Frenzied evacuation of U.S. citizens kicks into high gear as the Taliban approach Kabul.

[ancianita]

Source: New York Times

Aug. 15, 2021
Updated 11:12 a.m. ET

KABUL, Afghanistan — As the Taliban stood at the gates of Kabul on Sunday, completing the near total takeover of Afghanistan two decades after the American military drove them from power, an eerie quiet that had enveloped the city in recent days transformed into chaos.

A frenzied evacuation of U.S. diplomats and civilians kicked into high gear, while Afghans made a mad dash to the banks, their homes and the airport. Crowds of people ran down the streets as the sound of gunfire echoed in downtown Kabul.

Helicopter after helicopter — including massive Chinooks with their twin engines, and speedy Black Hawks that had been the workhorse of the grinding war — touched down and then took off loaded with passengers. Some dispensed flares overhead, a new addition to Kabul’s skyline.

Those being evacuated included a core group of American diplomats who had planned to remain at the embassy in Kabul, according to a senior administration official. They were being moved to a compound at the international airport, where they would stay for an unspecified amount of time, the official said.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/15/world/asia/us-evacuation-kabul.html

---

The Pentagon and White House are scrambling to keep up.

[Historic NY]

1. They knew they should have gone months ago

I really don't understand WTF they were thinking.

[Devil Child]

2. 100% correct. This has been a massive failure in planning.

Pentagon has some explaining to do.

[drray23]

5. they won't be able to do so.

they would need artillery and setup from static positions. If it comes to that we still have assets in the region ( carrier battlegroup) to deliver strikes.

[llashram]

4. no excuse

bad intel? precedent :Saigon 75'? Oh well, good luck to them all.

[Jon King]

7. So the 10000 Afghans that helped the US and NATO are screwed.

Unbelievable failure of US intelligence, State Department, and the Pentagon.

[ansible]

9. At this point we can't even get all foreign nationals out

We'll be lucky if Mogadishu doesn't happen and americans aren't dragged on the streets

[Jon King]

10. Yup, I think Biden needs to get to the White House this minute.

This is heading for utter disaster. He needs to assemble every top adviser and this has to be issue #1.

A huge troop surge to Kabul, whatever it takes. This is shaping up to utterly destroy Dems going forward. Its absolutely perfect messaging for Repugs when combined with the border issues.

[ansible]

11. It's too late, we can't get troops into Kabul anymore

The 3000 soldiers Biden supposedly deployed aren't even in Afghanistan yet

[Jon King]

13. Goodness, this is a Presidency defining moment in the making.

I hope Dems are not downplaying the severity of this. If our people get nabbed and tortured, that will overwhelm everything.

Swing voters already have the border situation as high on their list of issues. This, plus the border, could totally destroy Dems going forward.

[rockfordfile]

24. No

taliban is another example not going into a country based on lies.

Thank goodness the President is getting us out of there. People should've been getting out along time ago on their own. The writing was on the wall.

[onetexan]

28. don't think so. 2/3 of American adults support Afghanistan withdrawal.

https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/551040-poll-73-percent-support-us-withdrawal-from-afghanistan

An overwhelming majority of voters support the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds.
Seventy-three percent of registered voters in the April 24-27 survey said they approve of President Biden's plan to remove US troops from the country by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that ignited the conflict.

Ninety percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independents support the decision along with 54 percent of Republicans.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Lulu KC]

30. I would be totally shocked if he had not already done that--

I believe he knows what he is doing, but we don't always know until we need to.

[Deminpenn]

18. Taliban isn't that stupid

If they injure or kill just 1 American, they risk snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

[cinematicdiversions]

21. Oh they are that stupid: nt

[Steelrolled]

23. The Taliban has no more control over everyone in

their army than any other large military organization.

[Deminpenn]

29. They are now the government and face of the country

Whatever happens on their watch by any of their followers is their responsibility.

FTR, Biden said the same that any assault on Americans would be met with a strong military response. Think in terms of the Iraqi Army being strafed by A-10s and other gunships and wiped out.

[IronLionZion]

25. They've killed plenty already and don't fear death. nt

[jalan48]

14. Another Neo-Con dream becomes a nightmare.

[Texaswitchy]

15. Are their aircraft carriers in the area for support.

Damn I would have got my ass out of there sooner.

Remove people everyday.

I feel for the women and girls.

They should have been allowed to get out if they wanted to.

Was the military dragging their feet on this.

I trust President Biden but not the some people in the military.

They want President Biden to look bad.

[Slammer]

26. carriers

From what I read yesterday, the nearest carrier is 2 hours flight time away for their jets. I have no idea what distance away that is for helicopters but since aircraft carriers tend to not have huge numbers of helicopters anyway, probably not a lot of use in an evacuation effort where over 100,000 people need out, even if their helicopters had the range.

[Fiendish Thingy]

16. Sec. Blinken should resign for his failure to evacuate thousands of Afghan interpreters & families

Dooming them to torture and murder.

Starting in March when he was sworn in, Blinken could have declared them all refugees and granted asylum, bypassing red tape that has slowed the evacuation. They could have all been airlifted to Guam by now.

While the fall of the Afghan government may have been inevitable, the abandonment of the interpreters and their families didn’t have to be.

Regardless of what else he accomplishes, This failure will be a stain on Biden’s presidency, and rightly so.

[Evolve Dammit]

20. I'm in agreement. The evac should have been going on and continued with the troops there. When

they had been removed (and others who were/are certain to be targeted), then pull the troops. Hell, we lost Bagrhain air base in the last 24 hours. How did that happen, when evac was underway? Something stinks here.

[Steelrolled]

22. "Something stinks here."

My first clue was when the announced end date for the withdraw was Sept 11. WTF, sounds like that date was chosen by the marketing department. I wonder if the military planners (the ones who shoot guns) had a say.

[ancianita]

32. Agree.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. Part of the job of being on embassy staff means that you stay until the last minute.

Just a guess, but I suspect that, yeah, that's the deal. Everyone else goes before you do.

[Deminpenn]

19. Exactly

nt

[PoliticAverse]

27. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." n/t

[greenjar_01]

31. An embarrassing, ass-over-tea-kettle retreat

Sprinting for the runways.

Chaos and confusion.

[ancianita]

33. So if we had better translators we'd have had better intel, right?

Maybe local 'help' isn't really the help we thought it was.

[ripcord]

34. The compassionate left

They should have helped us more, let them die.

[Devil Child]

35. How quickly the mood of room shifts

[ancianita]

36. "If" and "maybe" don't equal a "let them die."