Thanks for thread A.B. Biggest scandal, of SO many, is Blinken cancelling the emergency response team that Trump had set up to avoid future Benghazis (i.e. protect and defend embassies under siege, and evacuate). A caller to Bongino laid it all out. USA also cancelled intelligence assistance to Afghan army, air support, and essentially everything we should have continued until the transition took hold. Joe cut and ran too early. There is also a video of McCain blasting Blinken when they tried to run him up the flag pole before under Obama.
https://minuteman-militia.com/2021/08/19/video-resurfaces-of-mccain-warning-about-secy-of-state-blinken/
Clearly, Biden owns this disastrous evacuation, which will only get worse. The Taliban has all the leverage now. The losers don’t dictate the terms of surrender to the winners.
I have no doubt that our behind the scenes negotiations with the Taliban for safe passage of our people involve concessions like the size of the ransom, future aid, recognition of the Taliban government, etc. Biden and his team view everything thru the lens of politics. They want out of this mess as soon as possible. A bad position to negotiate from.
Biden is padding the numbers of evacuees by allowing refugees on the aircraft in addition to Amcits/SIV, which are the minority so far of evacuees. I can see the mission changing to allow anyone who wants to get out to board the aircraft. It will release the pressure on the airport and change the current optics. Austin is now commandeering civilian aircraft to aid what will be increased numbers. The Administration will say that they will do the vetting of the evacuees outside Afghanistan.
Despite their denial, the evacuation mission will not be extended significantly. Logistics and the Taliban will circumscribe the length of the mission. It appears that the US will now try to set up assembly points outside the checkpoints for Amcits and SIV holders and ferry them to the airport via helicopter. A more risky strategy, but better than trying to pass thru Taliban checkpoints.
Based on personal experience, we really don’t know how many Americans are out there. Consulates don’t have reliable registration records for Amcits. People come and go without registering with the Consulate. And many of these Amcits are really dual nationals who hold other passports. At some point we have to leave even if we can’t account for all the Amcits.
Well, throw that on the heap with the other scandals...
Russia-gate, Phone call impeachment, China virus, BLM burn downs, antifa riots, 2020 election fraud/cheat, 6 Jan Capitol “insurrection”, impeachment round 2, mask & vax mandate, Afghanistan cut and run.
Lots more to come I’m sure.