghanistan to hold out against the Taliban offensive, which began months ago but has accelerated in the space of days.

The militants were able to seize control after most foreign troops pulled out."

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Rarely in modern presidential history have words come back to bite an American commander in chief as swiftly as these from President Biden a little more than five weeks ago: “There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy of the United States in Afghanistan.”

Then, digging the hole deeper, he added, “The likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.”

For Biden, Images of Defeat He Wanted to Avoid

 

[Tippy Lynn]

The rapid collapse of the Afghan government left American officials increasingly concerned about the potential for a rise in terrorist threats against the United States.

In June, the Pentagon’s top leaders said an extremist group like al-Qaida 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.

But based on the evolving situation, officials now believe terror groups like al-Qaida may be able to grow much faster than expected, according to the person, who had direct knowledge of the briefing was not authorized to discuss the details of the call publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Taliban gains ground, concerns over US terror threats grow | kare11.com

 

[LadyL]

terrifying

Chaotic scenes at Kabul airport

 

[dotr]

Aug 15 2021

 

[KALI]

Thank you for permitting this thread. Unfortunately, I see many crimes about to be committed.
Kudos to websluthes for allowing us to talk about them.
Thank you.

 

[MajorHoople]

Article and video at the link below:

Crying Afghan girl shares fears of 'dying slowly in history' as her country is seized by Taliban | Daily Mail Online

"A heartbreaking video of an Afghan girl voicing her anguish at the world's treatment of her country has gone viral, days before the Taliban successfully established their control on Sunday.

The emotional video has already garnered millions of views after being posted to Twitter by human rights activist Masih Alinejad, and features a crying girl whose identity remains unknown.

'We don't count because we were born in Afghanistan,' the tearful girl explains in the 45-second clip.

'I cannot help crying,' she adds. 'No one cares about us. We'll die slowly in history.'

The Taliban previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001 before they were ousted by a US-led campaign following the 9/11 attacks.

Under Taliban rule, girls were banned from attending school, while women could only appear in public wearing full body coverings and accompanied by male escorts.

Women who did not faithfully observe the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islamic law were publicly flogged or executed."

Sadly, her fate will likely be even worse than she thinks. IMHO

 

[MajorHoople]

Video from the article above with English translation:

An Afghan Girl's Tears Of A Hopeless As The Taliban Advance To The Capital Kabul

posted - Aug 14, 2021

 

[dotr]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-august16-2021-1.6142098
''Videos circulating on social media showed hundreds of people running across the tarmac as U.S. soldiers fired warning shots in the air. One showed a crowd pushing and shoving its way up a staircase, trying to board a plane, with some people hanging off the railings.

Massouma Tajik, a 22-year-old data analyst, described scenes of panic at the airport, where she was hoping to board an evacuation flight.

After waiting six hours, she heard shots from outside, where a crowd of men and women were trying to climb aboard a plane. She said U.S. troops sprayed gas and fired into the air to disperse the crowds after people scaled the walls and swarmed onto the tarmac. Gunfire could be heard in the voice messages she sent to The Associated Press.

The U.S. Embassy has been evacuated and the American flag lowered, with diplomats relocating to the airport to aid with the evacuation. Other Western countries have also closed their missions and are flying out staff and nationals.

By morning, Afghanistan's Civil Aviation Authority issued an advisory saying the "civilian side" of the airport had been "closed until further notice" and that the military controlled the airspace.''

 

[La Louve]

Thank you for this thread.

SMH in grim anguish and tears. (Having flashbacks to Saigon.)

"It's Deja vu all over again".

:rose:

 

[SuziQ]

Watching these events are a bit triggering for me. My Marine son was stationed at the US embassy in Yemen when their civil war broke out. The evacuation went really well. So it can be done without the chaos. We couldn't stay in Afghanistan forever but surely it didn't need to happen this way when we left.

We left this country with a fully trained and armed 300,000 strong army. We even left them an air force. There were 75,000 Taliban. And the Afghan army does nothing to protect theIr women and children. SMDH.

 

[Skigh]

Panic in Kabul: Three stowaways 'fall to their deaths from plane' and five others are killed | Daily Mail Online

 

[IceIce9]

Reminds me of the fall of Saigon. Horrifying.

 

[SuziQ]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-august16-2021-1.6142098
''Videos circulating on social media showed hundreds of people running across the tarmac as U.S. soldiers fired warning shots in the air. One showed a crowd pushing and shoving its way up a staircase, trying to board a plane, with some people hanging off the railings.

Massouma Tajik, a 22-year-old data analyst, described scenes of panic at the airport, where she was hoping to board an evacuation flight.

After waiting six hours, she heard shots from outside, where a crowd of men and women were trying to climb aboard a plane. She said U.S. troops sprayed gas and fired into the air to disperse the crowds after people scaled the walls and swarmed onto the tarmac. Gunfire could be heard in the voice messages she sent to The Associated Press.

The U.S. Embassy has been evacuated and the American flag lowered, with diplomats relocating to the airport to aid with the evacuation. Other Western countries have also closed their missions and are flying out staff and nationals.

By morning, Afghanistan's Civil Aviation Authority issued an advisory saying the "civilian side" of the airport had been "closed until further notice" and that the military controlled the airspace.''

When evacuating, the tarmac and take off is the most dangerous time. it is chaotic and emotions are flying high. There are very scary last minute obstacles. When the aircraft lands in a safe country the entire plane cheers.

 

[IceIce9]

Panic in Kabul: Three stowaways 'fall to their deaths from plane' and five others are killed | Daily Mail Online

The desperation is just tragic.

 

[PrairieWind]

Reminds me of the fall of Saigon. Horrifying.

There is a photo of Chinook helicopter lifting off from the Saigon embassy and one of the Chinook lifting off from the Kabul embassy. You could almost just superimpose them and see no difference. Eerie and sad.