Massive veterans group uses intel, satellite images to direct Afghan interpreters around Taliban checkpoints
Matt Zeller says 'digital Dunkirk' comprised of 'hundreds of thousands' of people helping Afghan interpreters flee country
By Ethan Barton | Fox News
https://www.foxnews.com/world/afghan-int...ban-checkpoints


Massive veterans group directs Afghan interpreters around Taliban checkpoints

A network of "hundreds of thousands" of people, including analysts using satellite imagery to locate Taliban checkpoints surrounding the Kabul airport, are coordinating to evacuate Afghan interpreters from the country, an Afghanistan war veteran and member of the coalition told Fox News.

These interpreters, now targeted by the Taliban, were essential U.S. allies during the Afghanistan war and played roles much larger than simply acting as translators, according to Matt Zeller. The Biden administration has faced fierce criticism that the U.S. hasn’t made their evacuation more of a priority.

"These people that we’re talking about … they were our eyes and ears on the battlefield," Zeller told Fox News. He said they’d hear Taliban communications ordering fighters to shoot the interpreters first.

"From the Taliban’s perspective, they won," Zeller, a former CIA analyst, continued. The Afghan interpreters "are the people who have been helping us to kill them over the last 20 years."-- excerpt, rest at link above --

Chuck Callesto@ChuckCallesto
BREAKING REPORT: Kabul AIRPORT GATES CLOSED, American Passports Confiscated...
10:53 AM · Aug 22, 2021·Twitter Web App


Karen Hunt aka KH Mezek@karenalainehunt
Biden Administration Activates Emergency Civil Reserve Air Fleet for Afghanistan Evacuations-- But they won't be flying to Kabul.
12:00 PM · Aug 22, 2021·Twitter for Android

Kabul Airport Firefight Breaks Out Involving U.S., German Troops: Report
https://www.dailywire.com/news/kabul-air...paign=dwtwitter
By Joseph Curl
Aug 23, 2021 DailyWire.com


U.S. troops early Monday joined soldiers from Germany in a firefight at Afghanistan’s main airport, with at least one Afghan guard killed and several others injured, according to reports.

“The latest fatality at the troubled airport came just before 4:15 a.m. as Afghan security forces helping secure the base exchanged fire with the unidentified attackers, the German military said on Twitter,” The New York Post reported. According to CNN, Afghan guards inside the airport were fired on by an outside sniper and then returned fire.

“There was a gun battle at the North Gate that night,” reads the post by the German military. “American and German forces were involved. All soldiers of the #Bundeswehr are uninjured, one Afghan security force was killed, 3 others were injured.”

The U.S. military and NATO did not immediately acknowledge the shooting. There was no comment from the Taliban.-- excerpt, rest at link above --

Taliban demands all foreign forces out by Aug. 31 deadline
By Emily Crane
August 24, 2021 10:00am Updated
https://nypost.com/2021/08/24/taliban-de...rce=twitter_app


The Taliban wants all foreign forces to be out of Afghanistan by Aug. 31, saying they have not agreed to an extension of the deadline.

The group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid made the demand during a press conference on Tuesday.

It comes as President Joe Biden weighed whether to extend the deadline to withdraw from the country amid the botched evacuations.

Biden, who is due to discuss the situation with G-7 leaders later on Tuesday, has vowed not to leave anyone behind. -- excerpt, rest at link above --

CIA director met secretly with Taliban leader in Kabul: report
By Jordan Williams - 08/24/21 07:21 AM EDT
https://thehill.com/policy/international...ban-leader?rl=1


CIA Director William Burns met with the Taliban’s leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, on Monday, U.S. officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

The Post reported that discussions likely involved the Aug. 31 deadline for the U.S. to conclude evacuating U.S. citizens and Afghan allies.

A CIA spokesperson declined to comment on the reported meeting to The Hill. The Hill has also reached out to the White House for comment.

On Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price addressed why U.S. officials hadn't engaged Baradar, saying that discussions thus far had been "tactical."

"It is largely a function of the fact that our discussions with the Taliban have been operational. They have been tactical. They have been focused on, focused largely on our near-term operations and our near-term goals," Price said.

The reported meeting comes as the White House seeks to evacuate people from Kabul's international airport ahead of an impending deadline.

President Biden has come under pressure to extend the deadline beyond Aug. 31, but a Taliban spokesperson said the U.S. would be crossing a “red line” if troops stayed beyond that date. -- excerpt, rest at link above --

Navy SEAL Reveals Plan to Fix Biden's Afghanistan Disaster, Goes Viral
https://neonnettle.com/news/16415-navy-s...ster-goes-viral
Jocko Willink lays out steps he'd take if he were president in viral video - WATCH
By: Jay Greenberg |@NeonNettle
on 24th August 2021 @ 3.00pm


A retired U.S. Navy SEAL has posted a video to social media in which he explains how he would resolve Democrat Joe Biden's mess in Afghanistan if he were president, with the post instantly going viral.

In a brief video Monday, Jocko Willink imagines he was the U.S. commander-in-chief during an address to the nation about the Afghanistan disaster.

He then lays out the steps that he would take to resolve the problem.

The Biden administration has been blasted from all sides for allowing the Taliban to seize control of Afghanistan, with many agreeing that the U.S. withdrawal could not have gone any worse.

During a news briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki grew visibly annoyed when she was asked about Americans "stranded" in the terrorist-controlled country.

Psaki claimed it is inaccurate to say they are stranded, despite thousands still being trapped there with no way to leave.-- excerpt, rest at link above --

I think he strikes the right notes.

How the situation in Afghanistan has emboldened China
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-58279900

China has ratcheted up anti-US rhetoric amid the Afghanistan withdrawalImage caption: China has ratcheted up anti-US rhetoric amid the Afghanistan withdrawal

As we reported earlier, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman has strongly criticised the US as the Afghanistan withdrawal continues.

The criticism - namely on what China called Washington's "selfish" foreign policy approach - is part of a wider racheting up of anti-US rhetoric.

China's foreign Minister Wang Yi said last week that the "hasty" US pullout had caused a "serious negative impact", while some hawkish government figures and state media have gone one step further.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian has repeatedly compared the situation to the fall of Saigon, while his colleague Hua Chunying called the US "destructive".

"The whole point of this propaganda is to increase public pressure on governments that have close cooperation with US, and weaken that relationship," Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science with the National University of Singapore, tells the BBC.-- excerpt, rest at link above --