NEWSWEEK
"Shots Fired at Italian Military Plane Departing Kabul Airport"
Ewan Palmer
26 AUGUST 2021
Shots have been fired at an Italian military plane taking off from Kabul airport in Afghanistan, according to reports.
The C-130 transport carrying Afghan former NATO workers was fired upon as it left the airport on Thursday, military sources told the Italian news agency ANSA and Reuters.
The plane was not damaged during the incident.
An Italian journalist who was on the flight told Sky 24 TG that the plane was carrying around 100 Afghan civilians when it came under fire moments after it had taken off from the airport.
It is not clear who fired the shots or why.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sh ... d=msedgntp
AFGHANISTAN
Re: AFGHANISTAN
THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
"Biden official to Americans trapped in Afghanistan: It's not our fault, it's theirs"
Kaylee McGhee White
26 AUGUST 2021
The situation in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly dire for the Americans stranded there, and it seems inevitable that some will be left behind enemy lines when President Joe Biden pulls the rest of our military from the region on Aug. 31.
But the Biden administration, seemingly preparing for this reality, is brushing it off with a new talking point: It’s not our fault, it’s theirs.
When asked why the United States did not begin evacuating our citizens and allies from Afghanistan sooner, the acting U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson said they were given more than enough warning to leave since March or April.
"Never in my 40 years of working, since I began working at the State Department, have I seen such strong language used."
"People chose not to leave."
"That's their business."
"That's their right," Wilson told CBS News on Wednesday.
"We regret now that many may find themselves in a position that they would rather not be in."
"And we are determined to try to help them."
Putting aside the vileness of Wilson’s victim-blaming, what he says is just not true.
Biden was telling people just last month that a Taliban takeover was “not inevitable” because the Afghan government and military were capable of standing up for themselves.
He also disputed reports from the intelligence community that the Afghan government would collapse as soon as the U.S. was gone.
“The Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped, as well-equipped as any army in the world, and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban."
"It is not inevitable,” he said in July.
The Americans in Afghanistan took Biden at his word.
Our president assured them that his withdrawal would not result in chaos, and they believed him.
It is not their fault that he lied; it is not their fault that he created the conditions that have left them stranded.
No one but Biden is to blame for this tragedy, and if even one American is left behind because of the decisions he made, he should be forced to own it.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bi ... d=msedgntp
"Biden official to Americans trapped in Afghanistan: It's not our fault, it's theirs"
Kaylee McGhee White
26 AUGUST 2021
The situation in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly dire for the Americans stranded there, and it seems inevitable that some will be left behind enemy lines when President Joe Biden pulls the rest of our military from the region on Aug. 31.
But the Biden administration, seemingly preparing for this reality, is brushing it off with a new talking point: It’s not our fault, it’s theirs.
When asked why the United States did not begin evacuating our citizens and allies from Afghanistan sooner, the acting U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson said they were given more than enough warning to leave since March or April.
"Never in my 40 years of working, since I began working at the State Department, have I seen such strong language used."
"People chose not to leave."
"That's their business."
"That's their right," Wilson told CBS News on Wednesday.
"We regret now that many may find themselves in a position that they would rather not be in."
"And we are determined to try to help them."
Putting aside the vileness of Wilson’s victim-blaming, what he says is just not true.
Biden was telling people just last month that a Taliban takeover was “not inevitable” because the Afghan government and military were capable of standing up for themselves.
He also disputed reports from the intelligence community that the Afghan government would collapse as soon as the U.S. was gone.
“The Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped, as well-equipped as any army in the world, and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban."
"It is not inevitable,” he said in July.
The Americans in Afghanistan took Biden at his word.
Our president assured them that his withdrawal would not result in chaos, and they believed him.
It is not their fault that he lied; it is not their fault that he created the conditions that have left them stranded.
No one but Biden is to blame for this tragedy, and if even one American is left behind because of the decisions he made, he should be forced to own it.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bi ... d=msedgntp
Re: AFGHANISTAN
Yahoo News
"'He does not want them to live on the earth anymore': Psaki clarifies Biden's ISIS-K threat"
Brittany Shepherd · White House Correspondent
Fri, August 27, 2021, 3:18 PM
White House press secretary Jen Psaki clarified Friday that President Biden’s deadly threat toward ISIS-K terrorists who killed 13 U.S. service members in a suicide bombing attack in Kabul was not theoretical.
“I think he made clear that he does not want them to live on the earth anymore,” Psaki told a reporter during a press briefing when asked to clarify what Biden meant when he said Thursday that he was positioned to strike back at the Islamic State affiliate group.
“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay,” the president said in a solemn address.
The White House declined to give further details on how it plans to retaliate after the devastating terror attack on Thursday.
But Psaki’s clarification left little to the imagination.
In his formal address to the nation, Biden said he has authorized the U.S. military to strike “key ISIS assets, leadership and facilities.”
“We will respond with force and precision at our time, at a place we choose, in a moment of our choosing,” Biden added.
An explosion outside a major gate of the Hamid Karzai International Airport killed at least 100 people Thursday afternoon in what the U.S. described as a “complex attack” carried out by one suicide bomber and Islamic State-linked fighters.
The Pentagon said 13 U.S. service members were killed and 15 more were injured, along with scores of Afghan nationals, in the single deadliest day for U.S. troops in the country in 10 years.
The Islamic State group took credit for the attack Thursday evening.
Biden spoke of the threat from the group on Sunday, saying that “these troops and innocent civilians at the airport face the risk of attack from ISIS-K.”
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Friday that “specific, credible threats” to U.S. troops and allied forces from terrorist groups in the region remain, yet those threats have not halted or deterred the planned retrograde evacuation phase, which is planned to be completed by Aug. 31.
Kirby also confirmed that thousands of ISIS-K prisoners had escaped from regional prisons as the Afghan government collapsed earlier this month and U.S. troops chose to retreat from Bagram Airfield — which housed a prison containing ISIS-K members — in early July.
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., head of U.S. Central Command, said Thursday that the U.S. is preparing for future assaults.
“We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks, and we expect those attacks to continue, and we’re doing everything we can to be prepared for those attacks,” McKenzie told reporters at the Pentagon, adding that the U.S. had enough forces on the ground to counter enemy militants.
https://news.yahoo.com/he-didnt-want-th ... 28037.html
"'He does not want them to live on the earth anymore': Psaki clarifies Biden's ISIS-K threat"
Brittany Shepherd · White House Correspondent
Fri, August 27, 2021, 3:18 PM
White House press secretary Jen Psaki clarified Friday that President Biden’s deadly threat toward ISIS-K terrorists who killed 13 U.S. service members in a suicide bombing attack in Kabul was not theoretical.
“I think he made clear that he does not want them to live on the earth anymore,” Psaki told a reporter during a press briefing when asked to clarify what Biden meant when he said Thursday that he was positioned to strike back at the Islamic State affiliate group.
“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay,” the president said in a solemn address.
The White House declined to give further details on how it plans to retaliate after the devastating terror attack on Thursday.
But Psaki’s clarification left little to the imagination.
In his formal address to the nation, Biden said he has authorized the U.S. military to strike “key ISIS assets, leadership and facilities.”
“We will respond with force and precision at our time, at a place we choose, in a moment of our choosing,” Biden added.
An explosion outside a major gate of the Hamid Karzai International Airport killed at least 100 people Thursday afternoon in what the U.S. described as a “complex attack” carried out by one suicide bomber and Islamic State-linked fighters.
The Pentagon said 13 U.S. service members were killed and 15 more were injured, along with scores of Afghan nationals, in the single deadliest day for U.S. troops in the country in 10 years.
The Islamic State group took credit for the attack Thursday evening.
Biden spoke of the threat from the group on Sunday, saying that “these troops and innocent civilians at the airport face the risk of attack from ISIS-K.”
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Friday that “specific, credible threats” to U.S. troops and allied forces from terrorist groups in the region remain, yet those threats have not halted or deterred the planned retrograde evacuation phase, which is planned to be completed by Aug. 31.
Kirby also confirmed that thousands of ISIS-K prisoners had escaped from regional prisons as the Afghan government collapsed earlier this month and U.S. troops chose to retreat from Bagram Airfield — which housed a prison containing ISIS-K members — in early July.
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., head of U.S. Central Command, said Thursday that the U.S. is preparing for future assaults.
“We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks, and we expect those attacks to continue, and we’re doing everything we can to be prepared for those attacks,” McKenzie told reporters at the Pentagon, adding that the U.S. had enough forces on the ground to counter enemy militants.
https://news.yahoo.com/he-didnt-want-th ... 28037.html
Re: AFGHANISTAN
THE NATIONAL REVIEW
"Marine Battalion Commander Relieved of Duties after Calling Out Military Leaders over Afghanistan Chaos"
Caroline Downey
28 AUGUST 2021
In a video published to Facebook on Friday, one day after the bombing attacks in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of Afghan civilians, Marine battalion commander Stuart Scheller voiced his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the U.S. military’s exit from Afghanistan, rebuking the senior officers who oversaw the mission.
“I’m making this video because I have a growing discontent and contempt for my perceived ineptitude at the foreign policy level and I want to specifically ask some questions to some of my senior leaders,” he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Scheller posted on Facebook that he has been relieved of duty and will leave the Marine Corps for “cause based on lack of trust and confidence as of 14:30 today.”
“My chain of command is doing exactly what I would do…if I were in their shoes."
"I appreciate the opportunities AITB command provided,” he said.
Scheller said he considered the potential consequences of speaking out, since public criticism of leadership violates protocol and could result in his being demoted or discharged.
He also acknowledged that the video would likely be shared widely online.
As of Friday afternoon, it had racked up 15,000 likes and had been viewed 168,000 times on Facebook.
He said he knew personally one of the men who died in the blasts by the Kabul airport, which killed 12 Marines and one Navy medic, but did not share the soldier’s identity.
A veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Scheller commands the Advanced Infantry Training Battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, according to his bio on the U.S. Marines website.
He has another personal connection to the current situation in Afghanistan, as his first assignment in 2005 was with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, one of the units deployed to Kabul to facilitate the evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan refugees.
“What you believe in can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk."
"So if I’m willing to risk my current battalion commander seat, my retirement, my family’s stability to say some of the things I want to say, I think it gives me some moral high ground to demand the same honesty, integrity, and accountability from my senior leaders,” he continued.
The outrage that enlisted Marines feel over the bloodshed and chaos of the evacuation, he said, is not directed at their fellow soldiers on the battlefield but at the senior military leaders who led the operation.
None of the senior officers are “raising their hands and accepting accountability and saying ‘we messed this up’,” Scheller complained.
“We have a secretary of defense who testified to Congress in May that the Afghan National Security Force could withstand the Taliban advance."
"We have chairmen of the Joint Chiefs [of Staff]…were supposed to advise on military policy."
"We have a Marine combatant commander."
"All of these people were supposed to advise."
"I’m not saying we’ve got to be in Afghanistan forever."
"But I am saying, did any of you throw your rank on the table and say ‘hey, it’s a bad idea to evacuate Bagram Airfield strategic airbase before we evacuate everyone,'” he said.
After the carnage in Kabul Thursday, Republican lawmakers demanded President Biden’s resignation or impeachment.
Many Democratic legislators have agreed with their Republican colleagues that the execution of the pull-out was an unmitigated disaster, while claiming that withdrawal was generally the right choice.
Some members have called for a formal investigation into the events preceding and surrounding the exit.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy promised Thursday that President Biden would face a “reckoning” for his handling of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan but did not call for him to step down.
Later in the recording, Scheller read a letter issued to the Marine Corps that specifically advised service members battered by recent events to seek counseling, suggesting some may be struggling with mental health issues amid the crisis.
While the letter insisted that the Marines’ fellow comrades in arms did not fight or die in vain, Scheller questioned whether that is true, given the botched withdrawal and haphazard evacuation that left a steep American death toll and an even steeper Afghan death toll.
“From my position, potentially all those people did die in vain if we don’t have senior leaders that own up and raise their hand and say ‘we did not do this well,” Scheller concluded.
“Without that, the … higher military ranks are not holding up their end of the bargain,” he said.
“I have been fighting for 17 years."
"I am willing to throw it all away to say to my senior leaders, ‘I demand accountability.’”
When asked about Scheller’s video at a press briefing Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to comment, pointing out that the 13 deaths have been painfully felt by senior military leaders as well.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ma ... d=msedgntp
"Marine Battalion Commander Relieved of Duties after Calling Out Military Leaders over Afghanistan Chaos"
Caroline Downey
28 AUGUST 2021
In a video published to Facebook on Friday, one day after the bombing attacks in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of Afghan civilians, Marine battalion commander Stuart Scheller voiced his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the U.S. military’s exit from Afghanistan, rebuking the senior officers who oversaw the mission.
“I’m making this video because I have a growing discontent and contempt for my perceived ineptitude at the foreign policy level and I want to specifically ask some questions to some of my senior leaders,” he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Scheller posted on Facebook that he has been relieved of duty and will leave the Marine Corps for “cause based on lack of trust and confidence as of 14:30 today.”
“My chain of command is doing exactly what I would do…if I were in their shoes."
"I appreciate the opportunities AITB command provided,” he said.
Scheller said he considered the potential consequences of speaking out, since public criticism of leadership violates protocol and could result in his being demoted or discharged.
He also acknowledged that the video would likely be shared widely online.
As of Friday afternoon, it had racked up 15,000 likes and had been viewed 168,000 times on Facebook.
He said he knew personally one of the men who died in the blasts by the Kabul airport, which killed 12 Marines and one Navy medic, but did not share the soldier’s identity.
A veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Scheller commands the Advanced Infantry Training Battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, according to his bio on the U.S. Marines website.
He has another personal connection to the current situation in Afghanistan, as his first assignment in 2005 was with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, one of the units deployed to Kabul to facilitate the evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan refugees.
“What you believe in can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk."
"So if I’m willing to risk my current battalion commander seat, my retirement, my family’s stability to say some of the things I want to say, I think it gives me some moral high ground to demand the same honesty, integrity, and accountability from my senior leaders,” he continued.
The outrage that enlisted Marines feel over the bloodshed and chaos of the evacuation, he said, is not directed at their fellow soldiers on the battlefield but at the senior military leaders who led the operation.
None of the senior officers are “raising their hands and accepting accountability and saying ‘we messed this up’,” Scheller complained.
“We have a secretary of defense who testified to Congress in May that the Afghan National Security Force could withstand the Taliban advance."
"We have chairmen of the Joint Chiefs [of Staff]…were supposed to advise on military policy."
"We have a Marine combatant commander."
"All of these people were supposed to advise."
"I’m not saying we’ve got to be in Afghanistan forever."
"But I am saying, did any of you throw your rank on the table and say ‘hey, it’s a bad idea to evacuate Bagram Airfield strategic airbase before we evacuate everyone,'” he said.
After the carnage in Kabul Thursday, Republican lawmakers demanded President Biden’s resignation or impeachment.
Many Democratic legislators have agreed with their Republican colleagues that the execution of the pull-out was an unmitigated disaster, while claiming that withdrawal was generally the right choice.
Some members have called for a formal investigation into the events preceding and surrounding the exit.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy promised Thursday that President Biden would face a “reckoning” for his handling of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan but did not call for him to step down.
Later in the recording, Scheller read a letter issued to the Marine Corps that specifically advised service members battered by recent events to seek counseling, suggesting some may be struggling with mental health issues amid the crisis.
While the letter insisted that the Marines’ fellow comrades in arms did not fight or die in vain, Scheller questioned whether that is true, given the botched withdrawal and haphazard evacuation that left a steep American death toll and an even steeper Afghan death toll.
“From my position, potentially all those people did die in vain if we don’t have senior leaders that own up and raise their hand and say ‘we did not do this well,” Scheller concluded.
“Without that, the … higher military ranks are not holding up their end of the bargain,” he said.
“I have been fighting for 17 years."
"I am willing to throw it all away to say to my senior leaders, ‘I demand accountability.’”
When asked about Scheller’s video at a press briefing Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to comment, pointing out that the 13 deaths have been painfully felt by senior military leaders as well.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ma ... d=msedgntp
Re: AFGHANISTAN
THE NEW YORK TIMES
"U.S. Launches Strike on ISIS-K as Bombing’s Death Toll Soars"
Adam Nossiter and Eric Schmitt
28 AUGUST 2021
The U.S. military said on Friday night that it had launched its first reprisal strike for the devastating suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport the day before, using a drone to target and apparently kill a planner for the group that claimed responsibility for the deaths of as many as 170 civilians and 13 U.S. service members.
“U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner,” Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement, referring to the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, also known as Islamic State Khorasan.
“The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan,” Captain Urban said.
“Initial indications are that we killed the target."
"We know of no civilian casualties.”
The attack at the airport on Thursday was one of the deadliest bombings in the nearly two decades since the U.S.-led invasion.
American officials believe “another terror attack in Kabul is likely,” the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said on Friday afternoon.
“The threat is ongoing and it is active."
"Our troops are still in danger.”
On Friday night, the U.S. Embassy again warned Americans to leave the airport immediately because of security threats.
While it was unclear how many Americans had risked the trip to the airport on Friday, the dangers of another terrorist strike did not keep away Afghans desperate to flee the Taliban.
Hundreds of them continued to crowd Kabul’s airport on Friday, even as the death toll from the previous day’s blast neared 200 with hundreds more wounded, keeping the city’s hospitals grimly busy all day.
The size of the crowd at the airport did drop sharply, however, with fear paring the numbers down to hundreds from the thousands of previous days.
The suicide bombing ripped right into the jostling throng on Thursday afternoon, piling an adjacent sewage canal with corpses.
The attack also killed 13 U.S. service members, and one of the first to be identified was Rylee McCollum, 20, a Marine who had been on his first overseas deployment, according to his father.
He was one of 10 Marines, two soldiers, and one Navy medic killed in the attack, according to defense officials.
On Friday, the Pentagon changed its earlier statement that there were possibly two suicide blasts set off at the airport by ISIS-K, instead saying it was just one.
The explosion hit right near the airport’s Abbey Gate, at a security chokepoint that squeezed together an enormous crowd that U.S. troops were checking for entry.
It was not only fear that trimmed the crowd at the airport Friday, what had been a constant mass since the Taliban assumed power nearly two weeks ago.
Taliban fighters with Kalashnikov rifles kept people farther away from the airport’s entrance gates, guarding checkpoints with trucks and at least one Humvee.
Flights to evacuate people already within the airport resumed soon after the bombing.
But the airport itself was largely locked down on Friday.
American and Taliban officials have been consulting for days about security around the airport, and at times cooperating to help groups gain entrance.
But the bombing brought changes in the Taliban’s methods, in particular, on Friday.
At its southern and eastern gates, Taliban gunmen said that almost no one was allowed to come close, and that all entrance gates were closed.
Reports about any new entries to the airport at all were sparse, and unconfirmed.
Further, State Department officials had warned people to stay away from the airport and shelter in place because of new terrorism threats.
The U.S. government said that more than 100,000 people have been evacuated so far.
And one U.S. military official said that flights to begin the final evacuation of American military personnel and equipment were beginning on Friday night.
Despite the risk and the obstacles at the airport, citizens continued to flock to what many see as the last chance to get out.
“People are still risking their lives and going to the airport to leave the country,” said a woman journalist in Kabul.
“It is the only hope.”
Another Kabul resident who had been at the airport Thursday and lost a friend in the bombing vowed to go back on Friday.
“I don’t want to be killed in this cursed country,” he said.
“I don’t want to live here anymore."
"I hate this country."
"I hate all these killings.”
A government worker who lives in the Macroyan neighborhood of central Kabul said he was not surprised people were still congregating at the airport’s gates.
“It is better to get killed while trying to leave than stay here,” he said.
“People are trying to leave the country at any price.”
In much of Kabul, the streets were quiet and largely deserted on Friday.
“There were a lot of people in this area before the collapse, but now it is like a ghost town,” the government worker said about central Kabul.
“You can’t find people."
"Everyone is afraid to leave their house.”
On the day after the attack and nearly two weeks after they seized control of Kabul on Aug. 15, the Taliban continued to reveal little about their intentions on the shape their government would take.
Omar Zakhilwal, a former Afghan finance minister, spoke by phone Friday of his meetings with Taliban officials and of his daily walk to his office in downtown Kabul.
He is trying to nudge the Taliban toward what he calls a more “inclusive” government.
Both exercises — the walk and the nudging — are proving to be challenges.
In the normally bustling and noisy Shahr-e Naw neighborhood, once alive with street vendors and jostling pedestrians, there is now an unsettling silence.
And so far his encounters with the Taliban have not yielded the results he had hoped for.
Dr. Zakhilwal, an economist who was sharply critical of the government of President Ashraf Ghani in the days before it fell, said the country was “in a very depressed economic situation.”
An acute cash shortage has led to skyrocketing prices.
Few ATMs are functioning.
So far, the worst fears about the Taliban appear not to have been realized, Dr. Zakhilwal said.
“By and large, their treatment of the population is not as bad as expected,” he said.
“They are not very visible."
"You don’t see a heavy presence of them in the city.”
But “the mental security is not there,” he said.
Among the ex-Afghan officials meeting with Taliban representatives is Dr. Zakhilwal’s old boss, former President Hamid Karzai.
While the former officials are hoping the Taliban will include at least some of them in their government, the signs so far are not encouraging.
“Now that they have taken the whole thing, there might be temptations within them not to go for the type of inclusive government that would be the result of a political settlement,” Dr. Zakhilwal said.
The few government appointments made so far suggest that the Taliban are more interested in filling positions from within their ranks rather than naming “professionals,” he said, noting the Taliban’s choice for acting head of the central bank: Hajji Mohammad Idris, a member of the movement.
News reports have indicated that Mr. Idris has no formal financial training.
There were also further reports that the Taliban have been searching the homes of former government officials in Kabul.
Ahmadullah Waseq, the deputy of the Taliban’s culture committee, rejected reports that the Taliban had conducted house-to-house searches in the capital.
With four days remaining until an Aug. 31 deadline for the United States withdrawal, a date that Mr. Biden has said he intends to keep despite domestic and international pressure for an extension, the evacuations were on pace to fall well short of providing an exit for everyone who wants to leave.
That left Afghans scrambling to find a way out of the country.
In the southwest, thousands of people have been trying to flee into Pakistan, gathering daily near the Spin Boldak-Chaman border crossing, the only one designated for refugees.
In the west, several thousand people a day are also crossing into Iran, U.N. officials said.
Before the Taliban takeover, about 4,000 to 8,000 people would cross the border from Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, into Chaman, Pakistan, on a typical day.
Since the Taliban seized Kabul, the number has jumped threefold, according to Pakistani officials and tribal leaders.
An official at the Pakistan ministry overseeing refugees said the government was allowing only Pakistani citizens, Afghans seeking medical treatment and people with proof of a right to refuge to cross.
The country’s officials have said repeatedly that they will not allow new refugees to enter Pakistan’s cities.
The government instead plans to establish refugee camps near the border inside Afghanistan.
Sharif Hassan, Daniel Victor, Zia ur-Rehman, Jim Huylebroek, Megan Specia, Fahim Abed, Jack Healy and Helene Cooper contributed reporting.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/u- ... d=msedgntp
"U.S. Launches Strike on ISIS-K as Bombing’s Death Toll Soars"
Adam Nossiter and Eric Schmitt
28 AUGUST 2021
The U.S. military said on Friday night that it had launched its first reprisal strike for the devastating suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport the day before, using a drone to target and apparently kill a planner for the group that claimed responsibility for the deaths of as many as 170 civilians and 13 U.S. service members.
“U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner,” Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in a statement, referring to the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, also known as Islamic State Khorasan.
“The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan,” Captain Urban said.
“Initial indications are that we killed the target."
"We know of no civilian casualties.”
The attack at the airport on Thursday was one of the deadliest bombings in the nearly two decades since the U.S.-led invasion.
American officials believe “another terror attack in Kabul is likely,” the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said on Friday afternoon.
“The threat is ongoing and it is active."
"Our troops are still in danger.”
On Friday night, the U.S. Embassy again warned Americans to leave the airport immediately because of security threats.
While it was unclear how many Americans had risked the trip to the airport on Friday, the dangers of another terrorist strike did not keep away Afghans desperate to flee the Taliban.
Hundreds of them continued to crowd Kabul’s airport on Friday, even as the death toll from the previous day’s blast neared 200 with hundreds more wounded, keeping the city’s hospitals grimly busy all day.
The size of the crowd at the airport did drop sharply, however, with fear paring the numbers down to hundreds from the thousands of previous days.
The suicide bombing ripped right into the jostling throng on Thursday afternoon, piling an adjacent sewage canal with corpses.
The attack also killed 13 U.S. service members, and one of the first to be identified was Rylee McCollum, 20, a Marine who had been on his first overseas deployment, according to his father.
He was one of 10 Marines, two soldiers, and one Navy medic killed in the attack, according to defense officials.
On Friday, the Pentagon changed its earlier statement that there were possibly two suicide blasts set off at the airport by ISIS-K, instead saying it was just one.
The explosion hit right near the airport’s Abbey Gate, at a security chokepoint that squeezed together an enormous crowd that U.S. troops were checking for entry.
It was not only fear that trimmed the crowd at the airport Friday, what had been a constant mass since the Taliban assumed power nearly two weeks ago.
Taliban fighters with Kalashnikov rifles kept people farther away from the airport’s entrance gates, guarding checkpoints with trucks and at least one Humvee.
Flights to evacuate people already within the airport resumed soon after the bombing.
But the airport itself was largely locked down on Friday.
American and Taliban officials have been consulting for days about security around the airport, and at times cooperating to help groups gain entrance.
But the bombing brought changes in the Taliban’s methods, in particular, on Friday.
At its southern and eastern gates, Taliban gunmen said that almost no one was allowed to come close, and that all entrance gates were closed.
Reports about any new entries to the airport at all were sparse, and unconfirmed.
Further, State Department officials had warned people to stay away from the airport and shelter in place because of new terrorism threats.
The U.S. government said that more than 100,000 people have been evacuated so far.
And one U.S. military official said that flights to begin the final evacuation of American military personnel and equipment were beginning on Friday night.
Despite the risk and the obstacles at the airport, citizens continued to flock to what many see as the last chance to get out.
“People are still risking their lives and going to the airport to leave the country,” said a woman journalist in Kabul.
“It is the only hope.”
Another Kabul resident who had been at the airport Thursday and lost a friend in the bombing vowed to go back on Friday.
“I don’t want to be killed in this cursed country,” he said.
“I don’t want to live here anymore."
"I hate this country."
"I hate all these killings.”
A government worker who lives in the Macroyan neighborhood of central Kabul said he was not surprised people were still congregating at the airport’s gates.
“It is better to get killed while trying to leave than stay here,” he said.
“People are trying to leave the country at any price.”
In much of Kabul, the streets were quiet and largely deserted on Friday.
“There were a lot of people in this area before the collapse, but now it is like a ghost town,” the government worker said about central Kabul.
“You can’t find people."
"Everyone is afraid to leave their house.”
On the day after the attack and nearly two weeks after they seized control of Kabul on Aug. 15, the Taliban continued to reveal little about their intentions on the shape their government would take.
Omar Zakhilwal, a former Afghan finance minister, spoke by phone Friday of his meetings with Taliban officials and of his daily walk to his office in downtown Kabul.
He is trying to nudge the Taliban toward what he calls a more “inclusive” government.
Both exercises — the walk and the nudging — are proving to be challenges.
In the normally bustling and noisy Shahr-e Naw neighborhood, once alive with street vendors and jostling pedestrians, there is now an unsettling silence.
And so far his encounters with the Taliban have not yielded the results he had hoped for.
Dr. Zakhilwal, an economist who was sharply critical of the government of President Ashraf Ghani in the days before it fell, said the country was “in a very depressed economic situation.”
An acute cash shortage has led to skyrocketing prices.
Few ATMs are functioning.
So far, the worst fears about the Taliban appear not to have been realized, Dr. Zakhilwal said.
“By and large, their treatment of the population is not as bad as expected,” he said.
“They are not very visible."
"You don’t see a heavy presence of them in the city.”
But “the mental security is not there,” he said.
Among the ex-Afghan officials meeting with Taliban representatives is Dr. Zakhilwal’s old boss, former President Hamid Karzai.
While the former officials are hoping the Taliban will include at least some of them in their government, the signs so far are not encouraging.
“Now that they have taken the whole thing, there might be temptations within them not to go for the type of inclusive government that would be the result of a political settlement,” Dr. Zakhilwal said.
The few government appointments made so far suggest that the Taliban are more interested in filling positions from within their ranks rather than naming “professionals,” he said, noting the Taliban’s choice for acting head of the central bank: Hajji Mohammad Idris, a member of the movement.
News reports have indicated that Mr. Idris has no formal financial training.
There were also further reports that the Taliban have been searching the homes of former government officials in Kabul.
Ahmadullah Waseq, the deputy of the Taliban’s culture committee, rejected reports that the Taliban had conducted house-to-house searches in the capital.
With four days remaining until an Aug. 31 deadline for the United States withdrawal, a date that Mr. Biden has said he intends to keep despite domestic and international pressure for an extension, the evacuations were on pace to fall well short of providing an exit for everyone who wants to leave.
That left Afghans scrambling to find a way out of the country.
In the southwest, thousands of people have been trying to flee into Pakistan, gathering daily near the Spin Boldak-Chaman border crossing, the only one designated for refugees.
In the west, several thousand people a day are also crossing into Iran, U.N. officials said.
Before the Taliban takeover, about 4,000 to 8,000 people would cross the border from Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, into Chaman, Pakistan, on a typical day.
Since the Taliban seized Kabul, the number has jumped threefold, according to Pakistani officials and tribal leaders.
An official at the Pakistan ministry overseeing refugees said the government was allowing only Pakistani citizens, Afghans seeking medical treatment and people with proof of a right to refuge to cross.
The country’s officials have said repeatedly that they will not allow new refugees to enter Pakistan’s cities.
The government instead plans to establish refugee camps near the border inside Afghanistan.
Sharif Hassan, Daniel Victor, Zia ur-Rehman, Jim Huylebroek, Megan Specia, Fahim Abed, Jack Healy and Helene Cooper contributed reporting.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/u- ... d=msedgntp
Re: AFGHANISTAN
BUSINESS INSIDER
"Top US general says ISIS-K is shooting at American military jets in Kabul without success, but warned other evacuation planes are 'vulnerable'"
Sinéad Baker
Fri, August 27, 2021, 6:29 AM
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said ISIS-K is shooting at US military jets in Kabul without any effect.
But he warned that non-military jets helping evacuate people don't have such defense systems.
ISIS-K took responsibility for the Thursday blasts that killed at least 95 Afghans and 13 US troops.
The Afghan affiliate of ISIS is shooting at US military jets at Kabul airport with no effect, but other planes are vulnerable, a top US general warned.
Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of US Central Command, said on Thursday that he believes ISIS-K wants to attack planes coming in and out of Kabul airport, where foreign citizens, foreign troops and Afghan refugees are being evacuated after the Taliban takeover.
"We know that ISIS would like to get after those aircraft if they can," he said, adding that he does not believe the terror group currently has the ability to take down the aircraft.
"They have taken shots at our aircraft on occasion without effect."
"We think that's going to continue."
"And we will, but as you know military aircraft have a variety of self-defense systems."
"Which [are] more vulnerable actually are the charter aircraft and other aircraft that are coming in that do not have those do not have those systems," he said.
McKenzie said the US was monitoring threats to its planes closely "because really, the aircraft's the only way we're going to get people out of there."
"So we are keenly sensitive to threats to our aircraft."
His comments came after two explosions by Kabul's airport on Thursday, which have killed at least 95 Afghans and 13 US troops.
ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The Pentagon and President Joe Biden have blamed the group for the attacks, with Biden vowing revenge.
https://news.yahoo.com/top-us-general-s ... 48599.html
"Top US general says ISIS-K is shooting at American military jets in Kabul without success, but warned other evacuation planes are 'vulnerable'"
Sinéad Baker
Fri, August 27, 2021, 6:29 AM
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said ISIS-K is shooting at US military jets in Kabul without any effect.
But he warned that non-military jets helping evacuate people don't have such defense systems.
ISIS-K took responsibility for the Thursday blasts that killed at least 95 Afghans and 13 US troops.
The Afghan affiliate of ISIS is shooting at US military jets at Kabul airport with no effect, but other planes are vulnerable, a top US general warned.
Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of US Central Command, said on Thursday that he believes ISIS-K wants to attack planes coming in and out of Kabul airport, where foreign citizens, foreign troops and Afghan refugees are being evacuated after the Taliban takeover.
"We know that ISIS would like to get after those aircraft if they can," he said, adding that he does not believe the terror group currently has the ability to take down the aircraft.
"They have taken shots at our aircraft on occasion without effect."
"We think that's going to continue."
"And we will, but as you know military aircraft have a variety of self-defense systems."
"Which [are] more vulnerable actually are the charter aircraft and other aircraft that are coming in that do not have those do not have those systems," he said.
McKenzie said the US was monitoring threats to its planes closely "because really, the aircraft's the only way we're going to get people out of there."
"So we are keenly sensitive to threats to our aircraft."
His comments came after two explosions by Kabul's airport on Thursday, which have killed at least 95 Afghans and 13 US troops.
ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The Pentagon and President Joe Biden have blamed the group for the attacks, with Biden vowing revenge.
https://news.yahoo.com/top-us-general-s ... 48599.html
Re: AFGHANISTAN
NEWSWEEK
"Chinese State Media Says Afghanistan a Lesson for Taiwan on How U.S. Abandons Allies"
BY JON JACKSON ON 8/16/21 AT 3:33 PM EDT
The Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, warned Taiwan on Monday it could face the same fate as Afghanistan if it continued relying on the United States as an ally.
The paper's editorial began by describing how the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan caused the Taliban's forces to quickly seize control in what it deemed "a heavy blow to the credibility and reliability of the U.S."
The Times then cited what it called similar situations, such as the fall of Saigon during the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 when the U.S. evacuated its citizens from the city.
The tabloid also wrote of how the U.S. "abandoned their allies, the Kurds," when it withdrew troops from northern Syria in 2019.
"Some historians also point out that abandoning allies to protect U.S. interests is an inherent flaw that has been deeply rooted in the U.S. since the founding of the country," the editorial contended before claiming America betrayed France soon after the latter aided the original colonies in gaining independence from Britain in the Revolutionary War.
Taiwan is similar to Afghanistan in that it has sought support from the U.S., the Global Times claimed, adding "Taiwan is the region that relies on the protection of the U.S. the most in Asia, and the island's Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] authorities have made Taiwan go further and further down this abnormal path."
The situation in Afghanistan spiraled quickly out of control "after the country was abandoned by the U.S."
The paper asked, "Is this some kind of omen of Taiwan's future fate?"
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and other members of the DPP have not fully acknowledged the severity of the circumstances in Afghanistan, the editorial warned.
"They must have known better in secret that the U.S. is not reliable."
The reason for the U.S. to be interested in relations with Taiwan is strategic as well as monetary, the Global Times continued.
The island "is probably the U.S.' most cost-effective ally in East Asia."
"There is no U.S. military presence on the island of Taiwan."
America's alliance is thus kept by selling arms to Taiwan, all the while encouraging the island to "implement anti-mainland policies through political support and manipulation."
"As a result, it has caused a certain degree of depletion between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits."
Aside from sending warships and aircraft around the island on occasion, the U.S. for the most part doesn't need to spend much money on its ally.
"Instead, it makes money through arms sales and forced pork and beef sales to the island."
"This is totally a profitable geopolitical deal for Washington," the Times said.
The article concluded by giving some advice to Taiwan's leaders: "They need to change their course of bonding themselves to the anti-Chinese mainland chariot of the U.S."
https://www.newsweek.com/chinese-state- ... es-1619865
"Chinese State Media Says Afghanistan a Lesson for Taiwan on How U.S. Abandons Allies"
BY JON JACKSON ON 8/16/21 AT 3:33 PM EDT
The Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, warned Taiwan on Monday it could face the same fate as Afghanistan if it continued relying on the United States as an ally.
The paper's editorial began by describing how the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan caused the Taliban's forces to quickly seize control in what it deemed "a heavy blow to the credibility and reliability of the U.S."
The Times then cited what it called similar situations, such as the fall of Saigon during the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 when the U.S. evacuated its citizens from the city.
The tabloid also wrote of how the U.S. "abandoned their allies, the Kurds," when it withdrew troops from northern Syria in 2019.
"Some historians also point out that abandoning allies to protect U.S. interests is an inherent flaw that has been deeply rooted in the U.S. since the founding of the country," the editorial contended before claiming America betrayed France soon after the latter aided the original colonies in gaining independence from Britain in the Revolutionary War.
Taiwan is similar to Afghanistan in that it has sought support from the U.S., the Global Times claimed, adding "Taiwan is the region that relies on the protection of the U.S. the most in Asia, and the island's Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] authorities have made Taiwan go further and further down this abnormal path."
The situation in Afghanistan spiraled quickly out of control "after the country was abandoned by the U.S."
The paper asked, "Is this some kind of omen of Taiwan's future fate?"
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and other members of the DPP have not fully acknowledged the severity of the circumstances in Afghanistan, the editorial warned.
"They must have known better in secret that the U.S. is not reliable."
The reason for the U.S. to be interested in relations with Taiwan is strategic as well as monetary, the Global Times continued.
The island "is probably the U.S.' most cost-effective ally in East Asia."
"There is no U.S. military presence on the island of Taiwan."
America's alliance is thus kept by selling arms to Taiwan, all the while encouraging the island to "implement anti-mainland policies through political support and manipulation."
"As a result, it has caused a certain degree of depletion between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits."
Aside from sending warships and aircraft around the island on occasion, the U.S. for the most part doesn't need to spend much money on its ally.
"Instead, it makes money through arms sales and forced pork and beef sales to the island."
"This is totally a profitable geopolitical deal for Washington," the Times said.
The article concluded by giving some advice to Taiwan's leaders: "They need to change their course of bonding themselves to the anti-Chinese mainland chariot of the U.S."
https://www.newsweek.com/chinese-state- ... es-1619865
Re: AFGHANISTAN
NEWSWEEK
"Stuart Scheller Resigns Commission After Being Relieved of Command for Afghanistan Remarks"
Fatma Khaled
30 AUGUST 2021
Marine Officer Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller said on Sunday that he is resigning his commission after being dismissed from command over his remarks about the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"I'm currently not pending legal action and I could stay in the Marine Corps for another three years, but I don't think that's the path I am on."
"I'm resigning my commission as the United States Marine effective now," he said in a new video posted on his Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.
"I have forfeited my retirement, all entitlements, I don't want a single dollar."
Scheller also recalled that his boss asked him about what he was trying to accomplish by posting a video criticizing the Afghanistan withdrawal.
"Now it was a very tough question for me and my response was I want senior leaders to accept accountability," Scheller said.
All I asked for was accountability of my senior leaders when there are clear, obvious mistakes that were made."
"And had they done that I would have gone back into rank and accomplished what I wanted."
Towards the end of the 10-minute video, Scheller warned of the consequence of going after stability and money, which, he said, can make a person "a slave to the system."
"I don't need a single dollar."
"I just need every single person that's willing to go back outside the wire every single day to wear a blue collar, and just go into work every single day and feed their families," he said.
"Those are the people that I need."
"Follow me and we will bring the whole f****** system down."
This week, Scheller gained widespread attention after demanding accountability and criticizing senior military leadership for their handling of the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Scheller pointed out mistakes made throughout the evacuation process in a four-minute video posted on social media on Thursday, shortly after the ISIS-K bombing outside the Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. service members and many Afghans.
His video went viral and sparked controversy, with some commentators praising Scheller's notes about the operation and others criticizing him for calling out his senior leaders while in uniform and urging him to resign.
"Stuart Scheller would make a better Secretary of Defense than Lloyd Austin," wrote Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, in a tweet.
Donald Trump Jr. weighed in, as well, saying it was "disgrace" that Scheller had been relieved.
Scheller wrote in a Facebook post on Friday that he has been relieved due to the public criticism made after his clip went viral.
In a response to Newsweek, Maj. Jim Stenger, Marine Corps spokesperson, stated:
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller was relieved of command by Col. David Emmel, Commanding Officer of School of Infantry-East, due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command.
This is obviously an emotional time for a lot of Marines, and we encourage anyone struggling right now to seek counseling or talk to a fellow Marine.
There is a forum in which Marine leaders can address their disagreements with the chain of command, but it's not social media.
Meanwhile in China the state-controlled Global Times said the Scheller story showed the "low morale" in the U.S. military.
Newsweek contacted Scheller for further comments but didn't receive an immediate response.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... d=msedgntp
"Stuart Scheller Resigns Commission After Being Relieved of Command for Afghanistan Remarks"
Fatma Khaled
30 AUGUST 2021
Marine Officer Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller said on Sunday that he is resigning his commission after being dismissed from command over his remarks about the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"I'm currently not pending legal action and I could stay in the Marine Corps for another three years, but I don't think that's the path I am on."
"I'm resigning my commission as the United States Marine effective now," he said in a new video posted on his Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.
"I have forfeited my retirement, all entitlements, I don't want a single dollar."
Scheller also recalled that his boss asked him about what he was trying to accomplish by posting a video criticizing the Afghanistan withdrawal.
"Now it was a very tough question for me and my response was I want senior leaders to accept accountability," Scheller said.
All I asked for was accountability of my senior leaders when there are clear, obvious mistakes that were made."
"And had they done that I would have gone back into rank and accomplished what I wanted."
Towards the end of the 10-minute video, Scheller warned of the consequence of going after stability and money, which, he said, can make a person "a slave to the system."
"I don't need a single dollar."
"I just need every single person that's willing to go back outside the wire every single day to wear a blue collar, and just go into work every single day and feed their families," he said.
"Those are the people that I need."
"Follow me and we will bring the whole f****** system down."
This week, Scheller gained widespread attention after demanding accountability and criticizing senior military leadership for their handling of the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Scheller pointed out mistakes made throughout the evacuation process in a four-minute video posted on social media on Thursday, shortly after the ISIS-K bombing outside the Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul that killed 13 U.S. service members and many Afghans.
His video went viral and sparked controversy, with some commentators praising Scheller's notes about the operation and others criticizing him for calling out his senior leaders while in uniform and urging him to resign.
"Stuart Scheller would make a better Secretary of Defense than Lloyd Austin," wrote Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, in a tweet.
Donald Trump Jr. weighed in, as well, saying it was "disgrace" that Scheller had been relieved.
Scheller wrote in a Facebook post on Friday that he has been relieved due to the public criticism made after his clip went viral.
In a response to Newsweek, Maj. Jim Stenger, Marine Corps spokesperson, stated:
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller was relieved of command by Col. David Emmel, Commanding Officer of School of Infantry-East, due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command.
This is obviously an emotional time for a lot of Marines, and we encourage anyone struggling right now to seek counseling or talk to a fellow Marine.
There is a forum in which Marine leaders can address their disagreements with the chain of command, but it's not social media.
Meanwhile in China the state-controlled Global Times said the Scheller story showed the "low morale" in the U.S. military.
Newsweek contacted Scheller for further comments but didn't receive an immediate response.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... d=msedgntp
Re: AFGHANISTAN
BUSINESS INSIDER
"US drone strike kills 10 civilians, including children, in Kabul: reports"
insider@insider.com (John L. Dorman)
30 AUGUST 2021
* A US drone strike killed 10 civilians - including children - in Kabul, according to multiple reports.
* Sunday's strike was in a residential area of Kabul and was targeting a nearby vehicle.
* It took out an ISIS-K car bomb that posed an "imminent" danger to Kabul airport, per US Central Command.
Ten civilians - including several children - were killed in a US drone strike targeting a vehicle in a residential area of Kabul on Sunday, according to The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times.
The deceased were from a single extended family and were leaving their car when the strike hit a separate vehicle nearby, The Post said.
The youngest victim was a 2-year-old girl, according to a brother of one of those who were killed, according to CNN.
The brother told CNN that the individuals killed were "an ordinary family," adding: "We are not ISIS or Daesh and this was a family home - where my brothers lived with their families."
A neighbor described the harrowing scene in an interview with CNN.
"All the neighbors tried to help and brought water to put out the fire and I saw that there were five or six people dead," they said to the network.
"The father of the family and another young boy and there were two children."
"They were dead."
"They were in pieces."
"There were [also] two wounded."
Another neighbor told CNN that there could possibly have been up to 20 people who perished in the strike, relaying that "not much is left of their house and nothing can be recognized."
The US Central Command on Sunday said that the drone strike took out an Islamic State car bomb that posed an "imminent" danger to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where at least 169 Afghans and 13 US service members were killed last week, marking the deadliest day for US military members in the country since 2011.
Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said that he was "aware of reports of civilian casualties."
"We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties," he said in a statement.
"It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further."
He added: "We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life."
A US official confirmed that the strike occurred in the Khaje Bughra neighborhood of Kabul, according to the CNN report.
US forces have been working to complete the evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies from the country before the August 31 troop withdrawal deadline, while also facing continued threats of attacks on the Kabul airport.
The war in Afghanistan started in 2001 under then-President George W. Bush in response to the September 11 attacks, but as the years went on and support for the war waned, future presidents - including Barack Obama and Donald Trump - continued to employ drone strikes as part of their fight against terrorism.
Obama hoped to end many of the most controversial elements of Bush's counterterrorism strategy, but was called out by human rights groups for his expansion in utilizing drones.
According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Obama had 10 times more air strikes in the covert war on terror than Bush.
Under Trump, civilian deaths by drones rose exponentially in Afghanistan, according a study from the Costs of War Project at Brown University.
In 2019 alone, airstrikes killed 700 civilians in the country.
"There were more weapons dropped from the air in 2018 and 2019 than at the height of US presence in Afghanistan in 2011," the report noted.
This story has been updated.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us ... hp&pc=U531
"US drone strike kills 10 civilians, including children, in Kabul: reports"
insider@insider.com (John L. Dorman)
30 AUGUST 2021
* A US drone strike killed 10 civilians - including children - in Kabul, according to multiple reports.
* Sunday's strike was in a residential area of Kabul and was targeting a nearby vehicle.
* It took out an ISIS-K car bomb that posed an "imminent" danger to Kabul airport, per US Central Command.
Ten civilians - including several children - were killed in a US drone strike targeting a vehicle in a residential area of Kabul on Sunday, according to The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times.
The deceased were from a single extended family and were leaving their car when the strike hit a separate vehicle nearby, The Post said.
The youngest victim was a 2-year-old girl, according to a brother of one of those who were killed, according to CNN.
The brother told CNN that the individuals killed were "an ordinary family," adding: "We are not ISIS or Daesh and this was a family home - where my brothers lived with their families."
A neighbor described the harrowing scene in an interview with CNN.
"All the neighbors tried to help and brought water to put out the fire and I saw that there were five or six people dead," they said to the network.
"The father of the family and another young boy and there were two children."
"They were dead."
"They were in pieces."
"There were [also] two wounded."
Another neighbor told CNN that there could possibly have been up to 20 people who perished in the strike, relaying that "not much is left of their house and nothing can be recognized."
The US Central Command on Sunday said that the drone strike took out an Islamic State car bomb that posed an "imminent" danger to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where at least 169 Afghans and 13 US service members were killed last week, marking the deadliest day for US military members in the country since 2011.
Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said that he was "aware of reports of civilian casualties."
"We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties," he said in a statement.
"It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further."
He added: "We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life."
A US official confirmed that the strike occurred in the Khaje Bughra neighborhood of Kabul, according to the CNN report.
US forces have been working to complete the evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies from the country before the August 31 troop withdrawal deadline, while also facing continued threats of attacks on the Kabul airport.
The war in Afghanistan started in 2001 under then-President George W. Bush in response to the September 11 attacks, but as the years went on and support for the war waned, future presidents - including Barack Obama and Donald Trump - continued to employ drone strikes as part of their fight against terrorism.
Obama hoped to end many of the most controversial elements of Bush's counterterrorism strategy, but was called out by human rights groups for his expansion in utilizing drones.
According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Obama had 10 times more air strikes in the covert war on terror than Bush.
Under Trump, civilian deaths by drones rose exponentially in Afghanistan, according a study from the Costs of War Project at Brown University.
In 2019 alone, airstrikes killed 700 civilians in the country.
"There were more weapons dropped from the air in 2018 and 2019 than at the height of US presence in Afghanistan in 2011," the report noted.
This story has been updated.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us ... hp&pc=U531
Re: AFGHANISTAN
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 30, 2021 AT 9:06 PM
Paul Plante says:
And as we all continue to grapple with the failures that led to the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban along with congresswoman Luria, who commanded Assault Craft Unit TWO, a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors, from 2014 until her retirement in 2017, and who is now our best hope to lead the charge to get Joe Biden removed from office on grounds of incompetence pursuant to the 25th Amendment before he can do any more damage to our national security and standing in the world, talk about a downright cosmic confluence of events, where at the same time we learn from a Bloomberg article entitled “Harris Urges More China Pressure in Meeting With Vietnam Leader” by Jenny Leonard and Derek Wallbank on 25 August 2021 that American Vice President Kamala Harris has urged countries in the region to apply more pressure on China in a meeting with Vietnam’s president, stepping up her criticism of Beijing on a visit to Asia, where Harris’s trip to Singapore and Vietnam has been overshadowed by Afghanistan, where a rapid collapse of the U.S.-backed government has left the Biden administration rushing to evacuate Americans and those who assisted their 20-year war effort against the Taliban, which now controls almost all of the country, with photographs of helicopters over Kabul evoking images of air rescues from Saigon — now known as Ho Chi Minh City — more than 45 years ago, lending Harris’s previously scheduled visit to Vietnam an unplanned historical echo, we also are presented with an article from Newsweek entitled “Chinese State Media Says Afghanistan a Lesson for Taiwan on How U.S. Abandons Allies” by Jon Jackson on 8/16/21, where we have a real good look at the harm Joe Biden is causing, to wit:
The Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, warned Taiwan on Monday it could face the same fate as Afghanistan if it continued relying on the United States as an ally.
The paper’s editorial began by describing how the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan caused the Taliban’s forces to quickly seize control in what it deemed “a heavy blow to the credibility and reliability of the U.S.”
The Times then cited what it called similar situations, such as the fall of Saigon during the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 when the U.S. evacuated its citizens from the city.
end quotes
Anyone who has studied that Democrat debacle knows that before Saigon ultimately fell, our Congress, and this is all a matter of public record, greatly reduced the funding to that nation for its military, which then led to the collapse of the Saigon government, which only ever existed, like the government in Afghanistan, so long as the U.S. taxpayers were supporting it financially, which takes us back to that story, as follows:
The tabloid also wrote of how the U.S. “abandoned their allies, the Kurds,” when it withdrew troops from northern Syria in 2019.
“Some historians also point out that abandoning allies to protect U.S. interests is an inherent flaw that has been deeply rooted in the U.S. since the founding of the country,” the editorial contended before claiming America betrayed France soon after the latter aided the original colonies in gaining independence from Britain in the Revolutionary War.
Taiwan is similar to Afghanistan in that it has sought support from the U.S., the Global Times claimed, adding “Taiwan is the region that relies on the protection of the U.S. the most in Asia, and the island’s Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] authorities have made Taiwan go further and further down this abnormal path.”
The situation in Afghanistan spiraled quickly out of control “after the country was abandoned by the U.S.”
The paper asked, “Is this some kind of omen of Taiwan’s future fate?”
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and other members of the DPP have not fully acknowledged the severity of the circumstances in Afghanistan, the editorial warned.
“They must have known better in secret that the U.S. is not reliable.”
The article concluded by giving some advice to Taiwan’s leaders: “They need to change their course of bonding themselves to the anti-Chinese mainland chariot of the U.S.”
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/l ... ent-413499
Paul Plante says:
And as we all continue to grapple with the failures that led to the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban along with congresswoman Luria, who commanded Assault Craft Unit TWO, a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors, from 2014 until her retirement in 2017, and who is now our best hope to lead the charge to get Joe Biden removed from office on grounds of incompetence pursuant to the 25th Amendment before he can do any more damage to our national security and standing in the world, talk about a downright cosmic confluence of events, where at the same time we learn from a Bloomberg article entitled “Harris Urges More China Pressure in Meeting With Vietnam Leader” by Jenny Leonard and Derek Wallbank on 25 August 2021 that American Vice President Kamala Harris has urged countries in the region to apply more pressure on China in a meeting with Vietnam’s president, stepping up her criticism of Beijing on a visit to Asia, where Harris’s trip to Singapore and Vietnam has been overshadowed by Afghanistan, where a rapid collapse of the U.S.-backed government has left the Biden administration rushing to evacuate Americans and those who assisted their 20-year war effort against the Taliban, which now controls almost all of the country, with photographs of helicopters over Kabul evoking images of air rescues from Saigon — now known as Ho Chi Minh City — more than 45 years ago, lending Harris’s previously scheduled visit to Vietnam an unplanned historical echo, we also are presented with an article from Newsweek entitled “Chinese State Media Says Afghanistan a Lesson for Taiwan on How U.S. Abandons Allies” by Jon Jackson on 8/16/21, where we have a real good look at the harm Joe Biden is causing, to wit:
The Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, warned Taiwan on Monday it could face the same fate as Afghanistan if it continued relying on the United States as an ally.
The paper’s editorial began by describing how the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan caused the Taliban’s forces to quickly seize control in what it deemed “a heavy blow to the credibility and reliability of the U.S.”
The Times then cited what it called similar situations, such as the fall of Saigon during the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 when the U.S. evacuated its citizens from the city.
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Anyone who has studied that Democrat debacle knows that before Saigon ultimately fell, our Congress, and this is all a matter of public record, greatly reduced the funding to that nation for its military, which then led to the collapse of the Saigon government, which only ever existed, like the government in Afghanistan, so long as the U.S. taxpayers were supporting it financially, which takes us back to that story, as follows:
The tabloid also wrote of how the U.S. “abandoned their allies, the Kurds,” when it withdrew troops from northern Syria in 2019.
“Some historians also point out that abandoning allies to protect U.S. interests is an inherent flaw that has been deeply rooted in the U.S. since the founding of the country,” the editorial contended before claiming America betrayed France soon after the latter aided the original colonies in gaining independence from Britain in the Revolutionary War.
Taiwan is similar to Afghanistan in that it has sought support from the U.S., the Global Times claimed, adding “Taiwan is the region that relies on the protection of the U.S. the most in Asia, and the island’s Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] authorities have made Taiwan go further and further down this abnormal path.”
The situation in Afghanistan spiraled quickly out of control “after the country was abandoned by the U.S.”
The paper asked, “Is this some kind of omen of Taiwan’s future fate?”
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and other members of the DPP have not fully acknowledged the severity of the circumstances in Afghanistan, the editorial warned.
“They must have known better in secret that the U.S. is not reliable.”
The article concluded by giving some advice to Taiwan’s leaders: “They need to change their course of bonding themselves to the anti-Chinese mainland chariot of the U.S.”
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/l ... ent-413499