EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said there has “never been a greater embarrassment” to the United States than the Biden Administration’s “rushed” withdrawal of military assets from Afghanistan, telling Fox News that the U.S. has “an incompetent person as the leader of our country.”

Trump, in an exclusive interview with Fox News digital, reflected on Sept. 11, 2001, calling it a “terrible day in our history,” but he pointed to a “terrible week in our history recently.”

“To have that embarrassment to take place in Afghanistan with the same people who did the damage 20 years ago—it is the greatest embarrassment in the history of our country,” Trump said.

“There has never been anything like this. It looks like we fled, and it is all because we have an incompetent person as the leader of our country,” Trump told Fox News.

Trump, who brokered a deal with the Taliban as president for a May 2021 troop withdrawal, said this “never would have happened” under his administration.

WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT’S SIMPLY ‘UP TO AMERICANS’ TO CHOOSE TO FLEE AFGHANISTAN, DESPITE MANY HIDING FROM TALIBAN

“I didn’t even stick to it because I wanted to get out by May 1, and when they violated conditions, we bombed and did a lot of things,” Trump said. “They adhered to one condition— don’t kill Americans or soldiers.”

Trump added: “We hadn’t lost a solider or an American in 18 months in Afghanistan. It was going along very well.”

The Biden Administration removed all U.S. military assets from Afghanistan on Aug. 31, after the country fell to the Taliban.

“They never would have come anywhere near us. It wouldn’t have happened, they wouldn’t have taken over anything,” Trump said. “They knew that if they did, they would be bombed into hell.”

He added: “They knew that—and that’s why they never would have come in to fill this vacuum.”

FILE — President Donald Trump gives the thumbs-up as he boards Air Force One. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Afghan migrants rest while they wait for transport by smugglers after crossing the Iran-Turkish border | Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images

The mere prospect of Afghan migrants heading to Europe’s shores is forcing the Continent to confront its Achilles’ heel: It has never settled a bitter dispute over how to handle asylum seekers.

Six years ago, the European Union descended into in-fighting as it struggled to process asylum seekers fleeing war-torn Syria. Over 1 million refugees and migrants crossed the sea to reach Europe in 2015.

Officials vowed to reform, to create a system that would process and distribute asylum seekers efficiently across the Continent. Next time, they wanted to be prepared.

That never happened.

Now, as Taliban militants seize control in Afghanistan, that failure is looming over European leaders. And it’s led to officials and diplomats floating disparate ideas for how to handle an expected increase in Afghan asylum seekers.

The proposals are as varied as they are piecemeal — build border fencing, fund refugee resettlement in non-EU countries like Turkey and Pakistan, offer immediate but temporary EU protection to Afghans.

In some instances, countries have moved ahead unilaterally. Greece has already installed 40 kilometers of fencing and surveillance along its border.

Greece has increased its ability to track and limit migrant crossings | Byron Smith/Getty Images

EU ambassadors are also expected to meet this week to discuss a collective approach, according to a diplomat. On Saturday, EU leaders offered a preview of their own plan — a mixture of funding for member countries that resettle refugees and partnerships with outside nations.

The throughline, though, is that migration has, once again, seized the EU. And human rights workers warn that the focus could actually harm the bloc. For starters, officials working on migration say the majority of fleeing Afghans will likely stay in neighboring countries, not come to the EU. Additionally, NGOs argue that framing the Afghan crisis as a migration problem will give an advantage to neighboring countries — including Turkey, Belarus and Morocco — that use migrants as leverage or blackmail with the EU, not to mention the far-right political parties within the bloc itself.

“It’s almost playing into the hands of the far right to look at this crisis through that lens,” said Imogen Sudbery, executive director of policy and advocacy for Europe for the International Rescue Committee, an NGO that has worked in Afghanistan since 1988.

An intractable subject

Since 2015, EU countries have repeatedly tried — and failed — to set up a system to evenly redistribute asylum seekers who arrive in the EU.

Last year, the European Commission offered a new redistribution proposal, but there’s little optimism it will advance any time soon.

Instead, the bloc has often outsourced the asylum process to countries beyond its borders. In 2016, amid the Syrian refugee surge, the EU struck a deal with Turkey, under which Ankara pledged to work to stop migrants crossing the Aegean for Greece in exchange for the EU funding several billion euros worth of aid projects in Turkey.

On Friday, rumors started circulating of another incipient EU deal with Turkey. While Turkey doesn’t share a direct border with Afghanistan, diplomats have discussed the possibility that it could play a role in hosting Afghan refugees.

A Turkish official denied the rumors: “There’s no deal between Turkey and the EU on Afghan refugees.”

Migrants from Afghanistan wash themselves on the roadside on the outskirts of Tatvan City, Turkey | Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Still, a second EU diplomat said he expects high-level discussions on the issue between the two sides in the coming days. And sure enough, European Council President Charles Michel tweeted on Sunday that he had discussed the matter with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Turkey isn’t the only country expected to play a role, however. On Friday, Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, predicted that “any exodus” of Afghan refugees would likely go to the country’s immediate neighbors, including Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan. He emphasized the need for humanitarian aid to go to these places if the global community wants to keep Afghan refugees closer to home.

“If the aid to these countries were not consistent, then there would be a strong risk that the movements would continue towards Europe,” he said.

EU leaders spoke directly to such partnerships during a Saturday appearance at a Spanish facility hosting evacuated Afghans who had worked for the EU. Michel called migration a “thorny” topic in the EU and pointed to the possibility of working with non-EU countries on the matter. And Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed to raise a global refugee resettlement program at an upcoming gathering of leaders of the G7 group of wealthy nations.

Von der Leyen also said the EU would boost humanitarian aid for Afghanistan above the current €57 million earmarked for 2021. Working in Afghanistan itself poses considerable challenges, of course. EU leaders have stressed that any humanitarian assistance can’t go through the local authorities.

“One option could be to see whether the Taliban can help, but that’s hard to believe,” the second diplomat said.

Build that wall?

Despite long-standing protestations from some EU leaders, fencing has started cropping up along some of the EU’s border states — and some diplomats are discussing whether walling people out should become a more common approach.

The prospect is a touchy one for the EU.

When Hungary built a barrier in 2015 along its border with Serbia and Croatia, the structure quickly became a symbol of a populist shortcut for a multifaceted problem like migration. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Donald Trump was vowing to build a border wall as an insurgent candidate for U.S. president.

At the time, then-Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker admonished the Hungarian move, saying “walls and fences have no place in an EU member state.”

That reluctance seems to have slowly eroded over time — as long as EU money is not involved.

The Commission didn’t criticize Lithuania when it recently announced a border fence to prevent neighboring Belarus, run by the autocratic Alexander Lukashenko, from intentionally sending migrants across the border. In fact, a Commission spokesperson said, “in the situation that Lithuania faces, such a barrier could indeed be a good idea,” while clarifying that EU money wouldn’t finance “fences as such.”

Migrants are seen through a fence at a camp near the border town of Kapciamiestis, Lithuania | Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty Images

Now Greece has turned its fence-building efforts toward Afghan migrants.

On Friday, Greek Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis visited the country’s border with Turkey and vowed to keep the dividing line “secure and impenetrable.” He said Greece would move before the EU acted.

“We, as a European country, participate in the institutions of the European Union,” he said. “However, as a country, we cannot wait idly for the possible consequences.”

Observers point to a key moment that occurred last year in March, when von der Leyen, newly installed as Commission president, went to Greece. While there, she thanked the country “for being our European shield in these times.”

Immediate protection — for now

There is also a push within the EU to help Afghans actually come to Europe, swiftly and legally.

In recent days, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson has called on member states “to increase resettlement quotas” for Afghans. And von der Leyen echoed that call on Saturday, describing it as “our duty” to resettle Afghan migrants. She offered “the necessary budget means” for EU countries that “step up and help resettle refugees.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has floated an even more ambitious idea.

During an appearance before the European Parliament on Thursday, Borrell, a socialist, mentioned the possibility of invoking a never-before-used EU clause known as the Temporary Protection directive.

The measure, introduced in 2001 following the refugee crisis in Kosovo, offers instant protection to a refugee category and allows EU countries to redistribute those refugees on a voluntary basis. And unlike many EU initiatives, the directive does not require unanimity. The Council, which comprises the 27 member states, can trigger it with just a majority vote after the Commission proposes it.

“This might be the occasion to use it,” Borrell said Thursday.

Yet EU officials are skeptical. They stressed that the directive was floated during the Arab Spring uprisings 10 years ago and failed to gain enough support among EU member states.

“We should work on it now,” urged one official, saying public opinion might be in favor this time.

“But,” he added, “I’m afraid it is a very limited window of opportunity.”

Nektaria Stamouli contributed reporting.

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/afghanistan-migrants-europe-no-eu-refugee-plan/

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© WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/Getty Images A Qatari security personnel member stands guard near a Qatar Airways aircraft at the airport in Kabul on Thursday.

Passengers on board the chartered Qatar Airways flight that departed from Kabul airport — including Canadian, Ukrainian, German, British and US citizens — were among some 200 foreigners that the Taliban have cleared to leave the country, the source said.

The plane’s departure is the first signal that at least some foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan will be able to, following weeks of uncertainty. Civilians have been left scrambling to find safe passage from the country since the Taliban takeover in mid-August threw a US-led evacuation effort into confusion.

© Anadolu Agency/Getty Images KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – SEPTEMBER 03: A screen grab captured from a video shows that employees make the last preparations before domestic flights begin at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 03, 2021. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Qatar worked with parties on the ground to transport the passengers in a Qatari convoy and secure a safe passage to Kabul’s airport. Live pictures showed people disembarking the Qatar Airways Boeing 777 on Thursday evening Doha time. After landing in Doha, the passengers will head to a compound facility currently hosting Afghans and other evacuees.

© MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock A handout satellite image made available by Maxar Technologies shows airplanes near the main terminal at Mazar-i-Sharif Airport, northern Afghanistan, on September 3, 2021.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Than, Qatar’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, thanked the Taliban for their “cooperation” in restarting flights, adding that this was a signal that the militant group’s “positive statements” can be “demonstrated into action.”

The cooperation was also praised by the US. “The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights … They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step,” said US National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne.

© AFP/Getty Images A US Air Force aircraft takes off from the military airport in Kabul on August 27, in the closing days of a huge US airlift operation.

Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority is preparing for more flights to start operating from Kabul, according to an aviation source who spoke to CNN. Both major Afghan carriers Kam Air and Ariana Afghan Airlines plan to restart different routes, according to the source.

The source said that the handling company at the airport will be the same one that was used prior to the shutdown of the airport after the fall of Kabul in mid-August.

The terminal at the airport in Kabul is “ready” for flights, the aviation source told CNN.

Earlier in the day, Qatari and Taliban officials toured the Kabul airport tarmac, where the Qatar Airways Boeing 777 stood.

Several passengers waiting to check into the flight earlier said their final destination was Canada. “We are going to Canada, we are Canadians,” one man told an Al Jazeera Arabic reporter at the airport in English. Another two men also said they were bound for Canada.

Other international flights are expected in the coming days.

The Taliban’s acting foreign minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaki, thanked Qatari special envoy Mutlaq Al-Qahtani for his country’s efforts in restarting flights out of Kabul International Airport, the Taliban said in a statement posted on an official account.

A Qatari technical team has been in the country for the past 10 days, helping Afghan officials restore airport operations.

An engineer on the Qatari team told a news conference Thursday that the airport was now 90% fixed. “There are some technical issues that we cannot fix, but in total all the equipment is working,” said Mohamed Naeemi, speaking alongside Al-Qahtani.

Al-Qahtani called the flight “historic” but said the process of reopening would be gradual. Other flights have landed carrying humanitarian aid, he added.

A US official told CNN that the Taliban’s agreement for the 200 or so people to leave on the charter flight Thursday came after US Special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad had been pressing the Taliban to allow departures.

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U.S.-Funded Military Gear Into Afghanistan 2003-2016. Source: GAO        OPENTHEBOOKS.COM

The U.S. provided an estimated $83 billion worth of training and equipment to Afghan security forces since 2001. This year, alone, the U.S. military aid to Afghan forces was $3 billion.

Putting price tags on American military equipment still in Afghanistan isn’t an easy task. In the fog of war – or withdrawal – Afghanistan has always been a black box with little sunshine.

Not helping transparency, the Biden Administration is now hiding key audits on Afghan military equipment. This week, our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com reposted two key reports on the U.S. war chest of military gear in Afghanistan that had disappeared from federal websites.

#1. Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit of U.S. provided military gear in Afghanistan (August 2017): reposted report (dead link: report).

#2. Special Inspector General For Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) audit of $174 million in lost ScanEagle drones (July 2020): reposted report (dead link: report).

U.S. taxpayers paid for these audits and the U.S.-provided equipment and should be able to follow the money.

After publication, the GAO spokesman responded to our request for comment, “the State Department requested we temporarily remove and review reports on Afghanistan to protect recipients of US assistance that may be identified through our reports and thus subject to retribution.” However, these reports only have numbers and no recipient information.

Furthermore, unless noted, when estimating “acquisition value,” our source is the Department Logistics Agency (DLA) and their comprehensive databases of military equipment.

Vehicles and airplanes

Between 2003 and 2016, the U.S. purchased and provided 75,898 vehicles and 208 aircraft, to the Afghan army and security forces, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

Quantities and examples of key U.S.-funded Military Vehicles for Afghanistan.      OPENTHEBOOKS.COM

Here is a breakdown of estimated vehicle costs:

• Armored personnel carriers such as the M113A2 cost $170,000 each and recent purchases of the M577A2 post carrier cost $333,333 each.
• Mine resistant vehicles ranges from $412,000 to $767,000. The total cost could range between $382 million to $711 million.
• Recovery vehicles such as the ‘truck, wrecker’ cost between for the base model $168,960 and $880,674 for super strength versions.
• Medium range tactical vehicles include 5-ton cargo and general transport trucks were priced at $67,139. However, the family of MTV heavy vehicles had prices ranging from $235,500 to $724,820 each. Cargo trucks to transport airplanes cost $800,865.
• Humvees – ambulance type (range from $37,943 to $142,918 with most at $96,466); cargo type, priced at $104,682. Utility Humvees were typically priced at $91,429. However, the 12,000 lb. troop transport version cost up to $329,000.
• Light tactical vehicles: Fast attack combat vehicles ($69,400); and passenger motor vehicles ($65,500). All terrain 4-wheel vehicles go up to $42,273 in the military databases.

U.S.-Funded Aircraft For the Afghan Forces – OPENTHEBOOKS.COM

This month, the Taliban seized Black Hawk helicopters and A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft. As late as last month, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense posted photos on social media of seven newly arrived helicopters from the U.S., Reuters reported.

Black Hawk helicopters can cost up to $21 million. In 2013, the U.S. placed an order for 20 A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft for $427 million – that’s $21.3 million for each plane. Other specialized helicopters can cost up to $37 million each.

The Afghan air force contracted for C-208 light attack airplanes in March 2018: seven planes for $84.6 million, or $12.1 million each. The airplanes are very sophisticated and carry HELLFIRE missiles, anti-tank missiles and other weaponry.

The PC-12 intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance airplanes use the latest in technology. Having these planes fall into Taliban control is disconcerting. Civilian models sell new for approximately $5 million each and the military planes could sell for many times that price.

Basic fixed-wing airplanes range in price from $3.1 million to $22 million in the DLA database.

Of course, helicopter prices also range widely depending on the technology, purpose, and equipment. For example, according to the DLA, general purpose helicopters range in price from $92,000 to $922,000. Observation helicopters can cost $92,000 and utility helicopters up to $922,000.

Even if the Taliban can’t fly our planes, the parts are very valuable. For example, just the control stick for certain military planes has an acquisition value of $17,808 and a fuel tank sells for up to $35,000.

Lost drones

In 2017, the U.S. military lost $174 million in drones that were part of the attempt to help the Afghan National Army (ANA) defend itself. But the ANA didn’t immediately use the drones and then lost track of them.

This week, the SIGAR audit on the $174 million drone loss disappeared from its website.

Weapons, communications equipment, and night vision googles

Since 2003 the U.S. gave Afghan forces at least 600,000 infantry weapons, including M16 rifles, 162,000 pieces of communication equipment, and 16,000 night-vision goggle devices, according to the GAO report.

Key Weaponry funded by U.S. into Afghanistan    OPENTHEBOOKS.COM

The howitzer is the modern cannon for the U.S. military and each unit can cost up to $500,000; however most are in the $200,000 price range. At the higher end, there’s GPS guidance on fired shells.

A common price of a M16 rifle is $749, according to DLA. Adding a grenade launcher can push the price of the M16 to $12,032. M4 carbine rifles are slightly more expensive with unit prices as high as $1,278.

Just the sights on night-vision sniper rifle scopes can run as high as $35,000, however, most vary in price between $5,000 and $10,000.

Here are the costs of other types of weaponry provided to Afghan forces:

• Machine guns, i.e. the M240 model, were priced between $6,600 and $9,000 each.
• Grenade launchers cost between $1,000 and $5,000 each; however, in 2020, the manufacture sold 53 for $15,000 each.
• Army shotguns were acquired for only $150 each, according to DLA.
• Military pistols cost $320 each, such as the .40 caliber Glock Generation 3.

Key U.S.-Funded Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Equipment into Afghanistan    OPENTHEBOOKS.COM

Each Aerostat surveillance balloon costs $8.9 million. Each ScanEagle drone costs approximately $1.4 million according to recent procurement news. Even as late at 2021, U.S. appropriations for the Wolfhounds radio monitoring systems approached $874,000.

Night vision devices: The total cost for the 16,000 night-vision goggles alone could run as high as $80 million. Individually, the high-tech goggles were priced between $2,742 and $5,000 by the DLA. Other equipment like image intensifiers are commonly priced at $10,747 each; however, sophisticated models run as high as $66,000 each.

Radio equipment: the cost of equipment adds up – receiver-transmitters ($210,651); sophisticated radio sets ($61,966); amplifiers ($28,165); repeater sets ($28,527); and deployment sets to identify frequencies run up to $18,908.

However, if the Taliban doesn’t have the expertise or technologies to program the equipment, it will become obsolete quickly. Or it could be sold off to other countries who wanted to acquire U.S. technology.

And there’s more… years 2017 through 2019

From 2017 to 2019, the U.S. also gave Afghan forces 7,035 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 bombs and 1,394 grenade launchers, according to the since removed 2020 SIGAR report, reported by The Hill.

An unnamed official told Reuters that current intelligence assessment was that the Taliban took control of more than 2,000 armored vehicles, including American Humvees, and as many as 40 aircraft that may include UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters and ScanEagle military drones.

Crucial quote

“We don’t have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone, but certainly a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday, The Hill reported. “And obviously, we don’t have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport.”

Critic

Republican Senators have demanded that there be a full count of U.S. military equipment left in Afghanistan.

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the lawmakers said they were “horrified” to see photos of Taliban militants taking hold of military equipment, including Black Hawk helicopters.

“It is unconscionable that high-tech military equipment paid for by U.S. taxpayers has fallen into the hands of the Taliban and their terrorist allies,” the lawmakers said in the letter. “Securing U.S. assets should have been among the top priorities for the U.S. Department of Defense prior to announcing the withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

Further reading

Planes, guns, night-vision goggles: The Taliban’s new U.S.-made war chest

Billions in US weaponry seized by Taliban

US military equipment left in Afghanistan needs full accounting, GOP senators say

Billions spent on Afghan army ultimately benefited Taliban

Note:

Procurement prices can vary widely over a 20-year period. Factors influencing prices include when the item was purchased, quantities, and other acquisition details.

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Pentagon spokesman John Kirby listens to a question about Afghanistan at a briefing on Aug. 13, 2021. (Susan Walsh/AP)

U.S. allies complain that they were not fully consulted on a policy decision that potentially puts their own national security interests at risk — in contravention of President Biden’s promises to recommit to global engagement.

And many around the world are wondering whether they could rely on the United States to fulfill long-standing security commitments stretching from Europe to East Asia.

Whatever happened to ‘America is back’?” said Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the Defense Committee in the British Parliament, citing Biden’s foreign policy promise to rebuild alliances and restore U.S. prestige damaged during the Trump administration.

Hubris to humiliation: America’s warrior class struggles to make sense of what happened

“People are bewildered that after two decades of this big, high-tech power intervening, they are withdrawing and effectively handing the country back to the people we went in to defeat,” Ellwood said. “This is the irony. How can you say America is back when we’re being defeated by an insurgency armed with no more than [rocket-propelled grenades], land mines and AK-47s?”

As much as its military capabilities, the United States’ decades-old role as a defender of democracies and freedoms is again in jeopardy, said Rory Stewart, who was Britain’s minister for international development in the Conservative government of Theresa May. “The Western democracy that seemed to be the inspiration for the world, the beacon for the world, is turning its back,” Stewart said.

Britain has voiced some of the bluntest criticisms of the pullout, which is unusual for a country that regards itself as the United States’ closest ally. Britain made the biggest contribution to the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and suffered the highest number of casualties after the United States.

In comments Friday, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace predicted civil war and the return of al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization whose attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, prompted the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan.

“I feel this was not the right time or decision to make,” he told Sky News. “Of course al-Qaeda will probably come back, and certainly it would like that kind of breeding ground.”

“Strategically, it causes a lot of problems, and as an international community, it’s very difficult . . . what we’re seeing today,” he added.

Rivals of the United States also have expressed dismay. Among them is China, which fears that the ascent of an extremist Islamist government on its western border will foster unrest in the adjoining province of Xinjiang, where Beijing has waged sweeping crackdowns on the Uyghur population that have been denounced by the West.

The Taliban is already reimposing its rules

Washington “bears an unavoidable responsibility for the current situation in Afghanistan,” Col. Wu Qian, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense, said earlier this month. “It cannot leave and shed the burden on regional countries.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected criticisms that the withdrawal damages U.S. credibility. He said staying mired in a conflict that is not in the “national interest” would do far more damage.

“Most of our strategic competitors around the world would like nothing better than for us to remain in Afghanistan for another year, five years, 10 years, and have those resources dedicated to being in the midst of a civil war,” Blinken told CNN. “It’s simply not in our interest.”

But the manner and implementation of the withdrawal has left allies feeling betrayed, said Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations. Germany’s government, which withdrew its troops in June and is evacuating its embassy, has refrained from overt criticism of the U.S. withdrawal.

Nonetheless, some German officials and lawmakers are seething at Washington’s failure to consult coalition partners such as Berlin, Clüver Ashbrook said. Germany is particularly concerned about the potential for an exodus of Afghan refugees similar to the influx of 2015, when more than 1 million migrants, spurred largely by the war in Syria, surged into Europe, with many headed for Germany.

“The Biden administration came to office promising an open exchange, a transparent exchange with its allies. They said the transatlantic relationship would be pivotal,” she said. “As it is, they’re playing lip service to the transatlantic relationship and still believe European allies should fall into line with U.S. priorities.”

Europe’s deportations of Afghans grind to a halt as Taliban overruns country

“We’re back to the transatlantic relationship of old, where the Americans dictate everything. . . . ‘Yes we want to partner with you, but in reality, we want to be able to tell you what to do and when,’ ” she added.

The United States’ Arab allies, which have long counted on the U.S. military to come to their aid in the event of an attack by Iran, also have faced questions over whether they will be able to rely on the United States.

“What’s happening in Afghanistan is raising alarm bells everywhere,” said Riad Kahwaji, who heads the Inegma security consultancy in the United Arab Emirates, which hosts one of the biggest American military contingents in the Middle East.

“The U.S.’s credibility as an ally has been in question for a while,” he said. “We see Russia fighting all the way to protect the Assad regime [in Syria], and now the Americans are pulling out and leaving a big chaos in Afghanistan.”

Clüver Ashbrook said Biden’s plan to build an alliance of democracies to counter the influence of China and Russia is also in doubt, now that the West will no longer maintain a significant presence in Central Asia.

For China and Russia, there is opportunity as well as concern in the departure of U.S. troops. Both Moscow and Beijing have hosted Taliban delegations in recent weeks in an attempt to pave the way for a post-American future in the region.

The humiliating conclusion of the two-decade U.S. venture into Afghanistan will aid their efforts to persuade many governments to seek out relationships elsewhere, analysts say.

In a commentary directed at Hong Kong, China’s state-run Global Times cited Afghanistan in a signal to democracy activists not to heed repeated American promises to “stand by” Hong Kong.

“It has been proven repeatedly that whomever U.S. politicians claim to stand with will face bad luck, plunge into social unrest and suffer severe consequences,” the commentary said.

Russia has been struck by the speed of the unraveling of the U.S.-installed government in Kabul, said Fyodor Lukyanov, the chairman of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy and editor in chief of the magazine Russia in Global Affairs.

The decade-long Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, which ended in 1989, is widely remembered as a failure, one that leaves Russia in no mood to reengage too closely with Afghanistan, he said.

But at least, Lukyanov noted, the government left behind by the Soviets survived for three years after the withdrawal of Red Army forces.

“We believe our failure was big, but it seems the Americans achieved an even bigger failure,” he said.

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John Hudson in Washington contributed to this report.

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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/afghanistan-chaos-blame-us/2021/08/14/0d4e5ab2-fd3e-11eb-911c-524bc8b68f17_story.html

[Disclaimer]

The post Afghanistan’s collapse leaves allies questioning U.S. resolve on other fronts first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

FAST FACTS

 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement about the bombing that claimed the lives of 12 U.S. service members in Kabul while issuing a warning to lawmakers not to travel to Afghanistan.

“Today, we suffered the loss of life of at least twelve U.S. servicemembers and dozens of civilians from the terrorist attack outside of the Kabul airport,” Pelosi said. “We mourn the loss of every innocent life taken, and we join every American in heartbreak over the deaths of the Americans and all killed.”

“Sadly, the gravity of the situation in Afghanistan necessitates reiterating that Members must not request or plan visits to the region,” the statement continued. ” The Departments of Defense and State have explicitly stated that Member travel to Afghanistan and surrounding countries would unnecessarily divert needed resources from the priority mission of safely and expeditiously evacuating Americans and Afghans at risk.  It should be clear that any Member presence presents a danger and an opportunity cost of resources, regardless of whatever value that Members consider they may add by such trips.”

Pelosi’s statement comes after Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton and GOP Rep. Peter Meijer, both veterans, made an unannounced trip to Kabul in a move that angered some lawmakers and Biden administrations officials.

Mike Pence@Mike_Pence

Karen and I are shocked and saddened by the loss of 11 Marines and a Navy corpsman in the terrorist attack at Kabul Airport. Our prayers are with the families of the fallen and also with the service members injured in the attack. God Bless Our Troops.

ISIS-K: What to know about Taliban rival seen as threat to Afghanistan evacuation

The United States has fought against the Taliban, al Qaeda and the Haqqani insurgent groups in Afghanistan for the last two decades, but counter-terrorism experts warn that the imminent threat ISIS-K poses could prove catastrophic. Following multiple attacks near the Kabul airport Thursday, Pentagon officials blamed ISIS, and the terror network claimed responsibility.

The group referred to as ISIS-K is the “Khorasan” branch of the Islamic State, located in Afghanistan. Khorasan is a historic name for the broader region.

The insurgent group formed after a faction within the Taliban splintered and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria – in October 2014.

Read more.

Americans likely to be left behind in Afghanistan after Kabul bombings: source

FIRST ON FOX: A source briefed on the situation in Kabul told Fox News that some Americans stranded in Afghanistan will likely be left behind after Thursday’s bombings.

The source told Fox News that “hundreds” of ISIS-K fighters remain in the vicinity of the Kabul airport and that the attacks are “likely to continue.”

“Military continues to retrograde and depart [the] airport,” the source told Fox News. “Almost a certainty that Americans will be left behind.”

Read more.

Leader McConnell@LeaderMcConnell

It is sickening and enraging to hear that at least 12 U.S. servicemembers have been killed at the hands of terrorists in Kabul. We need to redouble our global efforts to confront these barbarian enemies who want to kill Americans and attack our homeland. My full statement:

Trump issues statement on death of U.S. service members in Kabul

Former President Donald Trump issued a statement Thursday offering condolences to the families of U.S. service members who died in an explosion at Kabul’s airport.

“Melania and I send our deepest condolences to the families of our brilliant Service Members whose duty to the U.S.A. meant so much to them,” Trump said. “Our thoughts are also with the families of the innocent civilians who died today in the savage Kabul attack.”

“This tragedy should have never been allowed to happen, which makes our grief even deeper and more difficult to understand,” Trump continued.

“May God bless the U.S.A.”

Ben Shapiro@benshapiro

Hillary Clinton once wondered who Americans would want picking up the phone in a national crisis at 3 AM. With Joe Biden, nobody is picking up at 3 PM.

State confirms 500 Americans have been evacuated since yesterday, most that remain want to leave

“We have received confirmation that roughly 500 of the 1,500 Americans that we were tracking as potentially being in Afghanistan have been evacuated,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“Over the past 24 hours, we heard from an additional roughly 500 people purporting to be Americans in Afghanistan who want to leave,” the statement continued. “We immediately began attempting to reach these individuals by phone, text, and email. Based on our experience, many of these will not turn out to be U.S. citizens in need of our assistance.”

Gen. McKenzie: U.S. aircraft flying in and out of Kabul are getting shot at ‘on occasion’

McKenzie says evacuation flights will continue.

While acknowledging a “tough day,” Gen. McKenzie says the plans he has to evacuate Afghans and Americans is “designed to operate under stress.”

Gen. McKenzie just said since Aug. 14 the U.S. military has been sharing “information with the Taliban,” to prevent attacks since Aug. 14.

Gen. McKenzie: U.S. aircraft flying in and out of Kabul are getting shot at “on occasion.”

Lucas Tomlinson@LucasFoxNews

U.S. general says the threat of suicide car bomb attacks right now at Kabul airport is “high.” Gen. McKenzie says the pattern of attacks like this is for “multiple attacks.”

Lucas Tomlinson@LucasFoxNews

U.S. general: 2 ISIS suicide bombers carried out attack today outside Kabul airport. One struck Abbey Gate, another detonated outside Baron Hotel near gate. 12 U.S. military KIA, 15 wounded, but no American civilians or diplomats killed or hurt.

Harris cancels plans to campaign with Newsom, will return to D.C.

Vice President Kamala Harris has cancelled her scheduled campaign event with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and will instead return to Washington, Fox News has confirmed.

Harris was schedule to appear at a car rally with Newsom on Friday, but will instead return to the nation’s capital after her visit to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Thursday afternoon.

Top U.S. general: 12 U.S. KIA, 15 wounded in suicide attack at Kabul airport

The head of U.S. forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan says 12 U.S. service members were killed in the suicide attack outside the Kabul airport. 15 others were wounded.

Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command says two suicide bombers carried out the complex attack, which he attributed to ISIS.

McKenzie said ISIS gunmen also opened fire.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III@SecDef

On behalf of the men and women of the @deptofdefense, I express my deepest condolences to the loved ones and teammates of all those killed and wounded in Kabul today. Full statement below:

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Doug Collins@RepDougCollins

“We made clear to the Taliban that any attack, any attack on our forces or disruption of our operations at the airport will be met with a swift and forceful response,” – Joe Biden, one week ago We are waiting…Mr. President, your move.

Number of US service members killed in Afghanistan rises to 12; most are Marines

Twelve U.S. service members were killed in action in the suicide attack, officials tell Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson. Eleven were Marines and one was a Navy medic, they said.

Note:  Many more updates at the source:  Click here

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Source: https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/live-updates-taliban-gain-more-ground-in-afghanistan-as-they-close-in-on-kabul?test=38861ea43380e1402f1c90f21546ad4b

The post 13 US service members killed in Kabul airport explosion, officials say first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

• US evacuation flights from Afghanistan will stop on August 31.
• The US is reportedly evacuating people from Kabul at a rate of 20,000 a day.
• Based on one estimate, 150,000 Afghans who worked with the US could be left behind.

As many as 150,000 Afghan nationals who helped the US military could be stranded after August 31, data from a new estimate published in The New York Times suggests.

The US is to cease all evacuations from Afghanistan on August 31, in line with President Joe Biden’s plan to have all troops out of the country before the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby said Wednesday that the US hoped to evacuate around 100,000 people by August 31.

But, as of Wednesday, at least 250,000 Afghans who helped the US military are still in Afghanistan, according to an analysis of Department of Defense data conducted by the Association of Wartime Allies, which was cited by The Times. The estimate is based on annual DOD reports on Afghan employment, The Times said.

The US is currently evacuating people at a rate of 20,000 a day, The Times said. At that rate, around 150,000 Afghans eligible for expedited visas would be left behind, based on that estimate.

Many of the 250,000 are entitled to Special Immigrant Visas and Priority 2 visas as a result of working with or for the US military in Afghanistan since 2001.

As of 3 a.m. Thursday, 82,300 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since August 14, the day before the Taliban took Kabul, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre  tweeted.

The International Rescue Committee estimated earlier this month that about 300,000 Afghans “have been affiliated with the US mission,” but the Association of Wartime Allies said a top-end estimate indicates that as many as one million Afghans could be eligible for the expedited visas.

On Monday, the director of the CIA, William Burns, held a secret meeting with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul, The Washington Post reported.

While the CIA has refused to say what the meeting was about, The Post reported that it was “likely” the meeting included talks about Biden’s plans to end evacuations on August 31.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said as many as 1,500 American civilians were still in Afghanistan.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/150k-afghans-helped-us-military-likely-left-behind-estimate-suggests-2021-8

The post 150,000 Afghans who helped the US could be left stranded after the August 31 deadline, new estimate suggests first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Taliban has seized US weapons left in Afghanistan worth billions — possibly including 600,000 assault rifles, some 2,000 armored vehicles, and 40 aircraft, including Black Hawks, according to reports.

The US gave the Afghan military an estimated $28 billion in weaponry between 2002 and 2017 — including seven brand new helicopters delivered to Kabul just a month ago.

The war chest also included the supply of at least 600,000 infantry weapons — including M16 assault rifles — as well as 162,000 pieces of communication equipment and 16,000 night-vision goggles.

In just two years from 2017 to 2019, the US gave 7,035 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 bombs and 1,394 grenade launchers, The Hill noted, citing a report last year from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

“Everything that hasn’t been destroyed is the Taliban’s now,” one US official told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

In just two years from 2017 to 2019, the US gave 7,035 machine guns. EPA/STRINGER

Admitting the weaponry seizures, National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that the White House does not “have a complete picture” of what “has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.”

But the current assessment is that it includes 2,000 armored vehicles, including US Humvees, and up to 40 aircraft, potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones, another official told Reuters.

Videos have already captured Taliban fighters triumphantly opening crates of seized weapons, including US-made M4 carbines and M16 rifles, The Hill reported. They’ve also been spotted with US Humvees.

The war chest will give the Taliban a huge advantage in quashing resistance.

Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in Kunduz city, northern Afghanistan. AP Photo/Abdullah Sahil, File

US officials also fear that the weapons of war could be handed to US adversaries like China and Russia — or even to more terror groups like ISIS.

“This poses a significant threat to the United States and our allies,” Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters.

President Biden’s administration has not ruled out airstrikes to destroy the larger equipment like the helicopters — but fears it will antagonize the Taliban while people are still being evacuated, sources told Reuters.

On Wednesday, more than two dozen Republican senators demanded a “full account” of what’s been seized — and what plans are in place to get it back.

“It is unconscionable that high-tech military equipment paid for by US taxpayers has fallen into the hands of the Taliban and their terrorist allies,” the 25 senators told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Of greatest concern is their control of aircraft. The US gave Afghan forces more than 200, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

As many as 50 were believed to have been used by Afghan pilots to escape the Taliban, who this week demanded their return. But the remaining stock included Black Hawks, which were supposed to be the Afghan military’s biggest advantage over the Taliban.

The White House does not “have a complete picture” of what weapons the Taliban now has, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said. Ken Cedeno/UPI

It has left US officials clinging to the hope that the aircraft will prove too tricky to maintain and fly for the Taliban to use effectively — with a leader this week admitting the group did not have trained pilots.

“Ironically, the fact that our equipment breaks down so often is a life-saver here,” a third official told Reuters.

But just having night-vision goggles — of which the US has given at least 16,000 since 2003 — is a huge advantage.

“The ability to operate at night is a real game-changer,” one congressional aide told Reuters.

Rep. Michael McCaul is one of many Republicans concerned about the Taliban’s growing possession of US weapons. Alex Wong/Getty Images

No matter how the Taliban uses it all, it is already a huge embarrassment for the US.

“Clearly, this is an indictment of the US security cooperation enterprise broadly,” Elias Yousif, deputy director of the Center for International Policy’s Security Assistance Monitor, told The Hill.

“It really should raise a lot of concerns about what is the wider enterprise that is going on every single day, whether that’s in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia.”

With Post wires

Source:  https://nypost.com/2021/08/20/us-left-billions-in-weapons-in-afghanistan-with-black-hawks-in-talibans-hands/

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