Top Items:
Craig Whitlock / Washington Post:
Afghan security forces' wholesale collapse was years in the making — In the summer of 2011, Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV made a round of public appearances to boast that he had finally solved a problem that had kept U.S. troops bogged down in Afghanistan for a decade.
Discussion:
The Nation, New York Times, The Reactionary, UPI, NPR, Talking Points Memo, Poynter, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Japan Times, HotAir, Vox and Althouse
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
After Sunday It's Even More Clear Biden Was Right — Americans, or at least the commentating classes, are watching aghast as events unfold in Afghanistan. Some are second-guessing the wisdom of withdrawal - after all, how hard is it to maintain a few thousand soldiers there permanently?
Discussion:
HotAir, New York Times and New York Post
James Gordon Meek / ABC News:
Afghanistan's collapse: Did US intelligence get it wrong? — American intelligence sources say they correctly predicted the fall of Kabul. — As panicked Afghans watched Taliban fighters roll into the capital city of Kabul Sunday, sealing the collapse of the U.S.-backed government there …
Discussion:
HotAir, Washington Post, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Hill, The Guardian, Townhall, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Associated Press, Insider, Wall Street Journal and Twin Cities
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
For Biden, Images of Defeat He Wanted to Avoid — President Biden will go down in history, fairly or unfairly, as the president who presided over a humiliating final act in the American experiment in Afghanistan. — Rarely in modern presidential history have words come back to bite …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Insider, Fox News, IJR, Florida Politics, HotAir, No More Mister Nice Blog, Breitbart, Outside the Beltway, The American Conservative, Associated Press, Power Line, The Gateway Pundit, The Moderate Voice, USAFeatures.news, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Instapundit, Just The News, The Daily Beast, ABC News and Wall Street Journal
David Frum / The Atlantic:
The 1 Thing That Could've Changed the War in Afghanistan — Had the United States caught and killed Osama bin Laden in December 2001, the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan would have faded away almost immediately afterward. I cannot prove that. It's only an opinion from my vantage point …
Discussion:
Axios, Fox News, Persuasion, Washington Post, New York Times and Quartz
Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
Afghanistan Is Your Fault — Kabul has fallen. Americans will now exercise their usual partisan outrage for a few weeks, and then Afghanistan, like everything else in a nation with an attention span not much longer than a fast-food commercial, will be forgotten.
Discussion:
The Dispatch, Mediaite and IJR
ABC News:
Afghanistan updates: Chaos at Kabul airport, world responds
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Washington Times and CNN
Anatol Lieven / Politico:
Why Afghan Forces So Quickly Laid Down Their Arms
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, HotAir, New Yorker, New York Times, Townhall, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Bulwark and Commentary Magazine
Kurt Schlichter / Townhall:
Our Military Is A Woke Joke
Discussion:
BizPac Review, Talking Points Memo and Task & Purpose
Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
How Republicans are slamming Biden on Afghanistan
Discussion:
Preston Byrne, National Review, Bipartisan Report and Lincoln Journal Star
Shay Khatiri / The Bulwark:
Why the Afghan Army Fell to the Taliban
Discussion:
The National Interest, IJR and RedState
Wall Street Journal:
Biden's Afghanistan Surrender
Discussion:
The Hill, Gizmodo, Townhall, Louder With Crowder, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, CNN, IJR, The US Sun and Breitbart
Gerald F. Seib / Wall Street Journal:
America's Failures in Afghanistan Were Bipartisan and Long-Running
Noah Rothman / MSNBC:
The fall of Afghanistan in 2021 is the result of years of American delusion
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Bulwark, The Daily Caller, Al Jazeera, Israpundit and The Dispatch
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Biden owns the moment. He'll also own the consequences.
Discussion:
USA Today, Townhall, Washington Post, The Dispatch, Just Security, Twin Cities and TIME
The Daily Beast:
Even Biden's Allies Think He Screwed Up Afghanistan
Discussion:
The Hayride, CNBC, HuffPost, Al Jazeera, Newsbusters, Washington Times, Slate and TheBlaze
Miranda Devine / New York Post:
Joe Biden's defeat will echo for eternity
Discussion:
The Hill, The Federalist, HotAir, Townhall, RealClearPolitics, Bloomberg, CNN, Ace of Spades HQ, BizPac Review and Louder With Crowder
Patrick Reilly / New York Post:
Trump calls on Biden to ‘resign in disgrace’ over crisis in Afghanistan
Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
In Washington, Recriminations Over Afghanistan Emerge Quickly
Discussion:
RedState, Washington Post, CNN and ABC13, more at Mediagazer »
NBC News:
Biden's rosy statements on Afghanistan, Covid have come back to haunt him
Discussion:
Washington Post, ABC News and BizPac Review
Ben Kesling / Wall Street Journal:
Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan Brings Complicated Feelings for U.S. Military Veterans
Discussion:
New York Times, Politico, Townhall and Ace of Spades HQ
Associated Press:
The latest on Afghanistan: Four Afghans dead after fall from US plane wheel well — Here's the latest on the rapidly unfolding events related to Afghanistan: — Report: Afghans who worked for US may temporarily go to bases in Wisconsin and Texas — The U.S. intends to evacuate tens …
Discussion:
New York Times, HotAir, Task & Purpose, Page Array, Al Jazeera, Insider, The Federalist, TheBlaze, Fox News, The Hill, Associated Press and The Daily Caller
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Wall Street Journal:
‘Saigon on Steroids’: The Desperate Rush to Flee Afghanistan — Kabul airport descends into chaos as Afghan civilians besiege the terminal and Western countries scramble to evacuate personnel, in a dizzying coda to America's longest war — KABUL—The lucky few were already inside …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, CBS News, Associated Press, Reuters, HotAir, Mock Paper Scissors, CNN, Bloomberg, RedState, Mediaite, Fox News, Insider and globalnews.ca
Michael Lee / Fox News:
Jen Psaki ‘out of the office’ as Biden remains silent on Taliban takeover of Afghanistan — The timing of Psaki's time off comes as Biden has faced criticism for remaining on vacation
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, Washington Examiner, ABC News, HotAir, Townhall, TheBlaze, The Federalist, New York Post, Mediaite, IJR, RedState, BizPac Review, Florida Politics, Breitbart and The Daily Caller
Shannon Pettypiece / NBC News:
White House weighs response as Biden faces mounting criticism over Afghanistan crisis
Martin Amin Rahmani / The Bulwark:
We Didn't Think Our American Friends Would Leave Us in the Dead of Night
Discussion:
HuffPost, Politico, Washington Free Beacon, Breitbart, Washington Post, IJR and Insider
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Afghans working for U.S. government broadcasters fear Taliban backlash.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Townhall, Raw Story, MSNBC, Washington Examiner, IJR, BBC and FOX 5 San Diego, more at Mediagazer »
CNN:
Biden to return to White House for address on Afghanistan
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, The Hill, The Guardian, Althouse and Political Wire
BBC:
Afghanistan: US takes control of Kabul airport to evacuate staff from country
Discussion:
Reuters, Washington Examiner, France 24, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg and Insider
Jazz Shaw / HotAir:
US pauses flights out of Kabul
Discussion:
CBS News, CNN and Talking Points Memo
Sarah Zheng / South China Morning Post:
China, Russia embassies stay put in Afghanistan as US and allies flee Taliban
Discussion:
Tangle, Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera, Louder With Crowder, CNN, Forbes, Quartz, Variety, RedState, Associated Press and Fox News
Jaclyn Peiser / Washington Post:
A conservative cardinal who criticized the vaccine caught covid. Days later, he was put on a ventilator. — Most days during the coronavirus pandemic, Cardinal Raymond L. Burke could be found strolling down the streets of Rome maskless and carrying rosary beads.
Discussion:
Religion News Service, Crooks and Liars, Friendly Atheist, Raw Story, Balloon Juice and Mock Paper Scissors
Meridith McGraw / Politico:
The GOP waves white flag in the same-sex marriage wars — To mark the beginning of Pride Month this year, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel did what party leaders do on these types of occasions: She sent out a tweet. — “Happy #PrideMonth!” she wrote, " …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Mock Paper Scissors
Associated Press:
Detainee says China has secret jail in Dubai, holds Uyghurs — A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uyghurs, in what may be the first evidence that China is operating a so-called “black site” beyond its borders.
Discussion:
HotAir and The Daily Caller
John Nichols / The Nation:
Ron Johnson Does the Bidding of the Ultra-Rich — A new study reveals that Johnson's “principled” stand for tax reform may enrich two of his campaign donors by half a billion dollars. — Ron Johnson's public image is that of a delusional conspiracy theorist who struggles to pull together coherent sentences.
United States Department of State:
Joint Statement on Afghanistan — The following is the text of a joint statement on Afghanistan initially released by the following: Albania, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark …
Dave Orrick / Twin Cities:
Ugly drama inside MN GOP threatens chairwoman's job — Indictment of donor sparked fire — Following what amounted to a weekend political firestorm, the Minnesota Republican party Sunday evening found itself navigating treacherous waters of possible scandal that threatened to oust the state party's leader.
Discussion:
Law & Crime
Donald J. Trump:
Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America — Joe Biden gets it wrong every time on foreign policy, and many other issues. Everyone knew he couldn't handle the pressure. Even Obama's Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said as much.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Melissa Nann Burke / Detroit News:
Ex-Rep. Paul Mitchell dies. He quit GOP over its refusal to accept Trump's defeat — Former U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, a conservative who quit the Republican Party over its allegiance to President Donald Trump after the 2020 election, has died after a diagnosis of stage IV renal cancer. He was 64.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
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