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7:55 PM ET, August 15, 2021

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Susannah George / Washington Post:
Afghanistan's military collapse: Illicit deals and mass desertions  —  KABUL — The spectacular collapse of Afghanistan's military that allowed Taliban fighters to reach the gates of Kabul on Sunday despite twenty years of training and billions of dollars in American aid began with a series …
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George Packer / The Atlantic:
Biden's Betrayal of Afghans Will Live in Infamy  —  There's plenty of blame to go around for the 20-year debacle in Afghanistan—enough to fill a library of books.  Perhaps the effort to rebuild the country was doomed from the start.  But our abandonment of the Afghans who helped us …
John Podhoretz / Commentary Magazine:
All Biden Had to Do Was...Nothing  —  All Joe Biden had to do was nothing.  Had Joe Biden done nothing, Afghanistan would not have fallen to the Taliban today.  Had he just let the status quo continue, the status quo would have continued.  Afghanistan would have plodded along and we would have kept …
Discussion: RedState, Breitbart and Instapundit
Axios:
1 big thing: Biden's stain  —  Rarely has an American president's predictions been so wrong, so fast, so convincingly as President Biden on Afghanistan.  — Usually military operations and diplomacy are long; the outcomes, foggy.  Not here.  —  Just five weeks ago, President Biden assured Americans …
ABC News:
Afghanistan updates: Another 1K US troops heading to Kabul, bringing total to 6,000  —  The U.S. flag has been taken down at the embassy in Kabul, an official said.  —  Another 1,000 soldiers from the Army's 82nd Airborne have been ordered to head directly to Afghanistan's capital instead …
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Terrorist threat to U.S. levels up after Taliban rise, Joint Chiefs chair says  —  Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban much faster than President Biden or his top military leaders predicted.
Discussion: CNN, The Guardian and The US Sun
Associated Press:
Taliban enter Kabul, await ‘peaceful transfer’ of power  —  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters entered Kabul on Sunday and sought the unconditional surrender of the central government, officials said, as Afghans and foreigners alike raced for the exit, signaling the end …
Jeff Stein / SpyTalk:
Exclusive: U.S. Channel for Emergency Afghan Visas Crashes  —  State Department mailbox crashes under weight of thousands of SIV applications  —  The email in-box for emergency visa applications for Afghans who worked with the U.S. has crashed, according to a former Air Force serviceman trying …
CNN:
Biden officials admit miscalculation as Afghanistan's national forces and government rapidly fall  —  (CNN)President Joe Biden and his administration struggled Sunday to project order amid a race by American and other foreign personnel to evacuate Afghanistan as Taliban fighters entered Kabul.
Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
The Broader Questions Aside, President Biden Has Disastrously Botched this Withdrawal  —  Those who are defending the debacle in Afghanistan seem to believe that there is only one important question to ask here: Namely, should the United States have withdrawn per se?  In reality, though there are two questions.
Discussion: RedState and Jihad Watch
Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
How America Failed in Afghanistan  —  The New Yorker staff writer Steve Coll on the humanitarian catastrophe that is now likely to engulf Afghan civilians.  —  On Sunday, as the Taliban entered Kabul—the last remaining major Afghan city not under the group's control—the President of the country …
Discussion: Atlantic Council
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Afghans working for U.S. government broadcasters fear Taliban backlash.  —  More than a hundred journalists employed by the American government's own radio stations remain in Afghanistan as the Taliban take power, U.S. officials and Afghan journalists said Sunday.
Wall Street Journal:
Intelligence Reports From Afghanistan Missed One Key Element: Speed
Discussion: Twin Cities and HotAir
New York Times:
Afghanistan Live Updates: Taliban Advances on Kabul; U.S. Evacuation Accelerates
CNN:
US completes evacuation of embassy in Afghanistan as flag comes down at diplomatic compound
Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:
Biden Officials Blame Trump Administration, Security Forces for Afghanistan Collapse
Discussion: RedState
Washington Examiner:
Marriage and work are worth fighting for
Discussion: HotAir
Allahpundit / HotAir:
“Forget the visas”: The scramble is on to save Afghan partners as Taliban close in
Washington Post:
Taliban enters Kabul, leaving Afghan government on brink of collapse
Laura Reiley / Washington Post:
Biden administration approves largest increase to food assistance benefits in SNAP program history  —  Benefits will rise by 25 percent on average, an infusion of cash that advocates say better reflects the modern cost of a basic diet.  —  The Biden administration has approved the largest increase …
Discussion: Politico
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Jason DeParle / New York Times:
Biden Administration Prompts Largest Permanent Increase in Food Stamps
Discussion: Bloomberg and The US Sun
NBC News:
‘Easy money’: How international scam artists pulled off an epic theft of Covid benefits  —  Last June, the FBI got a warrant to hunt through the Google accounts of Abedemi Rufai, a Nigerian state government official.  —  What they found, they said in a sworn affidavit, was all the ingredients for a …
Roger L. Simon / theepochtimes.com:
Elder Ignores Mainstream Media in First Online Press Conference  —  Who'd a thunk it?  —  Neither the Los Angeles Times nor Politico (both of whom had multiple reporters) and a host of other mainstream media suspects, including the Associated Press, got to ask a single question Friday …
 
 
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Krista Torralva / Dallas Morning News:
Texas Supreme Court blocks mask mandates in Dallas, Bexar counties
 Earlier Items: 
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The Daily Beast:
This Pro-Trump Lawyer Was a Rising ‘Stop the Steal’ Star. His Firm Erased Him
Discussion: Bipartisan Report and Raw Story
 

 
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OpenAI raised $6.6B led by Thrive Capital, the largest VC deal of all time, valuing it at $157B, with participation from Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, and others

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Abner Li / 9to5Google:
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