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Monday, August 23. 2021

CIA’s Former Counterterrorism Chief for the Region: Afghanistan, Not An Intelligence Failure — Something Much Worse

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Posted by Bruce Kesler at 19:19 | Comments (13) | Trackbacks (0)

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So the disaster in Afghanistan is Trump's fault after all, he set Biden up. Those guys in the media are so slick. For sure they'll have the narrative, maybe even reality itself, flipped on its head in another week. Amazing how many will fall for it too.

#1 Arty on 2021-08-23 21:41 (Reply)

That "Just Security " website is a Democrat propaganda site

#2 Peter on 2021-08-24 05:59 (Reply)

CIA’s Former Counterterrorism Chief...What a laughable and self-serving article by a Never-Trumper swamp creature. The CIA has gotten everything wrong going back to at least the sixties, and we're supposed to believe them now? Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, Fall of the Soviet Union, World Trade Center, Iran hostages, Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq...what else did I forget? They've been wrong on everything. Hahahahahaha! Too funny...but then I guess the joke is on us taxpayers, isn't it?

#3 snopercod on 2021-08-24 08:34 (Reply)

The CIA/DoS continue to conflate two completely separate issues, the strategic decision to withdraw and the execution of that strategy.

The execution has clearly been a disaster. No need to dwell on that. But, in fairness, that's probably not the CIA's mess. And only partially the DoS's mess.

On the strategy side, the screw-up isn't so much "Afghanistan unexpectedly fell." We all knew that was going to happen sooner or later. The screw-up is more that, despite 20 years of blood and treasure, they couldn't achieve the original strategic objective: cleaning up the 'safe harbors' and 'infrastructure' from which a half dozen attacks against the US were launched. And this screw-up lies squarely in the DoS/CIA's lap.

#4 OldCurmudgeon on 2021-08-24 09:57 (Reply)

FBI declines to do anything about Ilhan Omar marrying her brother to commit immigration fraud

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2021/08/fbi-declines-to-do-anything-about-ilhan-omar-marrying-her-brother-to-commit-immigration-fraud

One wonders if it were a republican doing the same, would the FBI be more enthusiastic about investigating?

LOL

Silly question.

#5 feeblemind on 2021-08-24 10:21 (Reply)

Slightly off topic. I can't tell if the Afghan withdrawal debacle was spectacularly stupid or intentional. In addition, I am at a loss to explain the treatment of our Western allies. Assuming it's true and the Euros were genuinely caught off guard, what's up with that? And again, if true, why the snub of Bojo?
The Euros supported Biden, yes? Among other issues, is it possible that they were trying to head off Donald Trump’s Afghan withdrawal plan believing that Biden would not follow through on it, OR did they fear that Trump would bungle it and that Biden wouldn't?
There were claims that Erdogan was holding back 5 million refugees before this event occurred. The Euros are screwed aren’t they, if Biden et al has managed to set in motion another mass migration event and another humanitarian crisis. If so, Europe faces a potentially more destabilizing and costly crisis than we do. They coulda, shoulda been more in the fore front.
This begs the question, would the consequences of the Trump plan been any less risky for Europe. This is what I regard as the existential threat. I don’t know if Trump had countermeasures for the possibility of mass migration and continued destabilization of borders and nation states or if this was even a consideration.

#6 Exasperated on 2021-08-24 10:38 (Reply)

Exasperated: Assuming it's true and the Euros were genuinely caught off guard, what's up with that?

The withdrawal date was announced well in advance. Trump set a date of May 1, which was the date the Taliban's latest offensive began. In April, Biden delayed the withdrawal until September. Germany and Italy withdrew in July.

The U.S. should never have occupied Afghanistan. Instead of committing to a permanent occupation, the U.S. decided on a temporary, but unending occupation. The worst possible non-decision. Having occupied Afghanistan, the Americans should have withdrawn years ago, but no one wanted to be responsible for the inevitable collapse. Biden finally withdrew and will take the political hit.

#6.1 Zachriel on 2021-08-25 08:50 (Reply)

Chaos on the Ground, Collapse at the Top

QUOTE:

The failure of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan, though great, is of comparatively minor importance when compared to the manifest collapse of the Washington intelligence, diplomatic, and military institutions on which national and Western security depend. This transformed what was potentially a local debacle into a strategic crisis of the first order.

The fact that no senior official was fired and the administration insists on characterizing obvious ineptitude as resolute excellence underlines, rather than belies, their delusional character. But it fools no one except a dwindling number of media hacks. We see you Joe — and so do the Taliban, the NATO allies, and, worst of all, America’s most dangerous foes.

. . . Thus, while there is an acute tactical crisis in Kabul there is a far larger strategic crisis in the West brought on by the collapse of Joe Biden’s command. This ensures that the catastrophe, rather than diminishing, has only just begun.

https://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2021/08/23/chaos-on-the-ground-collapse-at-the-top-n1472088

#7 feeblemind on 2021-08-24 13:26 (Reply)

QUOTE:

. . . Thus, while there is an acute tactical crisis in Kabul there is a far larger strategic crisis in the West brought on by the collapse of Joe Biden’s command. This ensures that the catastrophe, rather than diminishing, has only just begun.

The strategic crisis was decades in the making. Once the U.S. decided to occupy Afghanistan, it was always going to end this way. When Trump negotiated what amounted to surrender with the Taliban, the collapse became just a matter of time.

#7.1 Zachriel on 2021-08-25 12:10 (Reply)

"the catastrophe, rather than diminishing, has only just begun" If you want to see a real catastrophe, just wait until China invades Taiwan.

#8 snopercod on 2021-08-24 16:28 (Reply)

Will it be a catastrophe for China or Taiwan?

#8.1 Maniac on 2021-08-25 09:32 (Reply)

Will it be a catastrophe for China or Taiwan?

Nobody knows.

If it was known to be a slam dunk success for China, they would have already annexed Taiwan.

An invasion of Taiwan could quickly evolve into a catastrophe for a lot of nations.

So far China hasn't rolled the dice because they fear how the numbers will come up.

#8.1.1 feeblemind on 2021-08-25 09:52 (Reply)

CIA official,

contemptible right up to the end. Seriously, can we stop hiring these shitbags to work for us in the CIA and elsewhere. They are the stupidest most gullible people on the planet.

#9 Curtis on 2021-08-25 22:12 (Reply)

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Monday, August 23. 2021

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