They planned for "every contingency," the Biden administration has repeatedly assured the country in recent days. They insist that the astounding failures we're witnessing are unavoidable -- that they were planned for, or were always going to happen, no matter what. It's all an insulting, damning self-indictment. Very few Americans believe that this is the best of which the United States is capable, even in retreat. We are leaving thousands of US citizens and close allies behind. We abandoned a strategic airbase before a mass evacuation. And in our dysfunctional haste, we have effectively handed over a breathtaking arsenal of American weapons and military equipment to a terrorist organization. Even amid a rolling parade of shocking betrayals and humiliations, seeing these statistics illustrated in one place really takes your breath away:
A mind-blowing graphic in today's Times on what $85bn worth of lost equipment means in practice for the Taliban: pic.twitter.com/GDcuNQbb6P
— Will Brown (@_Will_Brown) August 29, 2021
We left the Taliban more than 22,000 Humvees, a fleet of attack helicopters, and about half-a-million firearms. Contingency planning, Biden style. Horrifyingly, we have reportedly gifted the Taliban a treasure trove of technological tools and detailed records with which they can and will hunt down and exterminate American 'collaborators:'
?????? @Zenger SCOOP: Taliban has a US-built biometric database & 7,000 hand-held scanners that the US provided to Afghans (the US left them behind), & is using them to hunt American & Afghan enemies & even journalists (incl. interview w/a Haqqani leader) https://t.co/mnjfjhO6xE
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) August 27, 2021
The Taliban has mobilized a special unit, called Al Isha, to hunt down Afghans who helped US and allied forces — and it’s using US equipment and data to do it. Nawazuddin Haqqani, one of the brigade commanders over the Al Isha unit, bragged in an interview with Zenger News that his unit is using US-made hand-held scanners to tap into a massive US-built biometric database and positively identify any person who helped the NATO allies or worked with Indian intelligence. Afghans who try to deny or minimize their role will find themselves contradicted by the detailed computer records that the US left behind in its frenzied withdrawal. The existence of the Al Isha unit has not been previously confirmed by the Taliban; until now the Haqqani Network, a terror group aligned with the Taliban, has not admitted its role in targeting Afghans or its use of America’s vast biometric database.
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We created a sophisticated database that is now being weaponized against those who have faithfully earned our help. President Biden had repeatedly promised that the US would evacuate exactly these sorts of people from the country, a vow that is being shattered. Worse, his disastrous withdrawal has been so chaotic that we aren't just leaving these people behind; we have effectively handed the enemy the tools with which they can pursue and exterminate our allies. It is equal parts depressing and infuriating, with the scales tipping toward anger every time this bloody mess is spun as a "success." Adding insult to injury, don't forget this Politico story from last week, which hasn't been explicitly denied by the president or top military officials:
U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city’s airport, a choice that's prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials. The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan’s capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport...the decision to provide specific names to the Taliban, which has a history of brutally murdering Afghans who collaborated with the U.S. and other coalition forces during the conflict, has angered lawmakers and military officials. “Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” said one defense official, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.”
Reports were rampant throughout the weekend that Afghan allies and even Americans were being turned away from the airport as the US military prepares its final stages of withdrawal ahead of the Taliban-demanded Tuesday deadline. But not to worry, the Biden contingency planners have secured "assurances" from the Taliban:
“We have received assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from our countries will be allowed to proceed in a safe and orderly manner to points of departure and travel outside the country.” pic.twitter.com/Em8DzcjbkF
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 29, 2021
More insults. Re-read the biometric scanner story again. Look up the bone-chilling reports of "collaborators" already being shot dead by the Taliban, even with the US military still on the ground. We are cutting these people -- thousands of them -- loose and hoping for the best, as private rescue efforts will beforced to operate in a terrorist-controlled country. It's an abject disgrace, and the goalposts being dragged are dripping with blood:
We should not allow the WH to transition from their insistence that all Americans/LPRs/eligible evacuees would be out by 8/31 to “The Taliban will help us get anyone we left behind” without having to account for what we knew was a lie when they advanced it. https://t.co/PJzLGKMEEr
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) August 29, 2021
I'll leave you with a revealing and symbolic anecdote. The State Department has failed miserably throughout this mess, and as Afghanistan was being overrun by terrorists -- something senior US officials including the president had insisted wouldn't happen, and certainly not quickly -- its leader was in the Hamptons. What a metaphor:
Hours before Kabul fell, the situation in Afghanistan became so perilous that Secretary of State Blinken had to return from the Hamptons. From WP: https://t.co/D64gxck5OM pic.twitter.com/qg76mWnV3e
— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 29, 2021
The recriminations and second-guessing are already well underway. And I fear the death is only just beginning over there. All of this was a choice. Appalling:
The result of this decision by President Biden & Gen. McKenzie is that Khalil Haqqani—an al Qaeda-linked terrorist with a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head—was placed in charge of security of Kabul. pic.twitter.com/4OKP2d5wWg
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) August 29, 2021
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