Afghanistan - Taliban Enter Kabul - Will Announce Interim Government

 

moon of alabama

All cities are now in Taliban hands as are all border crossings. President Ashraf Ghani has resigned.

Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World Paperback – 6 Oct. 2009
English edition by Ashraf Ghani
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A new interim government will be announced as soon as Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrives in Kabul. The U.S. is frantically evacuating its embassy.

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Remarks by President Biden on the drawdown of U.S.forces in Afghanistan - July 6, 2021

Q Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?

THE PRESIDENT: No, it is not.

Q Why?

THE PRESIDENT: Because you — 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.
...
Q Mr. President, will you amplify that question, please? Will you amplify your answer, please — why you don’t trust the Taliban?

THE PRESIDENT: It’s a — it’s a silly question. Do I trust the Taliban? No. But I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more re- — more competent in terms of conducting war.
...
Q Mr. President, some Vietnamese veterans see echoes of their experience in this withdrawal in Afghanistan. Do you see any parallels between this withdrawal and what happened in Vietnam, with some people feeling —

THE PRESIDENT: None whatsoever. Zero. What you had is — you had entire brigades breaking through the gates of our embassy — six, if I’m not mistaken.

The Taliban is not the south — the North Vietnamese army. They’re not — they’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.

It is not at all comparable. This is a totally different ... type of helicopter.

Taliban enters Kabul, awaits ‘peaceful transfer’ of power - August 15, 2021

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday and said they were awaiting a “peaceful transfer” of the city after promising not to take it by force, but panicked residents raced to the leave, with workers fleeing government offices and helicopters landing at the U.S. Embassy.

In a nationwide offensive that has taken just over a week, the Taliban has defeated, co-opted or sent Afghan security forces fleeing from wide swaths of the country, even though they had some air support from the U.S. military.

On Sunday, they reached Kabul.

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Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom - 6:22 AM · Aug 15, 2021

Boggles the mind that every single person involved in the post-9/11 fiasco has not gone into seclusion, made a public apology, committed seppuku, something, anything. There's more accountability for a McDonald's franchisee than the foreign policy/national security establishment.

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Moon of Alabama @MoonofA - 5:37 UTC · Aug 15, 2021

What is in the back room deal the U.S. has made with the Taliban?

Posted by b on August 15, 2021 at 10:34 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2021/08/afghanistan-taliban-enter-kabul-will-announce-interim-government.html