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CIA warned of rapid Afghanistan collapse. So why did U.S. get it so wrong?
NBC News / Comcast ^ | August 17, 2021 | By Ken Dilanian, Mike Memoli, Courtney Kube and Josh Lederman

Posted on 08/18/2021 4:03:45 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

As the Taliban began seizing provinces across Afghanistan in recent weeks, the CIA’s intelligence assessments began to warn in increasingly stark terms about the potential for a rapid, total collapse of the Afghan military and government, current and former U.S. officials told NBC News.

In the end, the CIA’s description of what a worst-case scenario could look like “was pretty close to what happened,” one former official briefed on the matter said.

The White House won’t confirm whether President Joe Biden ever received such a dire forecast from his national security team. The president himself appeared to dispute a month ago that intelligence suggested the increasing likelihood that the Afghan military would fold.

But it is precisely that outcome that has emerged as one of the administration’s chief arguments to justify the president standing by his decision to end the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan.

CIA officials were taken aback by the rapid pace of the military’s pullout, including the dead-of-night withdrawal from Bagram Air Base in July, according to the former official. And many officials are expressing annoyance at the State Department, which officials say was extremely slow in processing the paperwork needed to deal with Afghan translators and others eligible for resettlement.

“Interagency coordination, especially among warfighters, diplomats and intelligence officers, is critical at times like this,” the former official said. “Obviously, it was deficient.”

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


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; bidenforeignpolicy; cia; leaks; taliban; wediditjoe
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To: Fester Chugabrew
Exactly right. Townhall and American Thinker both covered how the CIA got this completely wrong from the get-go.

This is just propaganda for the CIA and deep state.

41 posted on 08/18/2021 5:18:20 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Biden should have asked the last person in the room, “they’re not going to blame this sh@t on me” Kamala Harris, what to do.


42 posted on 08/18/2021 5:20:05 AM PDT by chuckee
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The Marxist agenda is not to secure peace and prosperity. They are not out to prove that Socialism works, or that the Democrat policies are superior.

They are out to prove Capitalism and self-governance does not work.

Marxists don’t mind if the Democrat party self-destructs. They don’t mind if their own cities burn. They don’t mind if their own constituencies suffer and die from poverty and gang violence.

Destruction is what they are after - to convince us to give up our rights and freedoms, and abandon our self-governing constitutional republic.

They just want us to give in to their tyranny.


43 posted on 08/18/2021 5:20:49 AM PDT by enumerated
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

No mention of why Americans were abandoned, focus on Afghan cooperatives.

By suggesting the imminent collapse of the Afghan government, Biden then needs to explain the transfer of weapons and weapons systems to the Taliban.


44 posted on 08/18/2021 5:23:33 AM PDT by School of Rational Thought
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To: Fester Chugabrew
It's almost like the internet's been scrubbed of articles about how the CIA got it so wrong in Afghanistan. I can't even find them here on FR anymore. WTF?!

American Enterprise Institute: Don’t ignore the CIA’s intelligence failure on Afghanistan

And I know I saw articles in American Thinker, Town Hall, Wall Street Journal -- now I can't find them. Internet Scrubbing underway?

45 posted on 08/18/2021 5:24:57 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: HypatiaTaught

This isnt going to lend any influence to democrats, already in big trouble. This is poor leadership - a huge mistake. Lots of the “crisises” are manufactured but this one is just pure incompetence. This helps Joe in exactly zero ways....unless of course the Taliban keep all the promises theyre making right now...which lets be honest... probably isnt going to happen.But if they do... Then Biden will actually save face. These animals have no respect for Biden at all so I am not holding my breath. These guys gave Biden a 9/11 deadline for total withdrawal- just to put their respect for Biden in perspective.


46 posted on 08/18/2021 5:29:23 AM PDT by MrRelevant
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
In the end, the CIA’s description of what a worst-case scenario could look like “was pretty close to what happened,”

So, they had all sorts of scenarios and one happened to be right. Others probably included a slow takeover by the Taliban, no takeover by the Taliban, and alien abduction of the Taliban. Not exactly helpful.

47 posted on 08/18/2021 5:30:06 AM PDT by tnlibertarian
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Yeah sure the CYA had it right all along. The Taliban organized on whatsapp and NSA and CIA couldn’t find a way to cut them off.
Fail...


48 posted on 08/18/2021 5:31:21 AM PDT by DesertRhino (A coup government may not claim the protection of the same constitution it overthrew. )
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To: HypatiaTaught

The Afghan debacle was caused by Biden selling out to the CCP.
As Cuba is a major trading partner with the CCP, Afghanistan will be a major trading partner with China plus China wamts the minerals there as they acquired in the African Continent. Seems this is part of the billions China dropped on Hunter and the Dem party so Joe was told to sellout the American people as it is his part of the deal.


49 posted on 08/18/2021 5:34:16 AM PDT by chopperk
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To: usconservative

50 posted on 08/18/2021 5:42:57 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: Envisioning

“This was their plan... Remember this is Obama’s Valerie Jarret’s third term.”

Exactly. Obama is a muslim, and Valerie Jarret was his direct handler and she is Iranian muslim.


51 posted on 08/18/2021 5:47:41 AM PDT by CodeToad
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To: gitmo

The sure ignorance and stupid remarkable. You pull out civilians, then military equipment then the war fighters. You pay the Afghan Army big bucks and make sure they have equipment as you slowly draw down war fighters. Trump had war fighters ghters down to 2,500. This was pure incompetence put me n display. I loved a foam News montage where all the white asking heads talk about Joe Biden being competent, a steady hand, bla bla bla.


52 posted on 08/18/2021 5:50:50 AM PDT by carcraft (Pray for our County )
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To: Fester Chugabrew

The intelligence agencies never work harder than when they scramble to preserve their reputations by passing the buck.

FReegards


53 posted on 08/18/2021 5:59:25 AM PDT by Ransomed
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To: Mashood

It’s just possible that Biden is exactly the face they want. Everybody knows he’s incompetent. That strengthens the meme that this is all due to incompetence. If it’s happening because it’s what they want to happen, that is exactly the mean they want everybody to be focused on. In other words, Biden could be a distraction.


54 posted on 08/18/2021 5:59:44 AM PDT by cuban leaf (We killed our economy and damaged our culture. In 2021 we will pine for the salad days of 2020.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

well, i wasnt fooled for the last 20 years, ive been paying attention .


55 posted on 08/18/2021 5:59:53 AM PDT by ßuddaßudd ((>> ☼ << "What the hell kind of country is this if I can only hate a man if s/he's white?")
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56 posted on 08/18/2021 6:18:24 AM PDT by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

What if everyone is in cya mode and is tossing everyone else under the bus?


57 posted on 08/18/2021 6:31:50 AM PDT by cableguymn (We need a redneck in the white house.... But the fact checkers said the story was false!)
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To: HypatiaTaught

CLOWARD-PIVEN.


58 posted on 08/18/2021 6:48:01 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie (Michael Leroy Byrd murdered Ashli Babbitt?)
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To: HypatiaTaught

Biden and Obama and the current losers running this country are surrendering our sovereignty, handing over Pakistani nukes to the Taliban and ISIS, and by keeping our Southern border wide open are inviting evil into America. Yes, it is time to demand the impeachment of Biden. These losers do not want to be world leaders, they want to surrender our country, we should have a voice in this debacle.


59 posted on 08/18/2021 6:48:51 AM PDT by 1Old Pro (Let's make crime illegal again!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I don’t trust anything the CIA says about anything. This could all be just their way of deflecting blame for yet another monumental intelligence failure, probably caused by their intense interest in recruiting mentally ill lesbians, and gay librarians.


60 posted on 08/18/2021 6:52:45 AM PDT by euram
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