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As Taliban tighten their grip, Kabul airport only way out
The Associated Press ^ | August 14, 2021 | By TAMEEM AKHGAR and JON GAMBRELL

Posted on 08/14/2021 2:41:53 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — As a Taliban offensive encircles the Afghan capital, there’s increasingly only one way out for those fleeing the war, and only one way in for U.S. troops sent to protect American diplomats still on the ground: Kabul’s international airport.

A steady stream of people makes its way first to ticket sale counters set up on the parking lot outside the terminal. They push their luggage, load carts with carpets, television sets and mementos, stuff clothes inside purses to make their weight limit as they slowly inch forward.

The lucky ones, those who managed to get a ticket for a flight out to anywhere, then wait more than three hours to make it inside the terminal, bidding tearful goodbyes to loved ones they are leaving behind.

As the Taliban draw closer, the lines and the panic only grow.

“I packed whatever I could to start a new life away from this war,” said Naweed Azimi, who flew to Istanbul with his wife and five children, fearful the Taliban would kill him for working with NATO as a subcontractor.

Having abandoned Bagram Air Base — which served as the American military’s main hub in Afghanistan — ahead of the final U.S. pullout at the end of the month, the U.S. military will now have to rely on flying people out of the Kabul airport.

“We will be able to move thousands per day but that’s just the airlift capacity,” Kirby said.

There may also be the need to move the operations of the U.S. Embassy to the airport as well, if the Taliban push into Kabul and begin battling for control of the city, though State Department spokesman Ned Price repeatedly declined to discuss that possibility. The Kabul airport also has Turkish troops guarding the facility.

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; bidenforeignpolicy; chaos; kabul; taliban
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1 posted on 08/14/2021 2:41:53 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Just like the helicopters here

The Fall of Saigon April 30, 1975
https://rumble.com/vl5t4u-the-fall-of-saigon-april-30-1975.html


2 posted on 08/14/2021 2:43:42 PM PDT by janetjanet998
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

They’re already in Kabul.


3 posted on 08/14/2021 2:44:34 PM PDT by Shadow44
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The Battle of Kabul has begun.

#Kabul #AfghanistanBurning pic.twitter.com/fbWb0MxP9A— P0101 (@P010110) August 14, 2021


4 posted on 08/14/2021 2:45:10 PM PDT by KC_Lion
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Turkish troops guarding the facility

Several Freepers have noted that this could be a little problem...

Bidet's gang has passed stupid and gone into bloated zombie freak zone...
5 posted on 08/14/2021 2:45:10 PM PDT by cgbg (A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Related...

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3984997/posts


6 posted on 08/14/2021 2:46:59 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (The best things in life aren't things.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Al Qaeda will be back in business soon, plotting and executing terrorist acts against this country and American interests abroad. Thanks, Joe.


7 posted on 08/14/2021 2:47:08 PM PDT by Kazan
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

It’s their country (thank God it’s not ours). Defend our homeland and stay out of that horrible place. I hate the idea of sending troops back in.


8 posted on 08/14/2021 2:48:24 PM PDT by toddausauras (How far will the left go in terms of destroying our personal freedoms?)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

We should go roaring back in and slam the Taliban to let them know that they can not threaten United States people with their stupid moves. We should beat them down to show that we will not take their nonsense. If we do not, nobody will trust us in the future. We can do it. Why do we not so it? The Taliban are not up to what are troops are. Why are we putting up with this?


9 posted on 08/14/2021 2:48:34 PM PDT by maxwellsmart_agent
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Its going to look like the opening scenes of Capra’s “Lost Horizon” We should be sending planes in full of Marines now to guard the airport and roads from the embassy to same—then round the clock airlifts to get all the Americans and Europeans out ASAP. But, as that sensible move would make Biden and company look bad, they will not and it will be a televised bloodbath. In a week there will be a massive clamber for Biden to step down.


10 posted on 08/14/2021 2:48:45 PM PDT by Forward the Light Brigade ( ALWAYS GO FORWARD AND NEVER GO BACK.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Ms. Saigon is singing the Blues in an Afghani tea room near you. Last flight from the embassy roof with the flag will be soon.

I always smiled when I heard the Doors, Hendrix, old Stones, CCR, etc. coming from a hooch during OIF. The energy, destruction, and malaise of Baghdad reminded me of the stories and images of Saigon (I was a baby then ankle biter during ‘Nam). change the jungle to desert and I felt we never left the Viet war just continued our warfare and polices in an new place.


11 posted on 08/14/2021 2:55:46 PM PDT by Liaison (TANSTAAFL)
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To: maxwellsmart_agent

I would encourage you to read Sun Tzu “The Art of War”.

The American version—gotta know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.

Afghanistan is gone—at this point the goal to should be to get Americans and friends out ASAP—that is it.


12 posted on 08/14/2021 2:56:04 PM PDT by cgbg (A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
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To: maxwellsmart_agent

I agree.

This filth should be turned into red mist. It blows my mind the Biden administration is asking the Taliban to leave out embassy alone.

They should have been warned of the consequences of doing so.

All of this is so damned frustrating.


13 posted on 08/14/2021 2:56:47 PM PDT by warsaw44
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Sounds a lot like the last days of the German 6th Army in Stalingrad before the total Soviet victory. Pray for our troops who are being sent in there. Right now something like 30,000 people need to be evacuated over the one runway at that airport.


14 posted on 08/14/2021 2:56:48 PM PDT by libstripper
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

We have one seat left and it is up for auction.

Good luck.


15 posted on 08/14/2021 2:58:18 PM PDT by eyedigress (Trump is my President!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The Count on Newsmax just reported that power is completely down in Kabul.


16 posted on 08/14/2021 2:58:44 PM PDT by Heartlander2
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To: Forward the Light Brigade

The news media is not as giddy to show the fall of Kabul as they did the Fall of Saigon. The indoctrinated media support this president and his actions and to see it crumble they will “hide the decline” to salvage a win for the administration. Then they will bury it to minimize the damage for the next election.

Stupidity has consequences unless it buried on page 13.


17 posted on 08/14/2021 3:02:34 PM PDT by Liaison (TANSTAAFL)
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To: Heartlander2

Yep. This isn’t looking like Saigon, it’s starting to look like Sarajevo.


18 posted on 08/14/2021 3:03:17 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I hope our forces get them all out.


19 posted on 08/14/2021 3:04:30 PM PDT by sauropod (Time is like quicksilver, smearing the years... - Bill Nelson)
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To: maxwellsmart_agent

“We should go roaring back in and slam the Taliban to let them know that they can not threaten United States people with their stupid moves. We should beat them down to show that we will not take their nonsense.”


Yes, all of that sounds like Joe Biden!
/s


20 posted on 08/14/2021 3:04:41 PM PDT by hanamizu
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