Afghan President Ghani Flees as Taliban Enters Kabul: Haaretz, Aug. 17, 2021 — Taliban insurgents entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Sunday and an official said President Ashraf Ghani had left the city for Tajikistan, capping the militants’ lightning push for power.
The Afghan Military Was Built Over 20 Years. How Did It Collapse So Quickly?: Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Fahim Abed and Sherif Hassan, NY Times, Aug. 13, 2021 — The surrenders seem to be happening as fast as the Taliban can travel.
Israeli Experts Say US Pullout from Afghanistan Sending Wrong Message to Middle East and Beyond: Julie Stahl, CBN News, Aug. 13, 2021 — After nearly 20 years, the US is pulling its troops out of Afghanistan, leaving a power vacuum that is quickly filling up with the radical Taliban group.
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Don’t Blame Trump For Afghanistan’s Collapse. Blame Barack Obama.
Why China’s Relationship With The Taliban Poses An Enormous Risk
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For Further Reference:
Taliban Enters Kabul, in Talks With Afghan Government for ‘Peaceful Transfer of Power’: Jack Phillips, Epoch Times, Aug. 15, 2021 — The Taliban and Afghanistan’s government are in negotiations for a transfer of power as the terrorist group’s fighters have encircled Kabul, the capital, after swift advances that took over numerous provincial capitals in about a week.
The War In Afghanistan Shattered Joe Biden’s Faith In American Military Power: Greg Jaffe, Washington Post, Feb. 18, 2020 — Vice President Joe Biden decided to make one more last-minute push to convince President Obama that the advice his generals were giving him was disastrously wrong. It was Thanksgiving weekend 2009, and Obama was on the verge of committing 30,000 new troops to Afghanistan.
We Once Waltzed in Kabul: Kathy Gilsinan, Common Sense with Bari Weiss, Aug. 15,2021 — Catastrophe. Calamity. Chaos. Humiliation. Tragedy. All words that can be used to describe what we are witnessing right now in Afghanistan, 20 years since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Stewart: Afghanistan Collapse ‘Shameful’ for West: CNN, Aug. 13, 2021 — Rory Stewart, former UK MP, says Afghanistan’s collapse is a humanitarian catastrophe that did not have to happen.
How to Keep the Taliban Flush With Bombs: Ernie Audino, Gold Institute, July 26, 2021— A terrorist can really express himself with 5,000 metric tons of explosives. That’s precisely why specialized teams of U.S. troops and contractors in Afghanistan helped account for and secure huge stockpiles of munitions stored at eight key sites across the country.
CIA Chief Highlights Loss Of Intelligence Once U.S. Troops Leave Afghanistan: Reuters and Patricia Zengerle, Jonathan Landay, Reuters, Apr. 14, 2021 — U.S. ability to collect intelligence and act against extremist threats that arise in Afghanistan will diminish after the departure of U.S. troops, CIA Director William Burns warned on Wednesday.
