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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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To: Enough_Deceit

:-/


41 posted on 08/14/2021 3:57:46 PM PDT by nesnah (Infringe - act so as to limit or undermine [something]; encroach onre)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Biden promised there wouldn’t be helicopters...


42 posted on 08/14/2021 4:00:03 PM PDT by Fido969 (45 is Superman!)
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To: ConservativeInPA

My son is in the 82nd Airborne out of Ft. Bragg. He and his group were pulled from an assignment in the southwest and told to report to Bragg ASAP. Prayer for the Marines and the 82nd! BTW, Bidet and Obama can do something sexually explicit to themselves. (I hope that Jim Rob doesn’t ban me for that last comment.)


43 posted on 08/14/2021 4:01:20 PM PDT by Enough_Deceit (Proud Mama of a US Marine and a US Soldier Bitterly Hanging On to Her Guns and Religion. Ooorahh!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
The map below was earlier and does not show how bad it is now:

Map shows jihadis flocking to Afghanistan to launch terror war!:


44 posted on 08/14/2021 4:03:45 PM PDT by Grampa Dave (If I wanted to live in Australia, China, Cuba, Canada, the UK, or Chicago! I'd move there! )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Fighting in Kabul, some rockets fired toward the airfield, which is the only way out. Many miles to unheld territory - Could helicopters get evacuees to safety?

Someone said forget Saigon, this could turn into Blackhawk Down.

45 posted on 08/14/2021 4:10:34 PM PDT by Fido969 (45 is Superman!)
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To: Enough_Deceit

US air headed to cover Kabul, reports of B-52s.


46 posted on 08/14/2021 4:12:10 PM PDT by Fido969 (45 is Superman!)
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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. 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?"

First off, biden is illegitimate and everyone including those in the military know it. In my opinion this brings into question if biden can issue any legal order to the military as CINC. Multiple battleground states are conducting audits and the results are going to show we did not have an election but rather a coup. The likelihood that biden/harris will be forced to resign in the near future is significant. Biden does not have the legitimacy to serve as CINC and neither does harris so his fraud of a presidency is in serious trouble.

47 posted on 08/14/2021 4:13:38 PM PDT by precisionshootist
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To: Fido969

Our brilliant elites and Generals brought us here. Never forget this. They are the worst group in the history of men.


48 posted on 08/14/2021 4:14:23 PM PDT by ground_fog ( My God this was from today!S)
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To: dynachrome

OMG. Pray.

These are the kinds of events where Trump simply shone!
Without him, these people are going to need lots of prayer.


49 posted on 08/14/2021 4:14:43 PM PDT by MarMema
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To: shanover

Amen.


50 posted on 08/14/2021 4:17:39 PM PDT by MarMema
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To: 2aProtectsTheRest
We've kept troops in Germany and Japan for almost 80 years. Does that mean we're still fighting WWII?

Nation-building doesn't work. But having a base of operation to combat to middle eastern terrorism was advantageous.

And, now, we'll have to go back somewhere and start all over again when Al Qaeda starts orchestrating attacks, using Afghanistan as a based to do so

51 posted on 08/14/2021 4:20:40 PM PDT by Kazan
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To: Fido969

US air headed to cover Kabul, reports of B-52s.


Brilliant. Trying to hit goat farmers in an urban environment with B-52s. What could go wrong here?


52 posted on 08/14/2021 4:21:33 PM PDT by lodi90
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To: Liaison
"The news media is not as giddy to show the fall of Kabul ..."

Oh, they will. Just give it time. At the moment they're trying to refrain from reporting this story, because all the heads of the MSM and the White House are, as we speak, communicating with each other via some covert means (the Journo-List scandal taught them they needed tighter security), and are currently arguing over the most believable lie that will put 100% of the blame on Trump and 0% on SloJo.

They know that whatever is decided on for the Official Spin, which they will all simultaneously regurgitate in the next few days, it will certainly stink. They just want to limit how bad the stink is, as they can't help but notice the slowly growing numbers of people here & there who used to be aligned with them but who are showing signs of deserting their Lemming Army after suffering through too many cycles of "Swallow the latest Official Spin; Vomit your guts out; Swallow the next latest Spin; Vomit all over again; ... repeat ad nauseum".

53 posted on 08/14/2021 4:23:16 PM PDT by CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC (Unity? Of course! I pledge to respect your President as much as you respected mine the past 4 years.)
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To: Kazan

Have we been fighting in Germany for 80 years? No. The goat humpers were just biding their time because they knew we were leaving. We’d have to pay a heavy price in the blood of America’s Best to stay in that dump hole. Not even close to worth it.


54 posted on 08/14/2021 4:23:31 PM PDT by lodi90
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To: Fido969

“US air headed to cover Kabul, reports of B-52s.”

Are they willing to bomb kabul areas around the airport?


55 posted on 08/14/2021 4:27:49 PM PDT by dynachrome ("I will not be reconstructed, and I do not give a damn.")
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To: neverevergiveup

This

The main objective of the people running our govt is not to save lives…it is to not let Biden look bad


56 posted on 08/14/2021 4:32:12 PM PDT by silverleaf (In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Now we’re sending 5,000 troops instead of 3,000. Next week it will be 10,000. Do not doubt me folks.


57 posted on 08/14/2021 4:34:15 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: dynachrome

More likely to bomb the bases where we and the Afghans are abandoning aircraft and weapons…to destroy them rather than let them fall into enemy hands.

Yes, the taliban is an enemy.


58 posted on 08/14/2021 4:35:18 PM PDT by silverleaf (In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act)
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To: Georgia Girl 2

By Monday there won’t be anyplace to send them, unless you want them to restart a new hot war


59 posted on 08/14/2021 4:36:31 PM PDT by silverleaf (In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act)
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To: silverleaf

Reports that the tally-ban are flying captured helicopters. Afghan air force pilots? What markings on them?


60 posted on 08/14/2021 4:37:44 PM PDT by dynachrome ("I will not be reconstructed, and I do not give a damn.")
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