[Western Journal] Kabul, soon to be the capital of what will be formally known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, had a blend of fear and panic with patches of surface calm Monday, one day after the Taliban took control of the city.
The Muslim outlet Ummid News reported that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been declared president, replacing Ashraf Ghani, who fled as the Taliban moved on the capital.
Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban with Mullah Omar, was captured in Pakistan in 2010 but released in 2018, according to the Associated Press.
He was part of the team of negotiators who met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials in Qatar in September 2020.
"There was no expectation that we would achieve victory in this war," Baradar said. "But this came with the help of Allah, therefore we should be thankful to Him, be humble in front of Him, so that we do not act arrogantly."
#2
B, anyone meet your 8 AM resignation deadline from yesterday?
Posted by: Matt ||
08/16/2021 11:40 Comments ||
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#3
/\ No, but I've extended it for another 24 hours. I am hoping for a televised resignation session at around 4:00 pm today. Plugs, Kam, Austin, eight or ten more.
#7
Ref #5: Thanks Flav. Nice that he was able lecture and virtue signal us on his strategic genius. I mistakenly thought it was a giant klusterfok. I'm now pleasantly relieved this was all part of the Biden master plan.
#1
The media: "It will be horrible if the Taliban stop girls from going to school..."
Also the media: "Your children must remain at home while schools are closed indefinitely..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/16/2021 10:08 Comments ||
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#2
This twitter thingy has some pretty funny stuff. If only I felt like laughing.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/16/2021 11:13 Comments ||
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#3
How old are you Matt?
Or in other words, are you old enough to watch Islamic radicals demand an entire community to a stadium to watch them put a round from an AK47 through a woman's head in the end zone? Or broadcast to the world an American being beheaded?
#7
^ Failure's no longer an orphan as long as the media and the dems (and the GOPe quislings) have Trump to blame...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/16/2021 12:02 Comments ||
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#8
Could be just the excuse that Harris and Pelosi need to invoke the 25th Amendment. But if I was Harris, as unprepared for this kind of responsibility as she is, I would fight and beg for Joe to stay in office as long as possible.
But, yes, the only honorable thing for Biden to do at this point is to resign.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/16/2021 12:11 Comments ||
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#9
He's just coming back to talk about his most recent ice cream cone.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/16/2021 12:23 Comments ||
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#10
as he Zooms his National Security Council from Camp David
Likely a photoshop.
Did the White House use photoshop in Biden photo? Note the time in London and Moscow on the clocks. Clocks show 3 hour time difference. However, there is currently only a 2 hour difference. Before March, London and Moscow have a 3 hour time difference because of daylight savings.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/16/2021 13:01 Comments ||
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#13
Harris is all "i'm looking into Haiti, that's all joe despite my earlier statment."
Joe is all "Trumps fault, despite my claims we had it all in control just a short time ago."
Military is like "Biden didn't listen to us."
#1
Anyone remember Saigon 1975?
The only difference is today Both parties have responsibility.
Posted by: Sonny Black ||
08/16/2021 9:27 Comments ||
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#2
"All US Embassy Staff Have Now Been Evacuated"
That just leaves a couple of thousand troops who were put in there to protect the 'important' people.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/16/2021 10:58 Comments ||
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#3
^Yep - and it's the best argument for Trump 2024 that I can think of.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/16/2021 11:43 Comments ||
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#6
they are not following CDCguidelines call FBI they must be terrorists gathering together not wearing FAUCI of the loom masks! think of the fines and all that money call the DHS AND FAA NOW we got video evidence!
Posted by: Titus the Tiny6941 ||
08/16/2021 12:47 Comments ||
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#7
any meme things from DIE HARD and SAIGON?
Posted by: Titus the Tiny6941 ||
08/16/2021 12:49 Comments ||
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#8
History repeats itself. Shithook landing at embassy in Saigon and another at Kabul embassy.
[Gateway Pundit] Afghanistan’s new de facto leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has issued a congratulatory message to his fellow Taliban on the declaration of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."
Mullah Baradar’s statement was given from the presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday.
"We have achieved an unexpected victory," he said. "Now is the time to test, to show how we serve our people and ensure their future in the best possible way."
#Afghanistan's new de facto leader Mullah Baradar issues congratulatory message to his fellow Taliban on the declaration of the 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan'.pic.twitter.com/bymr5HWRsf
— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) August 15, 2021
Baradar also announced that he has been appointed leader by the Taliban and will be taking control of the government.
The Taliban leader was arrested by Pakistani authorities in 2010, but was released in 2018 due to pressure from the United States.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country Sunday morning to "prevent more bloodshed."
"Today I came across a tough choice. I had to face the armed Taliban who want to enter the palace or leave the country I have dedicated my life to protecting and nurturing for the last 20 years. If left unchecked, countless patriots would be martyred and the city of Kabul would be devastated, resulting in a major humanitarian catastrophe in the 6-million-strong city," Ghani wrote in a Facebook post. "The Taliban had made it clear that they were ready to carry out a bloody attack on all of Kabul and the people of Kabul to oust me. In order to prevent a flood of bloodshed, I decided to leave."
#1
Best case realistic scenario is that the Taliban accepts aid and development loans from China, and that the Chinese use economic pressure to get them to reform. China has close ties to Pakistan because of BRI, and Pakistan is one of the Taliban’s oldest state allies. The PRC has also already met with Taliban leaders anticipating the transition. It’s obviously a long shot, but it’s a far better situation than what the Yankees were doing.
#3
Given that the DIA kept the defection of the Chinese official secret from the CIA, I doubt the upper management at the CIA is out to do anything to upset their second employer.
#9
If I was the Afghan President I would have had folks build a bomb into my desk in the last few days before I left. Would have been a nice capper to have the Taliban leadership blown apart during their first broadcast. But I'm spiteful that way.
#1
No reason the Talibs can't just seal off the airport then auction off the foreigners for ransom and execute the locals. Once flight operations are off the table there's not anything that can be done militarily by the US to prevent it.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/16/2021 8:38 Comments ||
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[CitizenFreePress] The Taliban now has javelin missiles as well as the OS for Strykers and other military vehicles. "Everyone is wondering what the black market is going to have in Iran," a US official told me.
"An F-15 flight simulator was also left in Bagram, the Taliban has that now."
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) August 15, 2021
Trump would have been impeached immediately for leaving top secret material behind.
Cernovich — The Taliban now have javelin missiles as well as the OS for Strykers and other military vehicles. "Everyone is wondering what the black market is going to have in Iran," a US official told me.
"An F-15 flight simulator was also left in Bagram, the Taliban has that now."
**** A Light Side ? (below) ****
Taliban works out at Presidential Palace gym...
Taliban enjoying gym at kabul president palace. pic.twitter.com/FkQY2vR3zw
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/16/2021 6:54 Comments ||
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#4
The fault goes back to Bush and Chaney not wanting to engage in real war, but some Hollyweird production that looked like war. That meant destroying the Taliban's base of operation which was Pakistan. "Cooler heads prevailed" and delivers this event.
#5
Biden wants to disarm citizens in the U.S. with draconian measures and yet he leaves behind a ton of state-of-the-art weapons that will arm our enemy, the Taliban.
#7
And it was all "sold" to the Afghans with US taxpayer funds.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/16/2021 10:59 Comments ||
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#8
"An F-15 flight simulator was also left in Bagram, the Taliban has that now." Well China or Russia will have it. Taliban is unlikely to get much use out of a simulator beyond selling it.
Does seem like something that could have been removed months ago easily enough. Same with destroying the super secret documentation we were scrambling to destroy over the weekend. Why wait even if you though we had more time they knew the end was near.
#9
It doesn't matter. Biden's response and Pelosi's to Afghanistan shows you they just want "the little people" dead unless they are ChiComs or Taliban.
#1
I want to thank the American judiciary for sticking their hands into the conduct of war in helping make this victory possible. (do I need to put a /sarc on that?)
Article posted to Khaama Press Monday, 16 Aug 2021 06:34 AM Afghan Time
[KhaamaPress] Hours after Afghanistan's Caped PresidentAshraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money... along with his close aides and the first lady left Kabul for Tajikistan, the Taliban ...Arabic for students... entered Presidential Palace ARG.
The retreat of Afghan national police from their outposts around the capital left the city in chaos and allow the city to be looted and plundered easily. Though the Taliban earlier on Sunday had said that there is no plan to enter the Afghan capital militarily, the security vacuum in Kabul city made them decide to direct their fighters to enter Kabul and occupy the empty police outposts and police districts.
Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ...One of the more egregious mistakes of the post 9-11 era... International airport was also packed with tens of passengers awaiting flights out of the country who then took to the runway but found no plane and are still stuck there.
To avoid the power vacuum created after the escape of the president, head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah ...the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against both Karzai and Ghani. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun. He also held the meaningless salaried sop position as CEO of Afghanistan, while Ghani was president... , former President Hamid Karzai and head of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbadin Hekmatyar came together and shaped a temporary council.
The council is aimed at transferring the power peacefully to the Taliban and asked Afghan cops and forces of the Afghanistan Islamic Emirate to secure Kabul city and do not allow any chaos.
The trio in their separate video clips delivered different messages to the people of Kabul.
Abdullah Abdullah accused Ashraf Ghani of fleeing the country and leaving the people in mess. Abdullah also erupted into the streets of Kabul and greet the people who were hugging crying and thanked him for being with them.
Hamid Karzai encouraged people not to panic as he and his children are still living in the Afghan capital.
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie was cracking himself up, but nobody else seemed to be getting the non-stop jokes... Gulbadin Hekmatyar accused Ashraf Ghani of continuing the war and remaining stubborn to transfer power peacefully to a government that is acceptable to all.
The Afghanistan Islamic Emirate asked people to cooperate with them in identifying and arresting those who impersonate them and rob people and property.
In several video clips shot by the members of AIE show that looters and plunderers were arrested after people call them.
The night was rather quiet when it comes to the nightlife of a city but there were sporadic fires and the choppers were patrolling the Afghan capital.
#4
Deja vu all over again: In 1989 the first trusted friend that Pakistan wanted to install in Kabul was Hekmatyar. For three years, Hekmatyar targeted the city with tens of thousands of rockets provided by the Pak Milirary ISI. He also launched ground attacks against a sitting government, the most serious one occurred in January 1994 in an attack joined by Abdur Rashid Dostom, and Abdul Ali Mazari, the leader of the Shi‘ite Wahdat Party. As one author put it, "Only the ISI could bring such strange bedfellows together!" When Pakistan realized Hekmatyar’s inability to attain power in Kabul, it designed a new plot fomented by General Naseerullah Babar, the Pakistani Interior Minister. Babar is considered the “Godfather” of the Taliban, and ISI fundeed Taliban for years. Covering its bases, the ISI continued its ties to Hekmatyar, and both were surprised at how quickly the Taliban conquered Kabul in late September 1996. And the rest, as they say, is history.
#3
One of my favorite things about this mess is imagining that there's more than one journalist out there shredding his lovingly written "Milley for prexident" story right now.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/16/2021 10:48 Comments ||
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#3
1. Pull out. Embarg-oh every piece of aid and money to AFG. Disassociate completely.
2. Let an Emirate grow there, let the shura fight it out who will reign and who will remain in Quetta. This may take not more than two or three years. Disregard the 'oh the humanity!' cries of the media and sit still on your arse until then.
3. False flag some minor outrage against yourself or allies. There are ways to instigate the actor to hit you too and leave an inviting opening, I'm sure the State Dept knows tonnes about that. Because they may not do anything of the scale to warrant the response. For a real outrage you'll have to wait so long they'll probably have a seat in the UN by then.
3. Nuke Kabul. 💥 Destroy the dream of an islamic emirate and regain the lost morale. And no, conventional missile warfare, bombing and artillery and sorties based on intelligence from Islamabad won't cut it.
#4
^Why tf is India busy on saving Afghans?? What about other the 56 ISLAMIC COUNTRIES? Where's that bitch Malala?? I don't want India to become sharia hellhole!
#5
I have honestly felt since the 1960's, Congress needs to seriously overhaul the process in which the USA President and themselves declare wars AND how it will be waged.
A ground war there, in my opinion.
Was never a realistic process for success.
Just look at the previous British and USSR failures over the preceding 150+/- years.
Also given back on 05/01/2011, the DC/DOD claimed it eliminated OBL and had killed a lot of top Al-Qaeda leadership.
So wouldn't a US pull out in 2011-12 been a good time leave?
#7
I have honestly felt since the 1960's, Congress needs to seriously overhaul the process in which the USA President and themselves declare wars AND how it will be waged.
Short end - Covert the Army over to the Swiss system without authority to be deployed. Increase the Marine Corps somewhat to be the force to be deployed outside of the country. If you don't have the toys to play with, your means to get into trouble are reduced.
When the Wall came down, it was the signal to leave. When OBL was wacked, it was the signal to leave.
When you go to war, you go to war not some kabuki substitute for the real thing.
#12
They fought to give Afghanistan a 20 year chance. You can't really do more than provide a chance. Unfortunately the Afghans came up unworthy (as did the Iraqs and others).
They fought to provide a lesson to America that we shouldn't be trying to build up countries. Our own politicians and military get corrupted in the process. Or troops get killed and maimed. And the nations rarely step up to defend themselves the way we expect, they just know how to use us as a jobs work program until its time to catch the last flight out.
#13
According to today's State Dept, they died for Intersectionality.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/16/2021 11:48 Comments ||
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#14
All this is the Afghans fault? Boy, that's a hot take. WTF? How can you shit on people that got bombed and droned and had their wedding parties blasted with HMX because any gathering of men was deemed a terrorist plot? And all this is their fault?
Posted by: Titus the Tiny6941 ||
08/16/2021 12:50 Comments ||
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#16
The Taliban offered to surrender in December 2001 but this was rejected.
From Slomorong Thraiger7030’s link:
Rumsfeld Rejects PlanTo Allow Mullah Omar 'To Live in Dignity' : Taliban Fighters Agree to Surrender Kandahar
Dec. 7, 2001
WASHINGTON— Afghanistan's Taliban militia said Thursday that it had agreed to surrender its last remaining stronghold, the southern city of Kandahar, to a prominent anti-Taliban commander and would begin giving up its weapons on Friday.
But Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld immediately objected to portions of the deal that reportedly would allow the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, to remain in Kandahar to "live in dignity" in opposition custody, so long as he renounced terrorism.
Even as we type, Taliban representatives continue to meet in Doha, continuing to negotiate a “peaceful transition” as they have done for the last many years while they quietly trained in Pakistan and killed and bribed in Afghanistan to prepare the ground for their reconquest. This is a textbook case of taqiyya, or possibly one of the other four types of Sharia-mandated Muslim lies required by Allah, one of whose titles is The Prince of Lies.
We tried the precision targetting, hearts and minds route. When we have to go back, it should be with B-52s — Operation Arc Light II across Afghanistan and key points in Pakistan.
#17
It is the Afghans fault because it is the Afghans country. The US military leaders must share a lot of blame but we were not occupiers who could do whatever we wished. If we were (as in Germany and Japan) I suspect the result would have been different.
#18
Looks like some commenters are pissed off that more Americans won't be coming back home maimed, missing body parts and scarred with PTSD.
Nobody's going back to Afghanistan. The American people won't stand for it. Deal with it: your precious mass murdering war is over. It was always going to end this way.
Well, unless the Taliban surrendered and disarmed and went home. But then you wouldn't have been able to kill so many people.
Hardly WW2 in casualties. No non-precision bombing or fire bombing of urban areas. No shut off of the flow of food (doing to Japan what Germany tried to do to England).
#22
It doesn't matter. Biden's response and Pelosi's to Afghanistan shows you they just want "the little people" dead unless they are ChiComs or Taliban.
Ah, I thought that vitriol smelled familiar!
Afghanistan is *bleep*ed, gas prices are up and now we are getting refried vitriol. Man, the Biden Era sucks.
#27
Nobody's going back to Afghanistan. The American people won't stand for it.
Tell that to Biden, please. In that sentiment I agree with you 100%, nobody should. I'm not a warmonger of any sort. But once you're in it, there are ways to win and ways to lose. I am not fond of ways to lose.
Per @LucasFoxNews: Gen. Frank McKenzie, CENTCOM commander, met with Taliban leaders today in Doha, Qatar to warn them not to attack Americans evacuating Kabul or else the U.S. military would “strike back,” U.S. officials tell Fox News
#7
"I will have you know sir, that these boots are part of my uniform and I will not part wi... oh! OK, you may have them. What?! No! These... are my... regimental trousers! Ugh! Fine! They were old anyway!"
#11
They won, they get everything and the US retreating tail between our legs, they should be satisfied.
But if they took hostages how would their situation be any worse? If they slaughtered Americans leaving do they think the US would really just respond with wholesale slaughter when they are now intermixed wiht civilians in the cities?
#2
oh great, they're going to hijack for every event now aren't they.
Posted by: Chris ||
08/16/2021 10:25 Comments ||
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#3
If they want to rumble with teefa, I say let em...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/16/2021 10:32 Comments ||
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#4
ALF instead of ELF and ALF is the new AMERIKAN osama bin laden! aliens terrorists a giant false flag psyop AFGHAN LIVES FIRST ALF THE ALIEN HEAD HONCHO eating CATS!
Posted by: Titus the Tiny6941 ||
08/16/2021 12:55 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Afghanistan's warlords vowed defiantly to defend their strongholds from the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... and crush the bad boys. But, like the government's forces, they too gave up with surprising ease.
As the turbans swept through the north in a surprise offensive targeting Afghanistan's anti-Taliban bastion, President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money... called for a national mobilisation of militia forces.
Despite Ghani's chequered history with the country's warlords, the beleaguered president was hoping they could help turn the tide.
In the besieged northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, Ghani was looking to longtime strongman Atta Mohammad Noor and ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... Both were known for their dogged defence against the Taliban in the 1990s, and had remained influential figures during the past two decades of war.
In the days leading up to their defeat, the greying commanders appeared to be the fearsome figures from their younger years.
"The Taliban never learn from the past," Dostum told news hounds last week after flying back to Mazar-e-Sharif, while offering a not-so-subtle reference to the alleged massacre of the turbans by his fighters in 2001.
"The Taliban have come to the north several times but they were always trapped. It is not easy for them to get out."
Noor took to social media to issue his own warnings, posting graphic pictures of Taliban killed by his troops while promising to fight to the death.
"I prefer dying in dignity than dying in despair," wrote Noor on Twitter, alongside other defiant posts vowing to "defend the nation".
In a video posted to Facebook on Saturday, Noor spoke calmly to camera dressed in military fatigues while rifle fire could be heard close by.
- 'COWARDLY PLOT' - Ultimately, bravado did not beat back the bad boys.
Late Saturday, both men's militias were routed after the Afghan military units they were supporting surrendered to the Taliban.
Dostum and Noor fled across the nearby Uzbek border.
Noor claimed they had been the victims of deep-seated betrayal, saying on Twitter their resistance came to an end "as a result of a big organized & cowardly plot."
He offered no other details.
Video posted on pro-Taliban social media accounts, meanwhile, showed a group of young Taliban fighters combing through Dostum's gaudy residence, digging through cabinets and testing out overstuffed furniture.
Their rout came days after fellow strongman Ismail Khan was captured by Taliban fighters in the western city of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... Khan had in the lead-up to his defeat sounded like the same powerful figure who had ruled his fiefdom with such authority for decades that he earned the nickname "Lion of Herat".
"We demand all the remaining security forces resist with courage," Khan said last month.
But with a look of resignation, Khan was on Friday forced to pose for pictures with Taliban fighters and give an interview to an bad boy media outlet.
After all the hefty promises and chest thumping, it was a humiliating end.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2021 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Noor claimed they had been the victims of deep-seated betrayal, saying on Twitter their resistance came to an end "as a result of a big organized & cowardly plot
#2
Wouldn't shock me if our military was sending all the equipment and support to "right thinking" Afghans rather than the northern tribes that helped us liberate the country. Then these right thinking leaders just surrender to the Taliban.
[RedState] With Afghanistan on fire, the airport in chaos, and uncertainty on how all US personnel will make it out alive, the recriminations for what is still transpiring are in full swing. You'll be less than shocked to learn that some are blaming Donald Trump, who hasn’t been president for the last seven months.
On the other hand, those living within the confines of our current reality are pointing the finger where it belongs, toward the current President of the United States. While Joe Biden had previously taken credit for his supposedly fabulous withdrawal plan, he’s now desperately trying to pass the buck, be it to Republicans or perhaps his own vice president.
Yet, things look to be even worse than they first appeared. Reports are coming out that the reason the Afghan Air Force couldn't operate is that the Biden Administration banned foreign maintenance contractors (i.e. the only people with the expertise) from entering Afghanistan.
This per The Daily Beast.
The Afghan Air Force didn’t take flight because — God help us — Joe Biden refused to let outside maintenance crews into Afghanistan, effectively grounding the fleet. pic.twitter.com/0L1wNSqGPa
Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft do not just run into perpetuity. That’s especially true when dealing with military variants, which can often require many hours of maintenance for every actual flight hour flown. By banning foreign contractors from helping the Afghan Air Force maintain its fleet, Biden effectively grounded it and took them out of the fight.
And while they weren't flying the latest and greatest types, A-29 CAS aircraft and Mi-24 Hinds (along with the other light-attack helicopters the Afghan Air Force had) would have been very useful in trying to hold off the Taliban as they advanced toward Kabul, even if temporarily.
[RedState] (The REDSTATE EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the most important story out of Afghanistan today and possibly about the entire war. It’s not an understatement to say that Hollie is one of the few western journalists in the country and has a vantage point few have. Please watch the entire interview; it’s filled with crucial information.)
In less than a week, Afghanistan has fallen. How could this happen so quickly after US officials assured everyone that the Afghan military was fully capable of defending the country against the Taliban?
Sunday evening (Afghanistan time) I spoke with Jenna Lee Babin of SmartHER News about how rapidly the country fell and why based on what I've seen and heard in the country. We'd spoken on Friday, and while it was a little tense at that time the changes since then have been abrupt, sudden, and dramatic.
With Mazar as an example, when we first got in early Thursday morning it was a normal city. It was full of life. People were in the streets. The markets were full. Everybody was at their shrine. And I remember being shocked because everybody was talking about the northern provinces going, and I thought it was completely exaggerated. There didn’t seem to be any imminent threat.
Friday, things had shifted. You could just feel a sense of fear. There were people saying, "They're coming! They're coming!" I wondered if they were exaggerating. Shopkeepers were closing down, but things were still open and there were people around.
And then Saturday it was just a ghost town, and people were lining up at banks to get money out. We were hearing rumors about there were three front lines and the first one had been breached.
And then it was gone, just like that. Literally, just like that.
From my understanding, the level of corruption within the Afghanistan military and the government, that is part of how the Taliban won a lot of this, is they paid the commanders off to surrender a city before. So those who genuinely do want to fight -- and there are a lot of men that wanted to genuinely fight -- they were basically kept in the dark and ANA commanders were paid off by the Taliban in advance to surrender the city. They were just left with, you have no choice but basically to run.
The level of corruption that enabled the Taliban to come back into power is just mind-blowing. It's mind-blowing to see that and to see all of the weapons that have now gone into the Taliban’s hands when the Afghan army runs away, we paid for.
#3
Ref #1: Just out of curiosity, I'd like to follow the Mullah-geld and discover where it actually came from. Is Mullah-geld fungible ?
Pres. Trump's plan with conditions established, was to be out in May. Were those Mullah dollars a 'lease on peace' until Biden's September transition could be realized ?
I know it sounds bizarre and unheard of....but was the Mullah-geld palletized and air-dropped to the Taliban from unmarked aircraft in the dead of night? Later turned into cash payments to the Afghan Army and local officials for their peaceful stacking of arms ?
#9
#3 Heroin and opium are always big dollar winners and I would not be surprised to discover the Chinese emperor found his wallet just in time. That and remember, Hunter has connections all across Asia and he is an enterprising lad.
Feel sorry for the woman, if it's over quick she'll be lucky.
[KhaamaPress] The Taliban ...Arabic for students... spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid claims to have taken Wardak province bordering Kabul in the west of Kabul.
This brings the total number of Kabul’s neighboring provinces to three out of five to be toppled by the fighters in the past 12 hours.
The Taliban took Pashtun-infested Logar province in the south of Kabul on Saturday noon, Laghman ...Afghan province with a population of about 445,600, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. During the invasions of Alexander the Great, the area was known as Lampaka, wich is apparently Olde Macedonian for Laghman.The city of Mihtarlam serves as the bucolic capital of the province. The population is half Pashtun, the remainder Tadjik and Pashai. It had a repution for great wealth until it was conquered in the tenth century by Abu Mansur Sabuktigin.
He conquered it and set fire to the places in its vicinity which were inhabited by infidels, and demolishing the idol-temples, he established Islam in them, He marched and captured other cities and killed the polluted wretches, destroying the idolatrous and gratifying the Musulmans. After wounding and killing beyond all measure, his hands and those of his friends became cold in counting the value of the plundered property.
After that it was mostly notable for the production of dirt, rocks, and holy men... province in the east of Kabul on Saturday night, and now Wardak province on Sunday morning.
Zabiullah Mujahid in a Twitter post said the Maidan Wardak province has fallen to the fighters and the province-based Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have fled to Kabul.
The province for over a month had been in the control of the Taliban but the scenic provincial capital Maidan Shar.
Parwan and Kapisa are two other neighboring provinces of Kabul that have been witnessing heavy conflicts between the warring sides and the Afghan government is holding merely control over the capital city of Kapisa province.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Yellow Wolf clutched at his chest and fell from his horse... there are reports of Khost province ... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name... bordering Pakistain in the southeast being surrendered to the Taliban without resistance and confrontations.
On Saturday night, the eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. and Laghman province fell to the Taliban after negotiations with the governors of the Afghan government and the Taliban.
[KhaamaPress] The only province in the north of Afghanistan, Balkh, fell to the Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... which brought the entire northern zone under the fighters’ control.
The Taliban launched heavy attacks on the provincial city, Mazar-e-sharif, and toppled the city after a relatively heavy confrontation with Afghan Defense and Security Forces and the armed uprising.
Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... and the prominent Jihad leader Atta Muhammad Noor who was defending the city fled to Uzbekistan along with their fighters and sons.
Atta Muhammad Noor has written on his Facebook page that, the collapse of Mazar-e-sharif was a plot and was aimed at getting himself and Marshal Dostum surrendered.
The Afghan government has not commented on the collapse of Blakh province yet.
The Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid on his Twitter wrote that the provincial office, police headquarter; NDS local office, and 209th Shaheen corps have fallen to the fighters.
Mujahid further wrote that the central prison has also been broken and inmates were let flee.
Earlier, Attah Muhammad Noor has said he will never ever surrender to the Taliban and there is no power to get him arrested in the province. Marshal Dostum had also said that Balkh is the door of Afghanistan and they will never let the province topple.
[KhaamaPress] Head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah ...the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against both Karzai and Ghani. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun. He also held the meaningless salaried sop position as CEO of Afghanistan, while Ghani was president... in a video clip said that the former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money... left Afghanistan.
He said that he left the people of Afghanistan in mess and misery and he will be judged in futurity.
Ashraf Ghani along with NSA Hamdullah Muhib and head of the administrative office of President Fazel Mahmood Fazli left Afghanistan for Tajikistan.
Earlier, speaker of Afghan parliament Mir Rahman Rahmani, Younus Qanuni, Muhammad Muhaqeq, Karim Khalili, Ahmad Wali Masoud, and Ahmad Zia Masoud fled to Islamabad.
The Taliban ...Arabic for students... in an official statement said that the fighters were directed to enter Kabul city so that they prevent potential looting and chaos in the city.
The statement reads that, since Afghan forces have left outposts in Kabul city, there is a risk of plundering.
Kabul is taken by the fighters at a time when the power is not transferred yet and a delegation is said to be leaving for Doha to complete the process.
Two sources said that President Ashraf Ghani has left the country after the Taliban entered the city on Sunday.
According to the sources, his close aides have also left the country along with him.
Earlier in the day, acting defense minister Bismillah Mohammadi said that the president has handed the authority of solving the crisis in the country to political leaders.
Mohammadi said that a delegation will travel to Doha on Monday for talks on the country’s situation.
The delegation includes key political leaders, including Younus Qanooni, Ahmad Wali Massoud, Mohammad Mohaqiq among others.
Sources close to the Taliban said that it has been agreed that Ghani will resign after a political agreement and hand the power to a transitional government.
Afghans have said that they seek a political settlement and an end to the ongoing violence in the country.
#AFG “ Defense minister Bismillah Khan fled in a military air craft with 3 of his sons.” A source tells me.
[FoxNews] Border Patrol agents in a California mountain range were fired upon from Mexico while taking a group of migrants found illegally entering the country into custody last week – another instance of violence against U.S. immigration officers at the border, yet no arrests have been made.
At approximately 9 p.m. on Aug. 9, Border Patrol agents "were the target of multiple shots" near Otay Mountain, which contains the highest summit of the San Ysidro Mountains in San Diego County, according to a statement released Saturday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The barrage of bullets was unleashed on agents arresting a group of undocumented immigrants, about two miles east of the Otay Mesa gatehouse and approximately 250 yards north of the international border. As agents escorted the group to their vehicles, they heard gunfire and gunshots heading toward the area where they were, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.
Agents immediately ordered the migrants to take cover behind the bushes, while they themselves sought shelter. Marine Air Operations (AMO) and the tactical unit (BORTAC) responded to the area immediately, but could not locate the subjects, the statement, initially issued in Spanish, said.
The international liaison unit requested the assistance of Mexican authorities, who responded south of the border in the area where the shots were suspected to originate, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Residents of the area reported seeing several people from the Mexican side flee the area in a pickup truck and a motorcycle. No other information on the subjects could be obtained.
[NATION.PK] Pak authorities on Sunday have closed Torkham border with Afghanistan after Taliban ...Arabic for students... captured Jalalabad area.According to details, the crossing has been closed for every kind of movement. Security has also been tightened over the presence of Taliban on other side of the border.
On the other hand, Taliban raced closer to a complete military takeover of Afghanistan after capturing more major cities, leaving only the isolated capital Kabul for them to conquer.
They took control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad, just hours after the seizing the northern anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-e-Sharif -- furthering an astonishing rout of government forces and warlord militias achieved in just 10 days.
Jalalabad had a population of around 356,000 people as of 2014. The city is around 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the Pak Torkham border crossing, making it a center for international trade.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2021 00:00 ||
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#3
The way women are treated by Muslims is why they will win the world. When will the progressives in the USA wake up and start attacking the Muslim faith instead of the Christian Sheep.
Posted by: Andy Bourbon3224 ||
08/16/2021 21:31 Comments ||
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#5
He that follows the law is then a debtor to the whole Law, Bourbon. As the world and political condition's changed, God has to allow for self preservation too I'm sure. Which is why it also says 'If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone...' and 'he that hath a purse, let him take it and likewise his pack; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one..'.
[Rudaw] An Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) emir was arrested in a joint security operation conducted by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and international coalition forces in western Deir ez-Zor, local media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Saturday.
The SDF and coalition forces clashed with the emir, an Iraqi, for nearly 40 minutes after storming his house. He was later arrested and his house blown up, SOHR said.
The joint operation was supported by four helicopters and a fighter jet, it added. The operation was also reported by the North Press Agency (NPA), an outlet close to the SDF.
ISIS seized control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The last of its so-called caliphate was defeated in Syria in 2019, but the group remains a threat on both sides of the border, particularly in Deir ez-Zor, which is controlled by both the SDF and regime forces.
The SDF frequently conducts security operations against ISIS turbans. The force launched 34 operations against the group in the first half of this year, in which 245 suspects were arrested and three others were killed.
Many of the operations have been focused in the border areas where in late June they arrested 22 ISIS suspects, and 24 across 53 locations in late May.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER] On Saturday, residents of the countryside of Tel Tamr town, north of Hasakah, northeast Syria, spent the night in terror after the Ottoman Turkish forces escalated the shelling targeting villages in the area with dozens of shells.
"The Ottoman Turkish forces targeted the village of al-Dardara, north of Tel Tamr, yesterday night," a source of the Tel Tamr Military Council told North Press.
"The Ottoman Turkish forces renewed bombing, targeting the villages of Qubur Qarajneh, Sheikh Ali and Maslata, on the frontlines between the towns of Tel Tamr and Abu Rasin," the source added.
From 9:00 pm yesterday to 01:30 am today’s morning, more than 50 mortar and artillery shells fell, in addition to the firing of flares by Ottoman Turkish forces at different times on the villages mentioned above.
The Syriac Military Council, a military formation affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), deployed on the frontlines in the countryside of Tel Tamr, launched a counter-attack on the sources of fire.
On August 4, the Ottoman Turkish bombing of the countryside of Tel Tamr wounding an elderly woman and two members of the government forces in Umm al-Keif village, north of Tel Tamr.
For more than a month, the countryside of Tel Tamr and its villages have been subjected to frequent Ottoman Turkish attacks, which led to the displacement of residents to safe regions.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2021 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[NPASYRIA] On Saturday, residents of the countryside of Tel Tamr town, north of Hasakah, northeast Syria, spent the night in terror after the Ottoman Turkish forces escalated the shelling targeting villages in the area with dozens of shells.
"The Ottoman Turkish forces targeted the village of al-Dardara, north of Tel Tamr, yesterday night," a source of the Tel Tamr Military Council told North Press.
"The Ottoman Turkish forces renewed bombing, targeting the villages of Qubur Qarajneh, Sheikh Ali and Maslata, on the frontlines between the towns of Tel Tamr and Abu Rasin," the source added.
From 9:00 pm yesterday to 01:30 am today’s morning, more than 50 mortar and artillery shells fell, in addition to the firing of flares by Ottoman Turkish forces at different times on the villages mentioned above.
The Syriac Military Council, a military formation affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), deployed on the frontlines in the countryside of Tel Tamr, launched a counter-attack on the sources of fire.
On August 4, the Ottoman Turkish bombing of the countryside of Tel Tamr wounding an elderly woman and two members of the government forces in Umm al-Keif village, north of Tel Tamr.
For more than a month, the countryside of Tel Tamr and its villages have been subjected to frequent Ottoman Turkish attacks, which led to the displacement of residents to safe regions.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2021 00:00 ||
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[15 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[NPASYRIA] On Sunday afternoon, the mutual shelling between the armed opposition factions and the Syrian government forces renewed in the countryside of Aleppo, Hama and Idlib, northwest Syria.
"The government forces bombed the towns of al-Bara, Balyon and Kansafra in Zawiya Mountain, south of Idlib, with missiles and heavy artillery shells," opposition military sources told North Press.
"The bombing coincided with intense flight of Russian reconnaissance planes and warplanes over Idlib and the countryside of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia," the sources added.
In Aleppo, forces of the Syrian government in the 46th Regiment targeted the positions of the opposition factions in the towns of Fafertin and Kafr Amma in the western countryside, with artillery shells.
The al-Fateh al-Mubin Operations Room, which includes several factions, announced that it targeted the positions of the government forces on the Hantotin and Jurin areas in the southern countryside of Idlib and western Hama, with rockets and artillery shells.
The sources indicated that the al-Fateh al-Mubin Operations Room also targeted gatherings of the government forces in the town of Bastron, west of Aleppo, with heavy artillery shells.
[NPASYRIA] On Sunday afternoon, unknown button men, who were riding a cycle of violence, opened fire on two civilians in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria. A military source in the town of al-Shuhail, 40 km east of Deir ez-Zor, said that masked button men shot Abdullah al-Hassan and his cousin Muhammad al-Hassan near the al-Hasya complex in the town.
He added that the two civilians were maimed in the chest and are in a "critical" condition, according to what a doctor at al-Shuhail Hospital told them.
Local sources in the town said that the injured were civilians and did not belong to any military or political faction.
Recently, Deir ez-Zor countryside has witnessed an increase in liquidation attempts against members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, employees of the Autonomous Administration institutions, clan dignitaries and the civilian population, some of which have been adopted by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS).
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2021 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Western Journal] Kabul, soon to be the capital of what will be formally known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, had a blend of fear and panic with patches of surface calm Monday, one day after the Taliban took control of the city.
"We have achieved an unexpected victory," he said. "Now is the time to test, to show how we serve our people and ensure their future in the best possible way."
...the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against both Karzai and Ghani. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun. He also held the meaningless salaried sop position as CEO of Afghanistan, while Ghani was president...
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
In the days leading up to their defeat, the greying commanders appeared to be the fearsome figures from their younger years.
Ultimately, bravado did not beat back the
Ref #1: Just out of curiosity, I'd like to follow the Mullah-geld and discover where it actually came from. Is Mullah-geld fungible ?
...Arabic for 
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling 
[NPASYRIA] On Saturday, residents of the countryside of Tel Tamr town, north of Hasakah, northeast Syria, spent the night in terror after the 
