‘THE BREATH OF THE PERSON IS UPON YOU’: The tight security at the Kabul airport is designed to keep the people and the planes inside safe, but like all airports, it has an unavoidable weak link — the checkpoint where people are screened for weapons or explosives.
It was at that critical nexus where U.S. troops were performing a mission fraught with danger, patting down and searching Afghan civilians desperate to escape to new life before allowing them into the sanctuary of the airport compound. More than 100,000 people had been cleared for departure, but on Thursday, Marines at the Abbey Gate were performing their mission with the knowledge that U.S. intelligence reports were warning of an imminent attack.
“This is close-up work. The breath of the person you are searching is upon you,” said Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie at a Pentagon briefing yesterday. The four-star general, who is in overall command of the evacuation, said there’s no way to avoid the risk of suicide bombers and still succeed at the mission. “We’re not there to defend ourselves,” he said. “We have to continue to let people on the airfield … get them to a place where we can fly them out to a safer, better future.”
‘A NOBLE MISSION’: The United States has lost troops before in mass casualty terrorist attacks. The 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, which killed 241 Americans, mostly Marines, and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, which killed 17 sailors, come to mind. But this one is especially hard to come to terms with because the 13 troops who were killed and the 18 wounded by the ISIS suicide bombers were performing a humanitarian mission of mercy at great personal risk.
“It’s a noble mission,” said McKenzie. “And today, we have seen firsthand how dangerous that mission is.”
“It’s an overused word, but it’s totally appropriate — they were heroes,” said President Joe Biden in an address to the nation. “Heroes who’d been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others … They’re a part of the bravest, most capable, the most selfless military on the face of the Earth.”
‘TOUGH DAY’: BIDEN TRIES TO CONSOLE GRIEVING NATION AFTER US TROOPS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN
THE MISSION CONTINUES: “We mourn their loss. We will treat their wounds. And we will support their families in what will most assuredly be devastating grief. But we will not be dissuaded from the task at hand,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a statement. “To do anything less — especially now — would dishonor the purpose and sacrifice these men and women have rendered our country and the people of Afghanistan.”
At the White House, press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. is working on alternative ways to safely get the remaining Americans into the airport. “We are in direct contact with every American citizen we have contact information for. Email, phone, text, WhatsApp, and we are working with each of them and their families on an individual basis on how to get them evacuated to the airport and evacuated.”
But Psaki said not every American citizen wants to leave. “Many of these Americans who remain are dual citizens, they may have extended family members, 20 family members, 30 family members, others who they want to bring with them, and they’re not ready to make that decision yet.”
“Our commitment to them does not end; we will continue to work to get them out.”
WHITE HOUSE: NOT EVERY AFGHAN WHO WANTS TO GET OUT WILL BE ABLE TO
NEW SECURITY PROCEDURES: McKenzie said while up close and personal contact with evacuees is unavoidable, he is looking for ways to reduce the large crowd outside the airport that lead to the massive death toll, which as of this morning includes more than 100 Afghans.
“Clearly, at Abbey Gate today, we had a larger crowd there than we would like, which goes to show you that the system is not perfect,” McKenzie said.
“But we have gained large elements of standoff at other gates. And we want to keep that kind of standoff in place. As you know, standoff for attacks like this is always the best defense. Unfortunately, we just don’t have the opportunity, given the geography of the ground that we’re on, to always gain that kind of standoff.”
KABUL BOMBINGS CLOSE GATES ON AFGHANS WHO HELPED US DURING WAR
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HAPPENING TODAY: President Joe Biden’s day begins with another session with his national security team to review the latest from Afghanistan, and then he’s scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a meeting that was rescheduled after yesterday’s terrorist attack.
WHITE HOUSE DELAYS BIDEN’S MEETING WITH ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER AMID KABUL AIRPORT TERROR ATTACKS
BIDEN: ‘WE WILL HUNT YOU DOWN’: “We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation,” Biden said in his speech yesterday.
“I’ve also ordered my commanders to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-K assets, leadership, and facilities. We will respond with force and precision at our time, at the place we choose, and the moment of our choosing,” he said. “These ISIS terrorists will not win. We will rescue the Americans in there. We will get our Afghan allies out, and our mission will go on. America will not be intimidated.”
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he vowed.
‘SCREW THE DEADLINE’: “President Biden needs to make it clear to the world that these terrorists, who attacked U.S. service members, will have hell to pay,” said Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, in a statement. “Finally, screw the deadline. The United States doesn’t take orders from terrorists — President Biden needs to do whatever it takes to get U.S. citizens out of Afghanistan.”
INHOFE: UTILIZE ALL AVENUES: The ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee also urged Biden to ignore the end of the month deadline.
“Unfortunately, given the ongoing failure in U.S. civilian leadership, we are likely to see more terrorist attacks in the future,” said Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe. “So it’s more urgent than ever that President Biden exhaust all resources and utilize all avenues to quickly and safely evacuate those who are still on the ground until the job is done, even if it goes beyond Aug. 31.”
WAVE OF REPUBLICANS CALL FOR BIDEN IMPEACHMENT OR RESIGNATION FOLLOWING KABUL ATTACKS
THE BAGRAM DEBATE: The catastrophic attack on U.S. troops — the deadliest loss of life in a single attack in 20 years — has renewed calls for the U.S. to retake the sprawling Bagram air base north of Kabul, which was abandoned in July and is now in the hands of the Taliban.
“I urge the Biden Administration to reestablish our presence in Bagram as an alternative to the Kabul airport so that we do not leave our fellow citizens and thousands of Afghan allies behind. It is not a capability problem, but a problem of will,” tweeted South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. “The retaking of Bagram would put our military at risk, but I think those involved in the operation would gladly accept that risk because it would restore our honor as a nation and save lives.”
“What I personally would like to see … is the United States take back the airport we never should have abandoned in Bagram and stay there until we get every American and every Afghan out,” said Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger on MSNBC. “I think that’s what you’re going to have to do, is take that area back and then make the determination that we will be here as long as it takes to get everybody out.”
The Pentagon says the base was basically dismantled before the U.S. left, and it’s too far from Kabul to be much use in evacuations.
TRUMP: ‘OUR SOLDIERS ARE IN TREMENDOUS DANGER’: Former President Donald Trump was interviewed by phone by Sean Hannity on Fox last night and claimed that under his deal with the Taliban, they were “totally under control.”
“We had the Taliban so under control, they wouldn’t have moved without getting our approval. We had an incredible agreement. They weren’t killing our soldiers,” Trump said. “Biden actually said that today. He said they weren’t killing them because of the agreement that we had, that we did. And they hadn’t killed one of our soldiers in many, many, many months, and they weren’t going to because they were afraid to. And we had them totally in control.”
Trump said the U.S. left $80 billion worth of weapons and equipment behind that is now a grave threat to the troops at the airport. “I think our soldiers — forgetting about even civilians, I think our soldiers are in tremendous danger. I think airplanes flying in and out of the airport are in tremendous danger. They have the best equipment, best rockets, the best tanks, and helicopters, Apache helicopters, a lot of them, that are immensely valuable.”
Gen. McKenzie insisted yesterday that the Kabul airport is well protected. “We know that they would like to lob a rocket in there if they could. Now, we actually have pretty good protection against that. We have our anti-rocket and mortar system, the gun systems that those of you who’ve been out there are very familiar with, that are pretty effective against these kinds of attacks.”
CRENSHAW DEMANDS UNITED STATES ‘UNLEASH OUR MILITARY POWER NOW’
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: ‘Tough day’: Biden tries to console grieving nation after US troops killed in Afghanistan
Washington Examiner: Kabul bombings close gates on Afghans who helped US during war
Washington Examiner: US provided Taliban with list of Americans and Afghan allies: Report
Washington Examiner: White House: Not every Afghan who wants to get out will be able to
Washington Examiner: Anti-Taliban resistance says White House silent as Afghanistan fell
Washington Examiner: ‘They are not our friends’: White House distances itself from Taliban after Afghanistan attacks
Washington Examiner: Biden and Trump battle over what could have been in Afghanistan
Washington Examiner: Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt says he was ‘prepared to do the same thing’ to protect Trump
Washington Examiner: What to make of the intelligence community’s unclassified report on UFOs
Reuters: Pentagon Bracing For More Attacks After Troops Killed At Kabul Airport
Stars and Stripes: U.S. Bases In Germany Strain To Accept 10,000 More Afghan Evacuees Overnight
AP: US soldier loses 1 Afghan translator; fights to save another
Agence France Presse: Russia To Supply Weapons To Afghanistan’s Neighbours
Wall Street Journal: Harris Delivers Pointed Message To Beijing
USNI News: China’s Pursuit Of Nuclear And Hypersonic Weapons Adds Urgency To U.S. Deterrence
Air Force Magazine: DOD Continues Flow of Aid to Haiti after Earthquake, Tropical Storm
Marine Corps Times: 150 More Marines Go To Haiti To Aid In Disaster Relief
Air Force Magazine: Boeing Anticipates Anti-Jamming Advancements in Next Two Years
19fortyfive.com: The Navy’s Most Powerful Aircraft Carrier Is Nearly Ready for War
Navy Times: Aircraft Carrier Bush Leaves Norfolk Naval Shipyard After 30 Months Of Maintenance
Stars and Stripes: U.K. Aircraft Carrier Swaps F-35B Stealth Fighters With U.S. Warship During Pacific Exercise
19fortyfive.com: Why China and Russia Hate the Navy’s New Anti-Radiation Missile
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Biden’s Afghanistan capitulation
19fortyfive.com: Opinion: Don’t Call Biden’s Kabul Evacuation a ‘Berlin Airlift’ or ‘Dunkirk’
19fortyfive.com: Opinion: Joe Biden Must Stand Tall with Ukraine Against Russia
The Cipher Brief: Opinion: What We Need to Know about the Taliban and its Sharia Rule
The Cipher Brief: Opinion: What 20 Years of Reconstruction in Afghanistan Taught Us
Calendar
FRIDAY | AUGUST 27
9:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies Humanitarian Agenda webcast: “Safeguarding Humanitarian Action in Afghanistan,” with Aurvasi Patel, head of protection service, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, UNHCR; Kathryn Striffolino, senior manager of humanitarian practice, InterAction; Zuhra Bahman, Afghanistan country director, Search for Common Ground; and Jacob Kurtzer, director and senior fellow, Humanitarian Agenda, CSIS. https://www.csis.org/events/safeguarding-humanitarian-action-afghanistan
11:30 a.m. — Air Force Association virtual Nuclear Deterrence Forum on “the threat of Chinese and Russian nuclear stockpiles, the U.S. nuclear modernization effort, and the future of U.S. nuclear deterrence,” with Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas Bussiere, deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command. https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/event/nuclear-deterrence
12 p.m. — Hudson Institute virtual event: “Implementing Mosaic Warfare and Decision-Centric Operations,” with David Spirk, ODO Chief Data Officer; Tim Grayson, director, DARPA Strategic Technology Office; Bryan Clark, Hudson senior fellow; and Dan Patt, Hudson adjunct fellow. https://www.hudson.org/events
MONDAY | AUGUST 30
TBA — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the White House.
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 1
10 a.m. — House Armed Services Committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
11:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies and the U.S. Naval Institute Maritime Security Dialogue: “An Update on the Marine Corps,” with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger; Seth Jones, senior vice president and director, CSIS International Security Program. https://www.csis.org/events/maritime-security-dialogue
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We mourn their loss. We will treat their wounds. And we will support their families in what will most assuredly be devastating grief. But we will not be dissuaded from the task at hand.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the 13 Americans killed and 18 wounded in the Kabul attack.
