memeorandum: Biden's Folly — Afghanistan. Lynsey Addario for Getty Images. (John Ellis/GEN)

2:05 PM ET, August 15, 2021

Top Items:

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 …

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, Power Line, New York Post and Talking Points Memo

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 …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Associated Press, HotAir, Breitbart, CBS San Francisco, UPI, CNBC, Al Jazeera, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The Daily Beast, RedState and Insider

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 …

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:

Taliban Enter Kabul as Panic Spreads in Afghanistan's Capital — Mass evacuations of Western diplomats and civilians under way, with insurgents preparing to assume power — KABUL—Taliban fighters on Sunday entered Kabul, freeing inmates at the city's main prison and triggering a massive effort …

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Breitbart and National Review

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 …

Discussion: Associated Press

New York Times:

Afghanistan Live Updates: Taliban Advances on Kabul; U.S. Evacuation Accelerates — The insurgents, after seizing control of the eastern city of Jalalabad, encircled the Afghan capital. A senior American official said key diplomatic staff had been moved to a compound at the airport.

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, Japan Times, Washington Times, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller and Politico

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: How the White House wants to spin the fall of Kabul — DRIVING THE DAY — President JOE BIDEN, July 8: “The Taliban is not ... the North Vietnamese army. ... There's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of ... the United States from Afghanistan.

Discussion: The Guardian, Fox News, Wall Street Journal and Trending Politics

New York Times:

A frenzied flight from Kabul as the U.S. evacuation accelerates. — KABUL, Afghanistan — As the Taliban stood at the gates of Kabul, completing the near total takeover of Afghanistan two decades after the American military drove them from power, a chaotic and frenzied evacuation of U.S. diplomats …

Discussion: Task & Purpose

ABC News:

Afghanistan updates: US Embassy says to avoid airport because it's taking fire — Taliban militants were ordered into Kabul, President Ghani has left Afghanistan. — Taliban militants have been ordered to enter Kabul, following earlier assurances by Taliban officials that they do not intend to take Afghanistan's capital by force

Discussion: Twin Cities, U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, CBS News, RedState, Associated Press, National Review, The Daily Caller, One America News Network and Reuters

BBC:

LIVEAfghan President Ghani leaves country - reports — Summary — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has left the country bound for Tajikistan, reports say — A Taliban spokesman says their fighters have been ordered to enter the city to prevent looting

W. James Antle III / Washington Examiner:
Once an area of agreement, Biden and Trump trade blame on Afghanistan

Discussion: National Review, HotAir, Politico, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, Breitbart, emptywheel, Trending Politics, Financial Times, The Gateway Pundit and NPR

Stars & Stripes:
‘They are coming’: US diplomats await flights out of Kabul as the Taliban advance and fear spreads in the capital

Discussion: New York Post, Financial Times and One America News Network

Adam Weinstein / Responsible Statecraft:
20-year US intervention in ruins as Taliban enters Kabul

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Washington Post

Michael R. Gordon / Wall Street Journal:
Biden's Afghanistan Exit Raises Questions About His Foreign-Policy Record

Discussion: Bloomberg

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:
Biden Officials Blame Trump Administration, Security Forces for Afghanistan Collapse

Discussion: HotAir

Sky News:
Afghanistan live updates: Taliban enters outskirts of Kabul - as Afghan government promise peaceful transition of power

Discussion: Telegraph and Page Array

Justin Gomez / ABC News:
US moving personnel out of its embassy in Kabul: Blinken

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Politico and Associated Press

Kylie Atwood / CNN:
US completely pulling out of embassy in Afghanistan over the next 72 hours

Discussion: Politico, UPI, The Hill, HotAir and TheBlaze

Washington Post:
Taliban enters Kabul, leaving Afghan government on brink of collapse

Discussion: The Guardian, NPR, Daily Kos, BBC, Townhall, National Review, Slate, Forbes, The US Sun, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Axios, New York Post, Mediaite and Task & Purpose

ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript 8-15-21: Sec. Antony Blinken & Rep. Liz Cheney

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Mock Paper Scissors

Liz Sly / Washington Post:
Afghanistan's collapse leaves allies questioning U.S. resolve on other fronts

Discussion: HotAir and Insider

Jessica Donati / Wall Street Journal:
Afghans Despair Over Long Visa Process as Taliban Close In on Kabul

Discussion: RedState

France 24:
Weapon seizures ‘massive boon’ for Taliban as cities fall

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Breitbart

The White House:
Statement by President Joe Biden on Afghanistan

Discussion: Mediaite, Insider, Washington Examiner, Politico, Washington Post, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, Common Dreams, Townhall, TheBlaze, The National Interest, Reuters, Task & Purpose, Forbes and National File

Washington Post:
Biden administration scrambled as its orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan unraveled

Discussion: USA Today, The Guardian, Boston Herald, The National Interest and Wall Street Journal

Associated Press:
Taliban capture key northern city, approach Afghan capital

Discussion: Fox News, RedState, FOX 5 San Diego, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Al Jazeera, New York Post, The Hill, TheBlaze, WGN-TV, Slate, NPR, HotAir, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, CNN, Associated Press, Bloomberg, New York Times and Forbes

New York Times:
Taliban Sweep in Afghanistan Follows Years of U.S. Miscalculations

Discussion: HotAir, Mediaite, Axios, Talking Points Memo, RedState, The Hill, Breitbart, USA Today, Fox News and Mother Jones

Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:

Mississippi 8th Grader Dies With COVID Hours After Gov. Reeves Downplays Child Cases — An eighth-grade girl died this morning in Raleigh, Miss., mere hours after testing positive for COVID-19. Multiple sources told the Mississippi Free Press that the student attended classes at the school …

CBS News:

California's vaccinated say unvaccinated are adding risk; strong support for mandates — CBS News poll — As Californians express widespread concern about the Delta variant, they overwhelmingly say the state's recent rise in cases was preventable, had more people gotten vaccinated and taken more precautions.

Discussion: CBS San Francisco and Yahoo News

The Daily Beast:

This Pro-Trump Lawyer Was a Rising ‘Stop the Steal’ Star. His Firm Erased Him — WE DON'T KNOW HIM — In the months since Trump's failed coup, government documents have further revealed the extent of attorney Kurt Olsen's behind-the-scenes crusade to try to keep him in power.

Discussion: Raw Story

Erin Banco / Politico:

Inside America's Covid-reporting breakdown — There were too many cases to count. — Covid-19 was spreading rapidly throughout the United States, as cold winter weather began to drive people indoors, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was flying blind …

Maria Abi-Habib / New York Times:

Haiti Live Updates: Search for Survivors After Quake Kills More Than 700 — The 7.2 earthquake was a devastating blow to a country still reeling from a presidential assassination. The leadership vacuum has hampered aid and rescue efforts. — Here's what you need to know:

Discussion: CBS News, New York Post, Associated Press and The Daily Caller