memeorandum: A Black officer was a rising star. The department's ‘Jim Crow culture’ destroyed his career, lawsuit says. (Timothy Bella/Washington Post)

10:40 AM ET, August 16, 2021

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: UPI, NPR, New York Times, The Reactionary, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Japan Times, Althouse, Vox, Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I and Washington Monthly

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 Post and New York Times

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: Washington Post, The Hill, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Townhall, Breitbart, Fox News, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Twin Cities, CBS News and RedState

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 …

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, UPI and The Daily Caller

Richard Haass / Project Syndicate:

America's Withdrawal of Choice — The swift fall of Kabul recalls the ignominious fall of Saigon in 1975. Beyond the local consequences - widespread reprisals, harsh repression of women and girls, and massive refugee flows - America's strategic and moral failure in Afghanistan …

Discussion: The Nation, New York Times and Talking Points Memo

Ben Kesling / Wall Street Journal:
Taliban Takeover of Afghanistan Brings Complicated Feelings for U.S. Military Veterans

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, PRESS RUN and The Moderate Voice

Noah Rothman / MSNBC:
The fall of Afghanistan in 2021 is the result of years of American delusion

Discussion: The Bulwark, Al Jazeera, Salon, Israpundit and The Dispatch

Kurt Schlichter / Townhall:
Our Military Is A Woke Joke

Discussion: BizPac Review, Task & Purpose and HotAir

Miranda Devine / New York Post:
Joe Biden's defeat will echo for eternity

Discussion: The Hill, HotAir, The Federalist, CNN, Louder With Crowder, BizPac Review, Ace of Spades HQ, Bloomberg and Axios

Anatol Lieven / Politico:
Why Afghan Forces So Quickly Laid Down Their Arms

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Post and Lawyers, Guns & Money

David Frum / The Atlantic:
The 1 Thing That Could've Changed the War in Afghanistan

Discussion: Axios, Wall Street Journal, Persuasion, Quartz and Talking Points Memo

Wall Street Journal:
Biden's Afghanistan Surrender

Discussion: The Hill, Louder With Crowder, NBC News, IJR, Ace of Spades HQ, CNN, New York Times, The US Sun and Breitbart

Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Biden owns the moment. He'll also own the consequences.

Discussion: USA Today, The Bulwark, Twin Cities, IJR, Washington Post, The Dispatch and Just Security

New York Times:
Kabul's Sudden Fall to Taliban Ends U.S. Era in Afghanistan

Discussion: France 24, CNBC, CNN, Forbes and justoneminute.typepad.com

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

Discussion: Politico, Poynter, Townhall, New York Post and Maggie's Farm

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, Twin Cities and The Hill

Wall Street Journal:
Chaotic Afghanistan Pullout Caps Two Decades of Missteps

Discussion: Politico, National Review, The Bulwark, New York Times, New York Post, CNN, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, more at Mediagazer »

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, CNN, Reuters, Mediaite, MSNBC, Bloomberg, Fox News, Insider, globalnews.ca and BBC

Wall Street Journal:

Three Killed in Kabul Airport as Afghans Scramble to Escape Taliban — Mass evacuations follow the insurgents' capture of Kabul after a rapid sweep of the country — At least three people were killed by gunfire Monday morning in chaotic scenes at the passenger terminal of Kabul's international airport …

Discussion: Mirror.co.uk, Politico, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Gizmodo, Al Jazeera, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Fox News, RedState, National Review, Raw Story, KXAN-TV and HotAir

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: Insider, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Fox News, Associated Press, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Snopes.com

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: HotAir, BizPac Review, Townhall, RedState, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Twitchy, IJR, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, TheBlaze and National File

Shannon Pettypiece / NBC News:

White House weighs response as Biden faces mounting criticism over Afghanistan crisis — WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden faced growing criticism from his allies in Washington following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan as administration officials considered his public response.

Discussion: RedState, HotAir, Insider, TheBlaze and Althouse

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.

more at Mediagazer »

BBC:

Afghanistan: US takes control of Kabul airport to evacuate staff from country — There have been scenes of panic at Kabul airport as desperate residents try to flee following the seizure of the Afghan capital by the Taliban. — Witnesses say at least three civilians died on Monday …

Discussion: Reuters, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera and Insider

NBC News:
Biden's rosy statements on Afghanistan, Covid have come back to haunt him

Discussion: ABC News, BizPac Review and Issues & Insights

Jazz Shaw / HotAir:
US pauses flights out of Kabul

Discussion: CNN, CBS News and Talking Points Memo

Martin Amin Rahmani / The Bulwark:
We Didn't Think Our American Friends Would Leave Us in the Dead of Night

Discussion: Insider, Religion News Service and CBS Denver

Tom Porter / Insider:
The GOP quietly removed a webpage hailing Trump's peace deal with the Taliban as the militant group seized power in Afghanistan

Discussion: Mediaite, HotAir, POLITICUSUSA, The Guardian, Raw Story, BizPac Review, Crooks and Liars and Maryland Matters

Sarah Zheng / South China Morning Post:
China, Russia embassies stay put in Afghanistan as US and allies flee Taliban

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Forbes, CNN, Variety, RedState, Associated Press, Fox News and FOX 5 San Diego

Associated Press:
Biden team surprised by rapid Taliban gains in Afghanistan

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: U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, RedState, Washington Examiner, Power Line, Associated Press, Mediaite and Bloomberg

United States Department of State:
Joint Statement from the Department of State and Department of Defense: Update on Afghanistan

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, TIME, New York Post, RedState and The Daily Caller

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, Friendly Atheist, Balloon Juice, 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