The Fall Of Kabul To The Taliban

[SuziQ]

Brother of Afghan translator to worked for US sentenced to death for providing security to brother | Daily Mail Online

 

[SuziQ]

Taliban are 'flogging' people in the streets for wearing western clothing | Daily Mail Online

 

[dotr]

Canadian special forces operating outside Kabul airport to help evacuees: officials
August 23, 2021 11:47AM EDT rbbm.
''OTTAWA -- Canadian officials say the military's special forces are operating outside the closed confines of Kabul's chaotic airport to get people on flights out of Afghanistan.

The officials would not provide more details, citing the sensitivity of the security situation, but they said they are having success in getting more Afghans to safety.

They said a Canadian C-17 Globemaster carried 436 people out of Kabul airport on Sunday night, including Canadian citizens and family members, as well as Afghan nationals accepted for resettlement by Canada and its allies -- up from the 121 airlifted a day earlier.''

Canada has evacuated 1,700 people out of Kabul — including 900 Afghans
''Canada has processed about two-thirds of the 6,800 Afghan civilians in need of resettlement to this country and so far about 900 of them have arrived here, according to Canadian officials.

In a technical briefing Monday, officials said they have ushered out 1,700 individuals on 13 flights from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, including four planes since last Thursday, when foreign allied forces regained control of the airport operations.''

 

[dotr]

@ approx 0:30 Too many people coming, every time they open the gate, 150 people not qualified try to enter.

 

[Skigh]

US will only allow 'Americans or Green Card holders onto Kabul flights starting Monday' | Daily Mail Online


US will 'stop letting Afghan refugees board evacuation flights TODAY': 20,000 people are still waiting at Kabul airport but troops are rushing to get remaining Americans out first before August 31 deadline

• There are as many as 20,000 people at the airport in Kabul, all waiting to board flights on US or NATO jets
• The US has no total for how many Americans remain in Afghanistan at the airport or in Taliban-held cities
• Overnight, 10,400 people total were flown out on 28 US flights - an average of 371 people per flight
• The US is insisting on people having the right paperwork before they let them onto planes
• An unnamed official cited by CNN said only US or NATO citizens or Green Card holders will be let through
• The US has promised to take up to 22,000 Afghan refugees but it can't issue their SIV visas fast enough
• Over the last few days, nameless, digital SIV visas were issued which caused chaos because they were replicated en-masse
• Despite shipping tens of thousands of people out over the last week, the crowd at the airport is unrelenting
• Most of them are Afghans who do not have a guaranteed seat on any flight but are hoping to escape
• President Joe Biden is expected to speak about the crisis at 1.30pm

 

[shotgun09]

US will only allow 'Americans or Green Card holders onto Kabul flights starting Monday' | Daily Mail Online


US will 'stop letting Afghan refugees board evacuation flights TODAY': 20,000 people are still waiting at Kabul airport but troops are rushing to get remaining Americans out first before August 31 deadline

• There are as many as 20,000 people at the airport in Kabul, all waiting to board flights on US or NATO jets
• The US has no total for how many Americans remain in Afghanistan at the airport or in Taliban-held cities
• Overnight, 10,400 people total were flown out on 28 US flights - an average of 371 people per flight
• The US is insisting on people having the right paperwork before they let them onto planes
• An unnamed official cited by CNN said only US or NATO citizens or Green Card holders will be let through
• The US has promised to take up to 22,000 Afghan refugees but it can't issue their SIV visas fast enough
• Over the last few days, nameless, digital SIV visas were issued which caused chaos because they were replicated en-masse
• Despite shipping tens of thousands of people out over the last week, the crowd at the airport is unrelenting
• Most of them are Afghans who do not have a guaranteed seat on any flight but are hoping to escape
• President Joe Biden is expected to speak about the crisis at 1.30pm

From your link:

"The chaos was worsened over the weekend when the State Department started administering nameless, digital SIV visas to Afghan refugees on smartphones and computers.

The refugees screenshotted the documents and shared them with friends and family, which resulted in thousands turning up with approval to board flights.

'I don't think consular, or the administration frankly, realizes how badly they *advertiser censored****d up by sending that stupid visa and letting everyone in for 24 hours straight. "

 

[Trident]

THIS is America? THAT is our President?

I need to take a break before I say what I really feel.

 

[dotr]

UK scrambles to complete Kabul airlift as envoy flags risk of provoking Taliban
Aug 2021 17.52 BST
rbbm.
''A final decision by the US is likely to emerge from Tuesday’s virtual G7 meeting, but any agreement would have to be negotiated with the Taliban, who control Kabul, the airport perimeter and access to it.''
''It also heard that:

• The threat to British troops and evacuees in Kabul from Isis’s affiliate in Afghanistan is deemed to be “pretty severe”. Many of its members have been released from prison by the Taliban as they gradually took control of the country. On Monday morning there was a firefight at the airport where an Afghan guard was killed.
  
  
• A warning that a handful of people deemed “a direct threat” to the UK had presented themselves to British authorities handling resettlement claims. Kevin Foster, a junior immigration minister, said there had been more hits on the “no fly” list “in the last week in the context of Afghanistan and trying to travel via this operation than we would normally expect in a year of normal flights and travel”.
  
  
• Diplomatic and immigration staff based in Kabul were “getting burned out quite fast”, according to Bristow, because of the pressure of dealing with people wanting to be evacuated. Overnight, five Foreign Office staff joined the diplomatic team to help give those on the ground a break.
  
  
• MPs have complained individual cases were getting lost in the system. Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, said the “consular hotline just isn’t working” and presented a list of questions she hoped ministers would answer. Chris Bryant, a Labour backbencher, added: “We’ve got caseworkers who are in tears because they’re just not getting any help anywhere.”

Ministers had already begun hinting publicly that an end to the airlift could be close. Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said the evacuation was “down to hours, not weeks”.

 

[shotgun09]

UK scrambles to complete Kabul airlift as envoy flags risk of provoking Taliban
Aug 2021 17.52 BST

RS BM:

"A warning that a handful of people deemed “a direct threat” to the UK had presented themselves to British authorities handling resettlement claims. Kevin Foster, a junior immigration minister, said there had been more hits on the “no fly” list “in the last week in the context of Afghanistan and trying to travel via this operation than we would normally expect in a year of normal flights and travel”.

Say what??? That there may be 'gasp' TERRORISTS? trying to get to Western Nations? And...the taliban is controlling who gets in to the airport? And....?

This is one messed up withdrawl. And who is responsible for these horrific decisions made?

 

[Simply Southern]

I'm not a Daily Mail enthusiast, but they do have some good pictures, including this one

Embassy staff feels 'betrayed' by US and rather be killed by Taliban than face Kabul airport chaos | Daily Mail Online

I feel betrayed. We can not leave US Citizens in Kabul, they will be killed, for sure. All my humble opinion.

My heart breaks for those trapped. They are someone's child, father, mother, sister , brother, best friend.

 

[Sundog]

I feel betrayed. We can not leave US Citizens in Kabul, they will be killed, for sure. All my humble opinion.

My heart breaks for those trapped. They are someone's child, father, mother, sister , brother, best friend.

I agree 100%. This is just devastating.

 

[Simply Southern]

I am watching the Pentagon/ Defense Department Briefing currently on C-span. The continued and purposeful evasiveness of the question repeatedly asked by reporters, " How many American citizens have currently been evacuated?" is deliberate, IMO. Why?

https://www.c-span.org/video/?514208-1/defense-department-briefing-taliban-takeover-afghanistan&live

Moo, they know.

I've been on phone and email for over a week. WH, my senators, House of Representatives, demanding they bring our loved ones home. Senator Mark Warner, VA, my senator, is on the intelligence committee, he's released a general statement. I am so disappointed, I've met him, heard him speak and use to think very highly of him. He's very smart and was highly successful in private business and so down to earth.
....snipped

“At this moment, our top priorities must be the safety of American diplomats and other citizens in Afghanistan, and the extraction of Afghans who are at greatest risk, including those who bravely fought alongside our forces since 2001. The world must know that the United States stands by her friends in times of need, and this is one of those times. We must do everything we can to secure the airport in Kabul, restore evacuation flights, and allow our trusted Afghan partners to find safe haven in the United States or elsewhere before it is too late. We also cannot lose sight of the reason we were there in the first place and must continue to stay focused on potential threats to the United States posed by terror groups like the Haqqani network, al-Qa‘ida, and ISIS.

“Intelligence officials have anticipated for years that in the absence of the U.S. military the Taliban would continue to make gains in Afghanistan. That is exactly what has happened as the Afghan National Security Forces proved unable or unwilling to defend against Taliban advances in Kabul and across the country. As the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I hope to work with the other committees of jurisdiction to ask tough but necessary questions about why we weren’t better prepared for a worst-case scenario involving such a swift and total collapse of the Afghan government and security forces. We owe those answers to the American people and to all those who served and sacrificed so much.”
Statement of Sen. Warner on Afghanistan

 

[sds71]

@vmsalama

NSA Jake Sullivan said that the exact number of Americans in Afghanistan has been hard to assess since many Americans never registered with the embassy when they arrived in AFG & many didn’t deregister when they left. “Now it’s our responsibility to find them,” Sullivan said

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan: "In the days remaining, we believe we have the wherewithal to get out the American citizens who want to leave Kabul

Jake Sullivan says “significant percentage" of airlift passengers are Afghans not Americans. Does not have the exact number of Americans evacuated.

@joeygarrison

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says more than 37,000 have been evacuated out of Afghanistan since Aug. 14, including 16,000 people in just the last 24 hours. "All told 26 countries on four continents are contributing to this effort," he says.
@ChrisMegerian
Jake Sullivan says U.S. officials were worried that mass evacuations of Afghans earlier this summer would have caused a crisis and the government's collapse. Obviously, he says, allowing Afghans to stay didn't save the government. But that was the thinking at the time

 

[killer Chaser]

Russia and China are going after them together, boy therein trouble now no Geneva Convention with these guys, China will probably put them in concentration camps like what there doing to the Islamic Uyghurs in south China. Putin: Vital to Prevent Spillover of Radical Islam From Afghanistan

 

[Simply Southern]

I agree 100%. This is just devastating.

I've cried and prayed so much. It brings back the Vietnam war. I had a childhood friend held in captivity for years and tortured, he was reported MIA, but actually was a prisoner. His wife, lead our community and we fought to bring him home, ALIVE.
My cousin was left by the military, trapped in the jungle in Cambodia for two years. No one can imagine what he ate and how he survived. He was listed MIA, his mother had a breakdown.

We can not leave our fellow citizens to possibly be tortured or killed. To much pain and agony for so many.

I'm really having a hard time.

Moo...

 

[CrimeAway]

Sky news piece from Monday, 8/23/21.

 

[dotr]

rbbm.
Kabul: Visa applicants told to stay away from airport as US races to meet exit deadline - CNN
''The number of people in and around the airport awaiting evacuation swelled to around 20,000 over the weekend, but had been reduced to around 13,000 on Monday, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
Most of them are Afghans, the source said, adding that the number of US citizens at the airport was now in the low hundreds.
The airport was increasingly chaotic in terms of who was allowed in, with special forces -- Afghan and American -- looking out for their former Afghan colleagues.''

"It's quickly becoming the Wild West," said the source. "[Special] operators are pulling people through gates left and right."
Even with the new flight restrictions, thousands of Afghans, mostly military aged males with "no documentation," remained on the airport grounds, the source said. They had arrived on the second day during the "everyone gets in" lapse in filtering entrants.
The source said there were "no plans to kick people off the airport," potentially leaving thousands in limbo.''

''One reason for the chaos was the decision to issue electronic visas, without names or document numbers, to SIV applicants. The visas were then copied as screenshots and sent by Afghans to thousands of other Afghans who were not eligible for access to the airport, a source told CNN at the weekend.
"I don't think consular, or the administration frankly, realizes how badly they *advertiser censored****d up by sending that stupid visa and letting everyone in for 24 hours straight," the source said Monday.''

 

[Sundog]

I've cried and prayed so much. It brings back the Vietnam war. I had a childhood friend held in captivity for years and tortured, he was reported MIA, but actually was a prisoner. His wife, lead our community and we fought to bring him home, ALIVE.
My cousin was left by the military, trapped in the jungle in Cambodia for two years. No one can imagine what he ate and how he survived. He was listed MIA, his mother had a breakdown.

We can not leave our fellow citizens to possibly be tortured or killed. To much pain and agony for so many.

I'm really having a hard time.

Moo...

The administration must extend the deadline if American citizens aren't out by August 31st, they need to be clear on that, and make it happen. I hope the G7 Summit tomorrow is strong on this for their citizens and allies as well.

 

[Reasonable & Just]

This is behind a pay wall so I can't read the entire article. When Biden took office he whipped out his pen and undid everything that Trump did. I'm supposed to believe that Biden couldn't do the same here? You just do not pull out troops before your citizens are out. There are a lot of mental gymnastics needed to blame this on Trump, who hasn't been in office for 7 months. Who gave the order to pull out on July 2nd? Who ordered the air base to be closed? Who ignored Intel that the Taliban would swoop in and take over? And as far as State Department warnings to leave, those warnings happen so often all over the world it is merely crying wolf. I would ask my son about those when they would pop up when he would call home. What's going on? What does this mean? Is the situation getting worse? He would say it is just another day in the Middle East.

Here is State Department text about the agreement, and a different article that is hopefully accessible.
U.S. Signs Peace Deal With Taliban After Nearly 2 Decades Of War In Afghanistan
Under the terms of the deal, the U.S. commits to withdrawing all of its military forces and supporting civilian personnel, as well as those of its allies, within 14 months. The drawdown process will begin with the U.S. reducing its troop levels to 8,600 in the first 135 days and pulling its forces from five bases.
The rest of its forces, according to the agreement, will leave "within the remaining nine and a half months."
The Afghan government also will release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners as a gesture of goodwill, in exchange for 1,000 Afghan security forces held by the Taliban.

True about "undoing things" but that only goes so far, unfortunately, those 5000 prisoners had already been released. No putting the toothpaste back in the tube there, so that lands squarely on the Trump, who now praises the Taliban for their negotiation skills. Moreover, Trump drew down our troops drastically. Biden would have had to add them all back plus more to have the dream withdrawal many think is possible - not a popular proposition, and one he personally objects to, for better or worse.

Plus, the Trump admin had set the date for May, so this all would have just happened sooner. Biden altered that date, including the July 2nd withdrawal from Bagram. As for our citizens, this wasn't just a generic warning of bad stuff. They knew we would be leaving Afghanistan because our president told them we would. They maybe didn't believe it, though, or didn't realize the Taliban was ready to pounce so fast.

After troops exit, safety of US Embassy in Kabul top concern
On April 27, the U.S. Embassy’s chargé d’affaires, Ross Wilson, tweeted that non-essential U.S. personnel would leave. The spokesperson would not say how many people left under that order, saying only that staff numbers are constantly being assessed.

Wilson blamed the departure on “increasing violence & threat reports in Kabul.” He also posted a U.S. Embassy site warning to all American citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately on any available commercial flight. And to Americans planning to visit Afghanistan, the order was clear: don’t.

After the election in Nov 2020, Pompeo went back to Doha to work with the Taliban and Afghan government.
Pompeo Meets With Afghan, Taliban Negotiators in Qatar
The Taliban and Afghanistan’s government began negotiating for the first time in September in Doha after the Taliban and the U.S. signed a deal in February. The U.S. agreed to withdraw all foreign troops in exchange for security guarantees and a Taliban commitment to begin negotiations.

Could Biden have undone that? Maybe, but a) he wanted out and b) he didn't want to the Taliban to step up attacks on US troops again.

There is blame aplenty, spread out over 20 years, and it definitely includes the guy in charge now, who readily acknowledges that the buck stops with him, and who is staying the course despite criticism. But it also includes the guy in charge in 2020 who legitimized the Taliban as negotiating partners, drew down our troops and set terrorists free. Also the guy before him (who also set terrorists free and who oversaw the killing of bin Laden and could have ended it then), and most definitely the guy before him.

 

[Reasonable & Just]

Hawaiian Airlines to deploy aircrafts to help with evacuation efforts in Afghanistan

Officials said two Hawaiian Airlines planes will be used in the evacuation efforts, which will ferry evacuees from interim waystations in the region.

“We will not fly to Afghanistan, but will assist the outflow of evacuees to the United States from safe airports in the region so that military aircraft can focus on operations in and out of Kabul,” said Executive Vice President and COO Jon Snook in a statement.