Afghanistan

Michael B-C said:
The more one looks at this situation, it could absolutely be purely a sign of the disintegration of sanity in Washington meets the coming home to roost of the 'reality makers' i.e. reality wins out every time and the chaos and disintegration is all a result of wilful self-delusion (as personified by Biden claiming 300,000 in Afghan army when never more than 50,000).

However... all the world's a stage for the playing out of a absurdist farces... so...

  • Gifting up to 15,000 US citizens as potential hostages...(as they have to get a negative PCR test and then somehow make it through the country/streets to the airport if they want to get out). Let alone all the Afghan associates....
  • Arming the battle hardened Taliban to the teeth...
  • Handing China on a plate all that Lithium required for the millions and millions of batteries that are going to fuel all those electric cars required for agenda 2030, along with access to every other rare mineral...
  • Finally allowing the roadblock to belt and road to come unglued...
  • Giving up all that heroin...
  • Opening a floodgates to a regional and European refuge crisis...
  • MSM reporters being allowed to give doom laden reports from locations where previously they would have feared for their lives within seconds...
etc

And all because 'the time was right to come home...' literally the only reason given - if at all... and that the American public were sick of the war. As if that made a blind bit of difference once over 20 years... and as if they give a damn anyway about what 'focus groups' think when it comes to foreign policy... or any policy come to that...

Its not as if they didn't know about the agreements Trump made and they honored to make a considered and planned exit without most or even any of this taking place....

The more bizarre the situation gets, the more and more like a pre-planned and intentional chaos monster in the making it gets...

Then again...
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It looks very much like the disintegration of sanity, with not much sense behind anything going on right now. The numbers on the plane are almost comical. I'm not sure how much more clear it could be that things are completely falling apart.
 
I just found out about this:

Think Tank Defends Serbia Hosting Secret Afghan Govt-Taliban Talks

Serbia hosted several behind-closed-doors talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, all with the approval of the US, EU and UN, said Jovan Kovacic, director of the think tank that organised the negotiations.

After Serbia’s former foreign minister Ivica Dacic on Tuesday claimed that Serbia had hosted talks between the now former Afghan government and the Taliban three times in recent years, the director of East-West Bridge think tank – which reportedly organised the negotiations – told BIRN that Dacic’s information was accurate, backing it up with photos from the meetings.

Jovan Kovacic told BIRN that the former Afghan government and the Taliban held three meetings between 2018 and 2019 in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.

Asked how his organisation got involved, Kovacic said he got a call from a well-known international figure about his idea that Serbia could act as neutral terrain for a meeting of the two sides.

“It was a bit surprising, but our organisation is known for building cooperation and confidence after the conflicts. Also, Serbia has a good position since it is neutral and we all know that the Muslim world is far from unified. In any other country, there would be allegations of different influences,” the director of East-West Bridge told BIRN.

He did not disclose the name of the “well-known international figure” who made the call, only that he is from an EU country.

Kovacic said he was told to contact Michael Semple, an Irish expert who the BBC has named as “one of the West’s most respected experts on Afghanistan”. Semple was a deputy European Union special representative for Afghanistan until the then Afghan government expellled him in 2007 over his “unauthorized activities”.

“I contacted him and then we contacted the Serbian government, which loved the idea. It was a serious task since many negotiatiors had obstacles to surmount, including travel bans. But Serbia did it really professionally,” he said, adding that secrecy is normal in such negotiations, in this case because “it was their first-ever meeting”.

Kovacic denied that the talks were conducted behind the backs of US, the EU or other involved actors, claiming they all gave permission and were involved in the process.

“We did not do anything behind anyone’s back. Everyone who needed to be invited was invited, including the US, EU countries such as Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and also representatives of UN,” he emphasized.

Asked about the financing of the whole process, he said that everybody shared the costs of travel and stay, and that the Serbian state only provided locations and technical and communications assets.

East West Bridge is a Serbian-based think tank whose members are usually people from the world of business, high politics and media in Serbia and the region.

Its website names Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic as one member. It emphasizes its partnership, among others, with the Trilateral Commission, World Economic Forum – Davos, European Business Summit, The National Alliance for Local Economy Development, NALED, and many other organisations.

Its director, Jovan Kovacic, is also the member of the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission and president of the Serbian National Group of the Trilateral Commission, a non-governmental organisation founded by David Rockefeller in 1973.

balkaninsight.com

Think Tank Defends Serbia Hosting Secret Afghan Govt-Taliban Talks

Serbia hosted several behind-closed-doors talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, all with the approval of the US, EU and UN, said Jovan Kovacic, director of the think tank that organised the negotiations.
balkaninsight.com balkaninsight.com
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Be sure to thank your local Democrat and Dementia Joe for this disaster.


Biden Security Advisor Warns Of "Acute" Terror Risk At Kabul Airport As Blinken Says Americans On Their Own Getting There​


Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com www.zerohedge.com

Update: Just when it seemed that things may be stabilizing at the Kabul Airport, Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on CNN's State of the Union that the U.S. is placing "paramount priority" on defending crowds at Kabul airport seeking to leave Afghanistan against a potential Islamic State terrorist attack.
“The threat is real, it is acute, it is persistent and it is something that we are focused on with every tool in our arsenal,” Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “We are working hard with our intelligence community to try to isolate and determine where an attack might come from.” In Kabul, U.S. commanders “have a wide variety of capabilities that they are using to defend the airfield against a potential terrorist attack,” he said. “We are taking it absolutely, deadly seriously.”
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1429441340182614019
In a stunning follow up, Blinken then said that leaving Americans get to the Kabul airport on their own is "the best way to do this."
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1429491878374875144

Sullivan's comment follows a report from CNN that the US military is establishing "alternative routes" to Kabul airport because of an ISIS terror threat to the airport and its surroundings. "There is a strong possibility ISIS-K is trying to carry off an attack at the airport," a US defense official told CNN. A senior diplomat in Kabul said they are aware of a credible but not immediate threat by Islamic State against Americans at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Two US defense officials described to CNN the military effort to establish "alternative routes" for people to get to Kabul airport and its access gates, with one saying these new routes will be available to Americans, third party nationals and qualified Afghans. The Taliban are aware of the new effort and are coordinating with the US, one of the officials said.
The report goes on to say that the Pentagon - which was "stunned" by the Taliban's blitz takeover of the country but apparently now is on top of ISIS terror chatter - has been monitoring the situation around the airport, aware that the swelling crowds on the grounds and around the airfield create a target for ISIS-K (referring to Islamic State Khorasan, the Islamic State's affiliate in Pakistan and Afghanistan) and other organizations, which may use car bombs or suicide bombers to attack, the second official said. Mortar attacks are another possible threat.
The broadly sketched-out details call for people to follow new routes and access points in coordination with Taliban on the ground in an attempt to help disperse the gathering of large crowds or avoid the crowds altogether. US personnel would be in a position to observe the movement of people to ensure safety, but the official would not specify if that involves direct observation by nearby troops as well as the use of intelligence sensors.
"There's a whole canopy of security concerns we have," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said at a press briefing Saturday, as he described the military "fighting against both time and space" in its effort to safely evacuate people.
Separately, Biden has been meeting with his national security team on Sunday morning and has scheduled a news conference on topics including Afghanistan for 4 p.m. in Washington. The president will hold a virtual meeting with other Group of Seven leaders on Tuesday to coordinate evacuations and discuss humanitarian aid for Afghan refugees, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
As reported earlier, overnight the Defense Department ordered U.S. airlines to provide 18 planes to transport evacuees, saying the extra capacity will help military aircraft focus on operations in and out of Kabul. Activation of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program involves four planes from United Airlines, three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air and two from Hawaiian Airlines, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Sunday.
The activated aircraft won’t fly into the Kabul airport, site of chaotic scenes as people desperate to leave the Afghan capital have been reduced to desperation. Instead, they’ll be used for onward movement of passengers from temporary safe havens and interim staging bases, Kirby said. It was unclear how providing more aircraft will resolve an evacuation whose bottleneck is ensuring airport access to those who wish to flee.
The U.S. and its allies airlifted a combined 7,800 people out of Kabul in the latest 24-hour period, Sullivan said. Some 25,000 people have been evacuated since Aug. 14, he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” While the U.S. has sufficient forces on the ground, Biden asks his commanders “every single day” whether they might need more resources, Sullivan said. Several thousand U.S. citizens are still believed to be in Afghanistan, though it’s hard to determine a more exact number, Sullivan said.
* * *
Earlier:
As the world awaits for what the US president will do next over the botched evacuation of US citizens in Afghanistan, with a press conference scheduled for 4pm on Sunday, things at the makeshift US "embassy" at the Kabul remain deadly tense.
According to Reuters, the Taliban fired in the air and used batons to make people line up in orderly queues outside Kabul airport on Sunday, witnesses said, a day the Britain's defense ministry said seven Afghans were killed in the crush around the airport on Saturday as thousands of people desperately tried to get a flight out. There have been other stampedes and crushing injuries in the crowds, especially as Taliban fighters fire into the air to drive away those desperate to get on any flight out of the country.
“Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible,” the British Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Sky News showed footage of soldiers standing on a wall on Saturday attempting to pull the injured out from the crush and spraying people with a hose to prevent them from getting dehydrated.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1429240078371540993
"Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible," the ministry said in a statement.
A NATO official said that at least 20 people have died in the past seven days in and around the airport. Some were shot and others died in stampedes, witnesses have said. “The crisis outside the Kabul airport is unfortunate. Our focus is to evacuate all foreigners as soon as we can,” the NATO official told the Guardian.
The good news is that according to Ramsay the situation outside the airport is "calmer" but "could change any time."
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1429382843583565828
Speaking to an Iranian state television channel late Saturday night in a video call, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem blamed the deaths at the airport on the Americans in what quickly became a combative interview.
“The Americans announced that we would take you to America with us and people gathered at Kabul airport,” Naeem said. “If it was announced right now in any country in the world, would people not go?”
The host on Iranian state TV quickly said: “It won’t happen in Iran.” Naeem responded: “Be sure this will happen anywhere.”
Meanwhile, the United States and other foreign countries including Britain have brought in several thousand troops to manage the evacuations of foreign citizens and vulnerable Afghans, but have stayed away from the outside areas of the airport.
"Our forces are maintaining strict distance from the outer areas of the Kabul airport to prevent any clashes with the Taliban," the NATO official said. A Taliban official said on Sunday that "we are seeking complete clarity on foreign forces' exit plan."
"Managing chaos outside Kabul airport is a complex task," the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
On Saturday, the United States and Germany told their citizens in Afghanistan to avoid traveling to Kabul airport - one day after Joe Biden said there was “no indication that [Americans] haven’t been able to get, in Kabul, through the airport - as desperate crowds gathered.
Army Major General William Taylor told a Pentagon briefing on Saturday that 5,800 U.S. troops remain at the airport and that the facility "remains secure". Taylor said some gates into the airport were temporarily closed and reopened over the past day to facilitate a safe influx of evacuees. He also said that the US flag continues to wave at this makeshift "US embassy." Taylor said that in the past week the United States has evacuated 17,000 people, including 2,500 Americans, from Kabul.
Australia ran four flights into Kabul on Saturday night, evacuating more than 300 people, including Australians, Afghan visa holders, New Zealanders, U.S. and British citizens, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
On Saturday, speaking at a rally in Alabama, Donald Trump called the botched evacuation of Afghanistan "the greatest foreign policy humiliation" in U.S. history.
* * *
And so as thousands wait for their turn to flee Kabul, Taliban leaders are trying to hammer out a new government while the Taliban's co- founder, Mullah Baradar, has arrived in the Afghan capital for talks with other leaders. Taliban commanders are set to meet former governors and bureaucrats in more than 20 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces over the next few days to ensure their safety and seek cooperation, the Taliban official said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, fighting has erupted in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province, some 120 kilometers north of Kabul. Forces organizing under the banner of the “People’s Uprising” have taken three districts around the Andarab Valley, nestled in the Hindu Kush mountains near Panjshir, the only province still not under Taliban control, where remnants of government forces and other militia groups have gathered. While details of the fighting remain unclear, it marks the first organized resistance to rise up against the Taliban since they blitzed across the country in under a week to seize the majority of the country and its capital.
On Sunday, the Taliban published video online showing fighters, including their elite special forces, preparing to head there, possibly to fight the “People’s Uprising” forces. Four officials said the Taliban had gone into the Keshnabad area of Andarab Valley to abduct the children of those opposing them.
Khair Mohammad Khairkhwa, the former head of intelligence in Balkh province, and Abdul Ahmad Dadgar, another leader in the uprising, alleged that Taliban fighters had attacked people’s homes and burned them while taking children. Two other officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also alleged the Taliban seized fighters’ children. The Taliban did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the fighting.
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Biden says the evacuation of US citizens from Kabul will be hard and painful, because the US needs the Taliban permission to evacuate its citizens.

sputniknews.com

State Dept Appears to Admit US Has to Ask Taliban Permission to Evacuate American Citizens

The hasty troop pullout from Afghanistan is now being widely criticized both by Democrats and Republicans, with some believing it would have been more reasonable (and safe) if the administration had transferred the remaining US citizens...
sputniknews.com sputniknews.com
By Asya Geydarova - 22.08.2021

'Is the US getting rid of its citizens in Afghanistan?'
 
A heads-up from the best Polish commentator on the ME (PhD, academic, scholar. News about Islam, jihad and international relations) concerning the current "battle on Panjshir" (machine transl.):

A deluge of disinformation on Panjshir. Most of this info / disinfo comes from India (and is passed on), and very little from Afg.

There is also a lot of propaganda from the "northern alliance" coming from... Vienna.
The info from the Taliban and the anti-Taliban are fundamentally different.
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Link (in Polish)
 
I was thinking about what Joe & Niall were discussing in the latest News Real, that the Biden administration was caught off guard with the thousands of people trying to board planes to get to the U.S. I do think that they didn't foresee such scenario.

But then again, Niall was asking why Biden said this in July:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1426719143655624711

Reporter: Is the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?
Biden: No, it is not. Because you have the Afghan troops have 300,000 well equipped as well as good as any army in the world and an Air Force....
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When we know it is a complete lie. The February 2020 agreement was struck with the Taliban after all. And such talks must have started long before that, maybe around the time the US must have started to really think about leaving the country, here is this excerpt found in this SOTT Focus:

SIGAR's next quarterly report, published in April 2019, informed Congress the inspector general was no longer being informed by US commanders of how much of the country the Afghan government in Kabul controlled. The last report, dating to October 2018, reported the Taliban controlled 53.8% of the country - a 2% increase since the summer report.
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Basically, the Taliban takeover WAS inevitable, and had been for some time.

So back to Biden, why did he deny this? I think because of optics and short term gains. Saying "Yes, the takeover is inevitable, the Taliban will regain control of the country" is a political no-no, and so they decided to deal with the possible blow back later. And I think their plan to avoid any responsibility was to blame Trump eventually, after all the deal was made under his term. But even so, this situation was tricky to say the least, the Taliban is America's enemy after all. And whether the Biden admin tried to go with this narrative on their own, or if that's what the intelligence community said to Biden, it is irrelevant.
 
sToRmR1dR said:
'Is the US getting rid of its citizens in Afghanistan?'
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Always in touch with "the people", the Democrats assure us that absentee ballots will be delivered to any American stuck in Afghanistan :rolleyes:
babylonbee.com

Democrats Promise To Make Sure Every American Stuck In Afghanistan Receives A Mail-In Ballot

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congress passed emergency legislation today to address the thousands of U.S. citizens still trapped in Afghanistan. The new legislation will mobilize the Air Force to drop much-needed absentee ballots for Americans eager to vote in the 2022 election. 'Our heart goes out to the...
babylonbee.com babylonbee.com
 
www.valeursactuelles.com

[Info VA] Cinq Afghans tout juste accueillis… et déjà sous surveillance pour risque terroriste

A peine débarqués sur le sol français, cinq Afghans se sont vu notifier leur placement sous surveillance accrue, dans le cadre de la prévention du terrorisme islamiste.
www.valeursactuelles.com www.valeursactuelles.com

Cinq Afghans tout juste accueillis… et déjà sous surveillance pour risque terroriste​

A peine débarqués sur le sol français, cinq Afghans se sont vu notifier leur placement sous surveillance s'accumulent, dans le cadre de la prévention du terrorisme islamiste.

Cinq Afghans viennent de recevoir... et déjà sous surveillance pour risque terroriste
A peine débarqués sur le sol français, cinq Afghans ont été avisés de leur placement sous surveillance renforcée, dans le cadre de la prévention du terrorisme islamique.
 
In all this confusion, Uki's want their piece of attention. Probably, they can't do any thing other than what their Israeli sources pass on.
www.indiatoday.in

Ukraine says evacuation plane hijacked in Kabul, flown to Iran; retracts allegation later

Ukraine has retracted allegation that its evacuation plane was hijacked in Kabul and was flown to Iran by unidentified people.
www.indiatoday.in www.indiatoday.in
After alleging that its evacuation plane was hijacked and flown to Iran, Ukraine has now retracted its claim.

Abas Aslani, Spokesman for the Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran denied the claims and said, "This plane came to Mashhad airport (northeastern Iran) yesterday for refueling and after refueling, it left for Ukraine and arrived at Kiev airport at 21:50."

Earlier it said, the plane had arrived in Kabul to evacuate its citizens and was hijacked by unidentified people who flew it to Iran.

"Last Sunday, our plane was hijacked by other people. On Tuesday, the plane was practically stolen from us, it flew into Iran with an unidentified group of passengers onboard instead of airlifting Ukrainians. Our next three evacuation attempts were also not successful because our people could not get into the airport," Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Yenin was quote saying by The Russian News Agency.
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