[Just the News] The House Foreign Affairs Committee has scored a long-awaited interview in its investigation into whether a military sniper was denied permission two years ago to shoot the terrorist who detonated a bomb at the Kabul airport, killing 13 U.S. troops and 170 others in a tragic end to the bungled U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Lawmakers will question the commanding officer at the time, Marine Lt. Col. Brad Whited, on Sept. 11, the 22nd anniversary of America's most deadly terrorist attack, Rep. Michael McCaul, (R-Texas) chairman of the committee, told Just the News on Tuesday.
He made the comments after the committee met with Gold Star families of the service members killed in the 2021 attack.
The Abbey Gate terrorist attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul has become a powerful symbol of the Biden administration's failures in withdrawing troops chaotically from Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to return to power after a two-decade war in the country.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier called the withdrawal from Afghanistan "disastrously unplanned."
"The Marine Corps finally got back to us after I talked to General Milley," McCaul told Just the News. "I said, 'I don't understand why you're not making this man available.' And he talked to Secretary Austin and now he will be made available to the committee for an interview and it's scheduled I believe September 11, ironically 9-11, and I'll be back in town for that and I'm going to personally attend."
Just the News has learned that McCaul invited all committee members to the meeting but only one Democrat, Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean, and 10 Republicans participated. The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, was not in attendance. His spokesperson did not return a request for comment before publication.
Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews initially testified before the House committee in March that he had the suicide bomber in his sights before the bombing, but was ordered to stand down. "We communicated the atrocities to our chain of command and intel assets but nothing came of it," Vargas-Andrews said. Lt. Col. Whited was Vargas-Andrews' commanding officer at the time of the attack. Vargas-Andrews attended the meeting on Tuesday with lawmakers and the Gold Star families but he declined interviews on-site.
McCaul wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on August 15 requesting that he make Lt. Col. Whited available for questioning based on Vargas-Andrews' account of what transpired before the deadly attack in Afghanistan.
"In the early morning on the day of the attack, intelligence was provided to Sergeant Vargas-Andrews and his team a description of the bomber, identifying him and noting his presence in the area," read the letter. "This implies components of the military and others had more than twelve hours of advanced warning. Additionally, the military’s reliance on the Taliban to provide security at the airport created an environment rife with opportunities for security breakdowns."
Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), a member of the committee and a war veteran who served in Iraq, told Just the News after the meeting that he thinks the order to stand down on that day goes even higher than Whited.
"I think it's definitely higher than the commanding officer, which is why I've submitted my articles of impeachment on the Secretary of Defense, and I think that it goes one step higher when it comes, ultimately, to a person, when you call yourself the commander in chief, and you're ultimately responsible for the safety of your American armed forces that you deploy abroad," Mills said. "The buck stops at you."
Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-Calif.) also a member of the committee, was asked if he is surprised that the person who made the call not to shoot the terrorist before the attack is still unknown to the committee and the public even after two years since the attack that might have been thwarted.
"I'm not surprised that there has been denial followed by delay by this administration. I think the question is, how much longer will it be tolerated? And the answer from the Speaker has been not very much," Issa, who served as a captain in the U.S. Army, added.
#2
Yes, it's unlikely the Pentagon will ever come clean on this story as well as many others. We know they like to keep their secrets. I suppose if I screwed up that badly I want to keep it secret too.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/31/2023 11:08 Comments ||
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#3
Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews initially testified before the House committee in March that he had the suicide bomber in his sights before the bombing, but was ordered to stand down.
Was always my experience, that if you really wanted to know what was going on in a unit, discreetly ask an NCO.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The National Council for the Salvation of the Motherland (NCSR), formed by the rebels in Niger, demanded that France withdraw its troops from the territory of the republic by September 3, Sky News Arabia reported.
The representative of the NSSR recalled the 30 days that were allotted to France for the withdrawal of its armed forces from the territory of Niger. Their deadline is September 3rd.
According to him, the inhabitants of Niger are increasingly expressing dissatisfaction with the presence of the French military in the country. Local authorities are calling for blocking their access to food, electricity and water at the place of deployment at the Niamey base, this will force them to leave the republic.
As IA Regnum reported , on August 30 it became known that the military council of Niger annulled the agreement on the military presence of French troops in the country.
The military coup in Niger took place on July 26. The presidential guard blocked the country's president Mohammed Bazum in the residence. During the coup, the chairman of the NSSR, Abdurahman Tchiani, signed a decree on the formation of a new transitional government in Niger. Later, he agreed to start negotiations with the leaders of the Economic Community of West Africa.
On August 9, five fighters of the Niger National Guard were victims of an attack by the French military. In addition, four more soldiers of the National Guard were injured. Later, members of the NSSR delegation visited the victims.
On August 27, supporters of the military who carried out the coup in Niger demonstrated at the French military base in the city of Niamey. On the air of the Al Arabiya TV channel, one of the protesters said that Paris does not allow Niger to use its natural resources.
President of the Supreme Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, confirmed that Sana’a is ready to enter into a military escalation to extract the salaries of Yemeni employees.
“Sana’a is ready for a military escalation in order to get the salaries of all employees of the Republic of Yemen” President Al-Mashat said in an extended meeting in Amran province on Wednesday.
He pointed out that Sana’a has explored every solution and wants good for all state employees.
Al-Mashat added, “Sana’a managed to put pressure on the enemy to make the issue of salary payment a given by the United Nations and the Saudi-led coalition’s parties.”
President Al-Mashat stated that the people who follow the UAE and its affiliated entities have acquitted the enemy of it’s crimes, stressing that these people obstructed and delayed the payment of the salaries.
A smuggler with ties to a foreign extremist group helped Uzbek migrants enter the US from Mexico, the White House said on Tuesday, raising questions about a potential security threat.
The smuggler was based in Türkiye and had links to ISIS, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity. CNN first reported the incident.
Record numbers of migrants have crossed the US-Mexico border illegally since President Joe Biden, a Democrat, took office in 2021, including many from distant nations.
Republicans say Biden encouraged crossings by reversing tougher policies of former President Donald Trump, a Republican. The Biden administration argues that it has instituted more humane policies as migration has challenged countries across the Western Hemisphere.
Of the nearly 2 million migrants encountered at the US-Mexico border between October 2022 and July 2023, 216 were on US watchlists for potential links to terrorism, according to US government statistics.
US intelligence officials discovered a smuggling network to bring Uzbeks into the country and a smuggler with ties to a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
US authorities have no indication that migrants aided by the smuggling network were tied to extremist groups or plotting terrorist attacks, Watson said.
Watson did not confirm links to ISIS specifically or that the smuggler was based in Türkiye.
Migrants who "fit the profile" of those assisted by the smugglers are being placed in rapid deportation proceedings and "thoroughly vetted," Watson said.
The US official said the FBI is trying to locate about 15 of roughly 120 Uzbek migrants who entered the US through legal border crossings via the network.
According to Reuters, an FBI spokesperson said the agency "has not identified a specific terrorism plot associated with foreign nationals who recently entered the United States at the southern border," and declined to comment on specifics.
US Customs and Border Protection encountered some 3,200 Uzbeks at US borders in fiscal year 2022, up from fewer than 700 a year earlier.
[GEO.TV] A special court formed to hear cases under the Official Secrets Act on Wednesday sent former foreign minister and Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi ...a Pak political shape-changer. He is undistinguished except for his habit of periodically needing to have his lips reattached... ’s on a 14-day judicial remand in cipher case.
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) produced the former foreign minister before the special court after the completion of his two-day physical remand today.
Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain, who has been given additional charge of the special court, conducted the hearing on the case.
During the hearing, FIA’s special prosecutor implored the court to extend physical remand saying they needed to recover Qureshi’s mobile phone and the diplomatic cable.
Expressing displeasure over repeated pleas for an extension, Judge Zulqarnain rejected the request.
Qureshi was arrested earlier this month by the FIA's Counter Terrorism Wing (CTW) after a case was lodged against him on the complaint of Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar under Sections 5 and 9 of Official Secrets Act 1923 r/w 34 PP.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2023 00:14 ||
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[15 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[GEO.TV] A special court established under the Official Secrets Act extended Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan ...aka The Great Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... 's judicial remand till September 13 in the cipher case, hearing of which was held at the Attock District Jail, sources told Geo News.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who arrived at the jail to conduct the hearing, issued the decision in the case of the missing cipher, a classified state document that Khan had waved during his political gathering ahead of his ouster from office last year.
Hearing of the case took place at the Attock District Jail following approval by the Law Ministry amid security concerns expressed by the Interior Ministry.
Khan has been imprisoned in the said jail since his conviction in the Toshakhana case on August 5 for failing to properly declare gifts he received while in office.
While the Islamabad High Court, a day earlier, overturned a lower court's decision to jail him for three years with a Rs100,000 fine — a judgment that kept him from contesting upcoming elections, he remains behind bars due to his judicial remand in the cipher case till August 30.
The FIA had officially arrested the former prime minister in the cipher case earlier this month after booking him under Official Secrets Act.
Subsequently, the PTI chief was sent on judicial remand in the cipher case till August 30 (today) at the same time while he was serving his sentence in Toshakhana case at Attock jail.
At the hearing today, Prosecutor Zulfiqar Naqvi represented the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) while PTI lawyer Salman Safdar appeared on behalf of Khan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/31/2023 00:12 ||
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[20 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Recent reports suggest a change in US policy in #Iraq and #Syria, but the #US military denies deploying troops to confront Iranian-backed militias. Their focus remains on deterring #ISIS threats.https://t.co/cyMDjXFPjb
— NORTH PRESS AGENCY - ENGLISH (@NPA_English) August 30, 2023
Posted by: badanov ||
08/31/2023 00:03 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
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.
...a Pak political shape-changer. He is undistinguished except for his habit of periodically needing to have his lips reattached...
...aka 
