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3:55 PM ET, August 15, 2021

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 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 …
RELATED:
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 …
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 …
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: USA Today and Associated Press
ABC News:
Afghanistan updates: Ghani says he left to save Kabul and its citizens from bloodshed  —  Taliban says foreign nationals will not be in danger in Kabul.  —  Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, was in Doha, Qatar, earlier Sunday and met with representatives of the Taliban …
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 …
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
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.
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 and The US Sun
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
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
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: Jihad Watch
Michael R. Gordon / Wall Street Journal:   Biden's Afghanistan Exit Raises Questions About His Foreign-Policy Record
Andrew A. Michta / 19FortyFive:
Why America Was Destined to Fail in Afghanistan
Discussion: Bloomberg and Trending Politics
W. James Antle III / Washington Examiner:
Once an area of agreement, Biden and Trump trade blame on Afghanistan
Adam Weinstein / Responsible Statecraft:
20-year US intervention in ruins as Taliban enters Kabul
Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:
Biden Officials Blame Trump Administration, Security Forces for Afghanistan Collapse
Discussion: HotAir and Washington Post
Allahpundit / HotAir:
“Forget the visas”: The scramble is on to save Afghan partners as Taliban close in
Atefa Alizada / The Guardian:
Afghan women's defiance and despair: 'I never thought I'd have to wear a burqa. My identity will be lost'
Discussion: The Daily Caller and Page Array
Sky News:
Afghanistan live updates: Taliban enters outskirts of Kabul - as Afghan government promise peaceful transition of power
Discussion: Telegraph
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 …
Discussion: Just Security
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: Forbes, Breitbart and CBS San Francisco
 
 
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