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https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatsInsane/comments/p5djfd/people_are_falling_from_planes_in_kabul_and_are/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

How do you make a bad situation worse?

Well, @SecBlinkin is right: The fall of Afghanistan is not like Vietnam – it's much worse.

I just got confirmation that the U.S. embassy in Kabul burned all the Afghan passports of people trying to get out. So now they have no ID, no proof, and no hope. https://t.co/Bq6EMXGiEv

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) August 16, 2021

11:49am ET
So we are up to 7,000 troops going to Kabul now?

Pentagon: US sending another battalion to secure Kabul airport; American troops killed two armed individuals

Quote:

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BY ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C.
PUBLISHED 11:49 AM ET AUG. 16, 2021


WASHINGTON (AP) Pentagon: US sending another battalion to secure Kabul airport; American troops killed two armed individuals.

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Get a convoy together, get some apaches for overwatch and make break for it. Pakistan? Tajikistan?

CNN reporter Clarissa Ward before and after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. pic.twitter.com/v7oRvJI6V1

— Velina Tchakarova (@vtchakarova) August 16, 2021

jupiter said:

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Get a convoy together, get some apaches for overwatch and make break for it. Pakistan? Tajikistan?

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7,000 US troops concentrated and surrounded on flat ground at a civilian airport is an awfully tempting target for a mortar attack launched from civilian human shield neighborhoods. I'm sure they know that and are implementing available counter measures the best they can.

BREAKING: Biden to address the Nation at 3:45 PM ET. pic.twitter.com/76TBGXfFtG

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 16, 2021

Jacques Strap said:

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11:49am ET
So we are up to 7,000 troops going to Kabul now?

Pentagon: US sending another battalion to secure Kabul airport; American troops killed two armed individuals

Quote:

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BY ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C.
PUBLISHED 11:49 AM ET AUG. 16, 2021


WASHINGTON (AP) Pentagon: US sending another battalion to secure Kabul airport; American troops killed two armed individuals.

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Yep, 7,000

BREAKING: President Biden orders another 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne to Kabul. 7,000 U.S. troops will be on the ground in Afghanistan soon.

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) August 16, 2021

Jack Bauer said:

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The Left: How can we blame the Governor of a state with 800k people for Afghanistan...

The Atlantic: Hold my beer, I'm on it.

I deleted this because it was too short. I wanted to make the point even more directly, as I did here. A charlatan like Noem riding through a superspreader event with a flag while Kabul falls is America, 2021: Unserious, self-destructive, faux patriotic.https://t.co/ifW81iXXc4 pic.twitter.com/qqici10npx

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 15, 2021

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the Atlantic is nothing but a gossip rag, how the mighty have fallen

4th and Inches said:

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Jack Bauer said:

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The Left: How can we blame the Governor of a state with 800k people for Afghanistan...

The Atlantic: Hold my beer, I'm on it.

I deleted this because it was too short. I wanted to make the point even more directly, as I did here. A charlatan like Noem riding through a superspreader event with a flag while Kabul falls is America, 2021: Unserious, self-destructive, faux patriotic.https://t.co/ifW81iXXc4 pic.twitter.com/qqici10npx

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 15, 2021

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the Atlantic is nothing but a gossip rag, how the mighty have fallen

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It's really easy to refute that...

This is a disaster any way you slice it. I'm still unconvinced it's an avoidable disaster if the goal of withdrawal remains.

There are degrees obviously, and clearly some piss poor decisions have been/are being made. But whether it happens now or later, a transfer of power back to the Taliban after decades of fighting, training and spending is going to make us look like chumps and that war look really stupid.

I had not seen this

🚨NEW, thread: Pentagon confirms to me the Department of Defense is preparing to house thousands of Afghan refugees on American military installations, immediately including Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and Fort Bliss in Texas.

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 16, 2021

Kirby says American citizens will not be given priority evacuation over Afghan SIV applicants. “Once we get more airlift out of Kabul, we’re going to put as many people on those planes as we can. There will be a mix...

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 16, 2021

The move is a reversal from the Biden administration’s previous policy. On July 8th, President Biden told me the US government could not evacuate Afghan translators to the US to await visa processing like some migrants at the southern border.

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 16, 2021

C-17's also can operate from unimproved airstrips

A rare positive development.

Would have been nice to still have Bagram. We turned it over end of June/beginning of July to the Afghan Army. In Taliban hands now. Incredible strategic blunder. The buck will stop with Biden, but there are some military, Intel, and state folks that need to be on the hot seat as well.

Quote:

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Mayhem At Kabul Airport Causing American Troops To Fire Warning Shots To Push Back Crowds (Updated) By Joseph Trevithick and Tyler Rogoway Posted in The War Zone
800 People Evacuated From Kabul Aboard A Single C-17 Cargo Jet: Reports By Tyler Rogoway Posted in The War Zone
Fall Of Kabul To Taliban Imminent As Surprised United States Races To Get Its People Out (Updated) By Joseph Trevithick Posted in The War Zone
Shadowy KC-135RT Special Ops Tankers Head Toward Afghanistan As Evacuation Airbridge Forms (Updated) By Joseph Trevithick Posted in The War Zone
Veteran Military Helicopter Pilot On Why Hovering Over Protestors Was Dangerous And Stupid By Chris "Ox" Harmer Posted in The War Zone
Video coming out of Kabul via Sowaibah Henifie shows huge crowds of Afghans swarming a C-17 that is taxiing while an Apache gunship flying just feet above the ground tries to push them away from the moving airlifter. These are clearly desperate measures.

This all is happening as the Taliban are now flooding Kabul and setting up checkpoints around the airport. Gunfire is said to be near-constant around the airport's grounds. We could be looking at an unprecedented crisis here, one that was far from unforeseeable.

We will continue to update this page as new information comes available.
Update 1:22 AM PST:
It appears that Kabul is now uncontrolled. We don't know exactly what this means for the evacuation operation, but this would mean that all commercial flights are on their own even if combat controllers are still controlling U.S. military aircraft. We don't even know if that is the case.

A larger question is also emergingwith Apaches, Chinooks, State Department helicopters, and other rotary-wing assets still operating out of the airport, how will they be airlifted out? That may be impossible considering the rapidly degrading security situation. We have seen HH-60 Pave Hawks at Kabul, as well, but they have in-flight refueling capability. One would imagine that they would be destroyed in place if there is no time or infrastructure for an airlift and if Pakistan is unwilling to host them and provide security for them and their crews. Very unfortunate situation.

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Quote:

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The runways are also now FOD'd, making movements dangerous on them by jet aircraft, and especially airliners.

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https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42007/apache-helicopters-chase-afghans-swarming-a-c-17-on-kabul-airports-runway

can they be fitted with drop tanks? Surely there are carriers off the coast

Jacques Strap said:

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11:49am ET
So we are up to 7,000 troops going to Kabul now?

Pentagon: US sending another battalion to secure Kabul airport; American troops killed two armed individuals

Quote:

---

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C.
PUBLISHED 11:49 AM ET AUG. 16, 2021


WASHINGTON (AP) Pentagon: US sending another battalion to secure Kabul airport; American troops killed two armed individuals.

---

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Joe Biden's buddies in the military industrial complex should be happy about triple the amount troops there now than when moved into the white house.

jupiter said:

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Quote:

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Mayhem At Kabul Airport Causing American Troops To Fire Warning Shots To Push Back Crowds (Updated) By Joseph Trevithick and Tyler Rogoway Posted in The War Zone
800 People Evacuated From Kabul Aboard A Single C-17 Cargo Jet: Reports By Tyler Rogoway Posted in The War Zone
Fall Of Kabul To Taliban Imminent As Surprised United States Races To Get Its People Out (Updated) By Joseph Trevithick Posted in The War Zone
Shadowy KC-135RT Special Ops Tankers Head Toward Afghanistan As Evacuation Airbridge Forms (Updated) By Joseph Trevithick Posted in The War Zone
Veteran Military Helicopter Pilot On Why Hovering Over Protestors Was Dangerous And Stupid By Chris "Ox" Harmer Posted in The War Zone
Video coming out of Kabul via Sowaibah Henifie shows huge crowds of Afghans swarming a C-17 that is taxiing while an Apache gunship flying just feet above the ground tries to push them away from the moving airlifter. These are clearly desperate measures.

This all is happening as the Taliban are now flooding Kabul and setting up checkpoints around the airport. Gunfire is said to be near-constant around the airport's grounds. We could be looking at an unprecedented crisis here, one that was far from unforeseeable.

We will continue to update this page as new information comes available.
Update 1:22 AM PST:
It appears that Kabul is now uncontrolled. We don't know exactly what this means for the evacuation operation, but this would mean that all commercial flights are on their own even if combat controllers are still controlling U.S. military aircraft. We don't even know if that is the case.

A larger question is also emergingwith Apaches, Chinooks, State Department helicopters, and other rotary-wing assets still operating out of the airport, how will they be airlifted out? That may be impossible considering the rapidly degrading security situation. We have seen HH-60 Pave Hawks at Kabul, as well, but they have in-flight refueling capability. One would imagine that they would be destroyed in place if there is no time or infrastructure for an airlift and if Pakistan is unwilling to host them and provide security for them and their crews. Very unfortunate situation.

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Quote:

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The runways are also now FOD'd, making movements dangerous on them by jet aircraft, and especially airliners.

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https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42007/apache-helicopters-chase-afghans-swarming-a-c-17-on-kabul-airports-runway

can they be fitted with drop tanks? Surely there are carriers off the coast

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Yes, sort of.

Bradley's are pretty routinely air dropped. Humvees in the past. Larger vehicles are not so much air dropped as released from an aircraft just above the deck.

You don't really need heavy infantry though. The goal is evacuation not engagement.

JUST IN - Taliban shooting at people trying to enter or leave #Kabul airport. Not clear from the video.pic.twitter.com/9FXlnLEl2c

— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) August 16, 2021

the civilian (southern side) of airfield, also working to clear large crowds civilian side + 2 separate incidents armed individuals engaged with US forces who responded to “hostile threat” not known if 2 dead are afghan civilians or affiliated w/AQ, ISIS or other group @CBSNews

— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) August 16, 2021

This seems to be coming up a lot in interviews -->> deep concern about a "speedy reestablishment of a safe haven" in Afghanistan for extremist groups.

#Afghanistan Now that the Taliban has seized control of Afghanistan, @CBS_Herridge reports that there is deep concern about a "speedy reestablishment of a safe haven" in Afghanistan for extremist groups. pic.twitter.com/r9d5UIifOi

— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) August 16, 2021

Jacques Strap said:

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Giving away Bagram AFB was a huge loss. Now we are stuck trying to secure a civilian airport for an airlift while surrounded by ever increasing numbers of Taliban..

US left Afghan airfield at night, didn't tell new commander

Quote:

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BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) The U.S. left Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base's new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans' departure more than two hours after they left, Afghan military officials said.

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We shouldn't have never stayed inside Afghanistan after Osama got cooked.

It's Vietnam all over again and the US just seems to never learn

Jacques Strap said:

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Giving away Bagram AFB was a huge loss. Now we are stuck trying to secure a civilian airport for an airlift while surrounded by ever increasing numbers of Taliban..

US left Afghan airfield at night, didn't tell new commander

Quote:

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BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) The U.S. left Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base's new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans' departure more than two hours after they left, Afghan military officials said.

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From the article. Oof.

Quote:

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The statement said the handover of the many bases had been in the process soon after President Joe Biden's mid-April announcement that America was withdrawing the last of its forces. Leggett said in the statement that they had coordinated their departures with Afghanistan's leaders.

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More on the airport from WSJ.

Violence Erupts at Kabul Airport as Afghans Try to Flee Taliban

U.S. troops shot and killed two men they say were armed at Hamid Karzai International Airport and at least three Afghans were killed as they clung to the side of a departing jet Monday, U.S. officials said, a sign of the chaos at the Kabul airport in the wake of the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.

In two incidents, armed men approached U.S. troops providing security at the airport Monday and were shot and killed, officials said. The troops weren't injured, officials said. Few details about the incidents were available, and the armed men weren't identified. Military officials said they couldn't confirm that the armed individuals were members of the Taliban.

U.S. officials have said the troops in the airport reserve the right to defend themselves, and if Taliban or other individuals interfere with operations there, they will use lethal force if necessary.

$1 Trillion worth of Earth Minerals still untapped in #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/PwAgdx3Bs6

— Megh Updates 🚨 (@MeghUpdates) August 16, 2021

Look for China to move on that soon. Question is will the Afghan Taliban tolerate it, the Pak Taliban already killed 9 Chinese workers in Pakistan with a bomb.

Jacques Strap said:

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$1 Trillion worth of Earth Minerals still untapped in #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/PwAgdx3Bs6

— Megh Updates 🚨 (@MeghUpdates) August 16, 2021

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sounds like why we were there..

White House is asked to protect New York Times, Washington Post, WSJ journalists 'in danger' at Kabul airport

• The publisher of The Washington Post pleaded with the White House to have the U.S. military help more than 200 journalists and related people affiliated with the Post, Wall Street Journal and New York Times who are "in danger" at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.

• Post Publisher Fred Ryan asked National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in an "urgent request" email to have those people moved from the civilian side of Hamid Karzai International Airport "to the military side where they can be safe as they await evacuation flights."

Im not sure whats more impressive, the amount of money we spend ****ing with people around the world, or the complete and utter lack of anything to show for it.

Lets see, hmm..

We got

Korea

and .....................

biden will end up being worse than jimmy carter before too long.

When taliban takes over and provides a safe haven for terrorist groups to organize, radicalize and train to terrorize, when there is another terrorist attack on the USA, will humckleberry try to blame trump for biden's fubar'd handling of Afghanistan? Probably so.

Canon said:

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HuMcK said:

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That's extra rich coming from him. Taliban was already violating the terms of their "deal" with offensives before Trunp left office. They wanted us gone months ago, Trump literally criticized Biden for pushing the date from May to September, if anything the withdrawal would have been more chaotic and unorganized back then if that's possible. Extra irony is someone that admin had released from prison in 2018 is the presumptive next Taloban leader of Afghanistan.

It's not an accident that the deal they struck scheduled the handover during the next admin's term, they knew how this was always going to end no matter who was in office, especially after the large prisoner release.

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Your relationship with reality is so tenuous, you might as well be posting about Hogwarts.

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Someone should remind him that Biden reversed Trump on international agreements (Climate Accords, Iran Nuke Deal) on day one.

Yet, he let a much narrower agreement with the Taliban remain in place.

So it's just fatuous to suggest that Biden doesn't own this disaster. Biden could have scrapped Trump's deal and reversed it for the long haul at any time after he was inaugurated until yesterday.

Rawhide said:

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biden will end up being worse than jimmy carter before too long.

When taliban takes over and provides a safe haven for terrorist groups to organize, radicalize and train to terrorize, when there is another terrorist attack on the USA, will humckleberry try to blame trump for biden's fubar'd handling of Afghanistan? Probably so.

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There was no plan. I dont think there ever was.

Ghengis Khan was the last foreign invader to conquer the region in 1219....