Afghanistan Chaos Intensifies By Charles Taylor
At the time of writing there are 60 dead and 143 wounded, including 13 US troops, from the ISIS-K suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai Airport. The story is evolving, as there is not a final death and injury toll yet. But, as detailed below, Biden is likely to leave behind hundreds of Americans, who if not becoming hostages, will be slaughtered. As well, someone in the Biden administration gave the Taliban a list of people associated with the regime, so that is little more than a “kill list.” It is treason on a grand scale, but after the stolen election, the Democrats just do anything they like. Even door-to-door executions, followed by cannibalism of Trump supporters, probably would not generate much push-back. The old conservative dogs have no life left in them, and are waiting now for the Great Replacement by South America, and Afghanistan
https://www.naturalnews.com/2021-08-26-impeachable-biden-abandoning-americans-in-afghanistan.html
“Earlier this week when asked if the administration will be able to get all Americans out of the country before the hard-and-fast Aug. 31 deadline, White House press secretary Jen Psaki indicated that the answer is no.
According to Conservative Brief, Psaki didn’t even bat an eye when she made the admission:
During the press briefing, Psaki not only called Joe Biden’s Afghanistan crisis “a success,” she appeared to admit that not all Americans will be evacuated from the Taliban-controlled country.
Psaki said the mission to evacuate U.S. citizens depended “on continued coordination with the Taliban,” adding that Biden has requested contingency plans from the Pentagon.
It didn’t have to be this way. In fact, it shouldn’t have been this way.
Never mind that the United States has literally been in Afghanistan now for two decades; and never mind that a deal was cut with the Taliban, at a cost of releasing some 5,000 Taliban prisoners held by the then-Afghan government, in February 2020, giving the U.S. plenty of time to start getting people out.
And in fact, the Trump administration began the process; U.S. troops and supporting American contractors were gradually reduced over the next several months. But then Trump’s reelection was stolen from him and Biden came in and ignored the terms of the pullout as he ignored and overturned everything else Trump did and accomplished.
What’s taking place in Kabul, Afghanistan, right now with the chaotic debacle unfolding before a mass American hostage situation evolves is actually a lot worse than what happened in what was then Saigon, South Vietnam, in April 1975, when Americans hurriedly evacuated that city on our way out of the Vietnam War — so says a former Chicago Tribune correspondent who was on the ground there at the time.
Ron Yates told a forum this week that he recalls U.S. troops worked for weeks to get South Vietnamese personnel who helped them throughout the conflict out of the country.
“They managed to get a lot of people out,” Yates recalled on The Epoch Times’ “American Thought Leaders” on Aug. 20.
But at the same time, the Biden regime failed to do the same for Afghanis who worked for and with the U.S. for decades.
It’s an unmitigated disaster,” Yates said. “They had months to do this. Why couldn’t they have begun this process three or four months ago, slowly taking out these Afghans who were going to be, probably targeted by the Taliban after they took over?”
It’s not as if the regime doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Infowars notes that the State Department this week issued a statement saying that any Americans left behind in Afghanistan will be “without assistance” before officially retracting it.
These seasoned diplomats and deep state functionaries knew what was going to happen — and they let it happen anyway.
That’s treason, straight up. And if the American people let these functionaries and the Biden regime get away with it, we deserve the tyranny that will follow.”
It is not just American people that have been left behind in Afghanistan to be slaughtered, as masses of military equip make the Taliban perhaps better armed than some other small national armies, so slaughter will be with American weapons.
https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/us-leaving-behind-75000-vehicles-600000-weapons-and-208-planes-afghanistan
“The U.S. military is leaving behind 75,000 vehicles, 600,000 weapons and 208 airplanes/helicopters in Afghanistan as the Taliban takes control of the country, according to the watchdog group Open the Books.
“We've made the Taliban into a major U.S. arms dealer for the next decade,” said Adam Andrzejewski, CEO & founder of Open the Books. “They now control 75,000 military vehicles. This is about 50,000 tactical vehicles, 20,000 Humvees they control about 1,000 mine-resistant vehicles, and even about 150 armored personnel carriers.”
In total, the U.S. government spent an estimated $83 billion of taxpayer funds on weapons, vehicles and airplanes for the Afghan military.
The Biden administration said recently that a "fair amount" of weaponry would land in the hands of the Taliban but it didn’t have an exact number.
Andrzejewski said his organization "found a Federal Audit that detailed up to $200 million worth of drones that had disappeared," adding that "we don't know where 600,000 weapons are within the country.”
The Taliban also reportedly has access to biometrics data of Afghans that helped U.S. forces during the war.”
Even mainstream sources such as the Wall Street Journal are discussing this debacle:
“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.
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.
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 truckswere 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.
- This month, the Taliban seizedBlack 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 airplanesin 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 eachand 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 planeshas 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 dronesthat 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.
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 pricedbetween $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.
- 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 systemsapproached $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 intensifiersare 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 forces7,035 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."
“As the Taliban took over Afghanistan, U.S. officials gave the terrorist-linked group a list of names of American citizens, green card holders, and Afghan allies in the region, according to Politico.
News that the Biden administration gave the Taliban what essentially a “kill list” of people in the region has reportedly sparked intense outrage among lawmakers behind the scenes. From Politico:
The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan’s capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport.
Since the fall of Kabul in mid-August, nearly 100,000 people have been evacuated, most of whom had to pass through the Taliban’s many checkpoints. But the decision to provide specific names to the Taliban, which has a history of brutally murdering Afghans who collaborated with the U.S. and other coalition forces during the conflict, has angered lawmakers and military officials.
One anonymous defense official said the information given to the Taliban amounted to a “kill list.”
“Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” said the official. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.”
As the August 31 deadline quickly approached, Biden administration officials believed that the best way to expedite the evacuation process would be to flag key people in need of rescue in hopes the Taliban would grant them safe passage without the need for armed conflict.
“After the fall of Kabul, in the earliest days of the evacuation, the joint U.S. military and diplomatic coordination team at the airport provided the Taliban with a list of people the U.S. aimed to evacuate,” noted Politico. “Those names included Afghans who served alongside the U.S. during the 20-year war and sought special immigrant visas to America. U.S. citizens, dual nationals and lawful permanent residents were also listed.”
One U.S. official who also spoke anonymously said that the Biden administration had no choice but to provide the list after granting the Taliban full control of everything outside Kabul airport. “They had to do that because of the security situation the White House created by allowing the Taliban to control everything outside the airport,” the official said.
But after thousands of visa applicants arrived at the airport, overwhelming the capacity of the U.S. to process them, the State Department changed course — asking the applicants not to come to the airport and instead requesting they wait until they were cleared for entry. From then on, the list fed to the Taliban didn’t include those Afghan names.
As of Aug. 25, only U.S. passport and green card holders were being accepted as eligible for evacuation, the defense official said.
Still, that U.S. officials handed over a list of Afghan allies and American citizens and residents shows the extent to which they outsourced security of the airport’s outer perimeter to the Taliban. The Taliban has gone door-to-door in search of Afghan interpreters and others who helped U.S. and Western forces.”
Republican Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw has accused Biden of treason for providing this “kill list” to the Taliban:
https://conservativebrief.com/biden-treason-49482/?utm_source=Conservativebrief.com&utm_medium=Push
“President Joe Biden tacitly admitted Thursday that some Americans in Afghanistan would remain in the country even after troops were withdrawn on August 31.
“We will continue, after our troops are withdrawn, to find means by which we find any American who wishes to get out of Afghanistan,” Biden said.
The president said his military commanders told him the mission to get Americans and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan by the deadline would succeed.
But Biden defined the mission as “to get as many people out as we can within the time frame that’s allotted” — not staying until every American is evacuated.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged after Biden’s speech that some Americans might not make it out of the country by August 31.
“There are some Americans who may not have decided to leave by the 31st,” she said during a briefing with reporters. “That is possible.”
Psaki said the administration would work with the Taliban after the August 31 deadline to get any remaining Americans out of the country safely.
“We will need to continue to coordinate with the Taliban in order to get people to the airport and out of the airport,” she said.”
What you are seeing here is the equivalent of the fall of the Roman Empire, played at fast speed, where things fall apart in mere months.
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