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6:35 AM ET, August 16, 2021

Top Items:

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.

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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, New York Post, The American Conservative, Power Line, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, Instapundit, Wall Street Journal, Insider, USAFeatures.news and Just The News

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: CNN, Bloomberg, Fox News, Insider, globalnews.ca and Politico

Sarah Zheng / South China Morning Post:

China, Russia embassies stay put in Afghanistan as US and allies flee Taliban — Collapse of Afghan government sets off evacuation scramble but Beijing and Moscow have no current plans to remove staff Chinese embassy warns its nationals to stay indoors, take safety precautions and keep …

Discussion: RedState

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: Associated Press, Breitbart, Twin Cities and Fox News

Julian Borger / The Guardian:

Taliban's Abdul Ghani Baradar is undisputed victor of a 20-year war — Return to power of movement's co-founder embodies Afghanistan's inability to escape history of conflict — Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban leader freed from a Pakistani jail on the request of the US less than three years ago …

Discussion: Strangely Blogged, The Daily Caller and The Daily Beast

Gillian Brockell / Washington Post:
The fall of Saigon: As Taliban seizes Kabul, the Vietnam War's final days remembered

Discussion: Twitchy, Mediaite and Trending Politics

Robin Wright / New Yorker:
Does the Great Retreat from Afghanistan Mark the End of the American Era?

Discussion: The Hill, Melanie Phillips, New York Post, Breitbart and Twin Cities

Associated Press:
“Game over:” Westerners rush to leave Kabul, rescue Afghans

Discussion: WSVN-TV, Florida Politics, HuffPost UK, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and Associated Press

Susannah George / Washington Post:
Afghanistan's military collapse: Illicit deals and mass desertions

Discussion: Politico, BBC, Fox News, Vox, Twin Cities, Washington Monthly, The Intercept and HotAir

George Packer / The Atlantic:
Biden's Betrayal of Afghans Will Live in Infamy

Discussion: Persuasion, Talking Points Memo, USA Today, Associated Press, Daily Kos and Stars & Stripes

The Bulwark: America Has a Moral Obligation to Get Our Translators Out of Afghanistan

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Terrorist threat to U.S. levels up after Taliban rise, Joint Chiefs chair says

Discussion: The Bulwark, The Guardian, Fox News, The US Sun and CNN

CNN:
US curtailing evacuation flights of Afghans to US for now to prioritize Americans

Discussion: UPI, HotAir and Mediaite

BBC:
Afghanistan conflict: As Kabul falls, Biden backlash grows

Discussion: New York Times, Breitbart, Townhall, The US Sun and The Daily Beast

Financial Times:
Low morale, no support and bad politics: why the Afghan army folded

Discussion: Atlantic Council

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
How America Failed in Afghanistan

Discussion: Bloomberg and Atlantic Council

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: Insider, Associated Press, Telegraph, Althouse, The Daily Caller and Page Array

Mark Moore / New York Post:
Milley moves up terror threat to US after Taliban's gains in Afghanistan

Discussion: Associated Press, The Guardian and Politico

Associated Press:
Concerns over US terror threats rising as Taliban hold grows

Discussion: Florida Politics, Washington Post, The Bulwark and Atlantic Council

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

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: RedState, Twitchy, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, FOX 5 San Diego, TheBlaze and CBS News

Associated Press:

Biden team surprised by rapid Taliban gains in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials were stunned on Sunday by the pace of the Taliban's nearly complete takeover of Afghanistan, as the planned withdrawal of American forces urgently became a mission to ensure a safe evacuation.

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Wire, RealClearPolitics, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Newsbusters, CNN, RedState, claytoonz and ABC13

Annie Linskey / Washington Post:
From Saigon to Kabul: Biden's response to Vietnam echoes in his views of Afghanistan withdrawal

Discussion: Politico, IJR and The Moderate Voice

Lindsay Kornick / Fox News:
Rep. Van Drew calls for Biden's resignation amid Taliban takeover in Afghanistan

Discussion: Breitbart

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
The Broader Questions Aside, President Biden Has Disastrously Botched this Withdrawal

Discussion: Twin Cities, New York Post, RedState and Jihad Watch

CNN:
Biden officials admit miscalculation as Afghanistan's national forces and government rapidly fall

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, The National Interest, The Daily Beast, Twin Cities, Newsbusters and Bloomberg

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 …

Discussion: RedState

Jeff Stein / SpyTalk:
Exclusive: U.S. Channel for Emergency Afghan Visas Crashes

Discussion: Common Sense with Bari Weiss, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post

U.S. Embassy / U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan:
Security Alert - U. S. Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Post, Breitbart, New York Times, Mediaite, National File, NPR, Forbes, Associated Press, Power Line, BBC, HotAir, Political Wire and Al Jazeera

ABC News:
Afghanistan updates: Another 1K US troops heading to Kabul, bringing total to 6,000

Discussion: New York Times, Breitbart, Task & Purpose, Associated Press, CBS San Francisco, RedState, National Review, Washington Examiner, NPR and Forbes

Chuck Lindell / Austin American-Statesman:

Texas Supreme Court blocks lower-court rulings that allowed mask mandates — The Texas Supreme Court stepped in Sunday evening to block lower-court orders that had allowed Dallas and San Antonio to impose mask mandates contrary to an executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Discussion: San Antonio Express-News, Off the Kuff, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth, Associated Press, KXAN-TV, The Hill and Politico

Krista Torralva / Dallas Morning News:

Texas Supreme Court blocks mask mandates in Dallas, Bexar counties — The entirely Republican court granted a temporary stay at the request of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Sunday. — Two days after a Dallas appeals court dealt Texas Gov. Greg Abbott …

Discussion: NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, CBS News and CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

Allyson Waller / The Texas Tribune:
Siding with Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Supreme Court temporarily halts mask orders in Dallas and Bexar counties

Discussion: Gizmodo, UPI, Townhall, Off the Kuff and ABC13

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, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth and Associated Press

Jason DeParle / New York Times:
Biden Administration Prompts Largest Permanent Increase in Food Stamps

Discussion: NBC News, The US Sun and Bloomberg

Claire Giangravé / Religion News Service:

Cardinal Burke is placed on ventilator days after testing positive for COVID-19 — VATICAN CITY (RNS) - A message from the Twitter account of Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, a conservative prelate and outspoken skeptic of the COVID-19 vaccine, confirmed Saturday (Aug. 14) via Twitter …

Discussion: Raw Story and Mock Paper Scissors

Seth Moulton / U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton:

Moulton Statement on the Situation in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) issued the following statement on Afghanistan: — To say that today is anything short of a disaster would be dishonest. Worse, it was avoidable. The time to debate whether we stay …