Top Items:
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Jake Sullivan: Biden didn't think it was “inevitable” Taliban would take control — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that President Biden did not believe it was “inevitable” that the Taliban would take control of Afghanistan, laying the blame at the feet …
Discussion:
USA Today, The Hill, NBC News and The Bulwark
RELATED:
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:
PRESS RUN, Fox News and Washington Post
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:
Townhall, BizPac Review, RedState, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Twitchy, CNN and New Yorker
Noah Rothman / MSNBC:
The fall of Afghanistan in 2021 is the result of years of American delusion — On Sunday morning, Taliban fighters captured Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield — the symbol and source of U.S. power projection in the region for 20 years — releasing thousands of prisoners.
Discussion:
The Bulwark, Al Jazeera, UPI, Israpundit and The Dispatch
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 — The GOP has removed a page hailing Trump's 2020 deal with the Taliban. — The removal was made on Sunday, amid scenes of chaos in Kabul as the Taliban seized back power.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Lincoln Journal Star, Raw Story, BizPac Review, Crooks and Liars and Maryland Matters
Richard Haass / Project Syndicate:
America's Withdrawal of Choice
America's Withdrawal of Choice
Discussion:
National Review, New York Times and New York Post
Miranda Devine / New York Post:
Joe Biden's defeat will echo for eternity
Joe Biden's defeat will echo for eternity
Discussion:
The Federalist, The Dispatch, CNN, BizPac Review, Ace of Spades HQ, IJR and Bloomberg
U.S. Embassy / U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan:
Security Alert - U. S. Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan
Security Alert - U. S. Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Breitbart, New York Post, Forbes, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, New York Times, Associated Press, National File, BBC, NPR, ABC News, HotAir and Power Line
Shannon Pettypiece / NBC News:
White House weighs response as Biden faces mounting criticism over Afghanistan crisis
White House weighs response as Biden faces mounting criticism over Afghanistan crisis
Discussion:
Persuasion, Insider, Althouse, BizPac Review and Fox News
Robin Wright / New Yorker:
Does the Great Retreat from Afghanistan Mark the End of the American Era?
Does the Great Retreat from Afghanistan Mark the End of the American Era?
Discussion:
MSNBC, The Hill, Breitbart, Issues & Insights and Twin Cities
New York Times:
Taliban Takeover Could Extinguish U.S. Influence in Kabul
Taliban Takeover Could Extinguish U.S. Influence in Kabul
Discussion:
NBC News, Townhall, Washington Post and The Atlanta Voice
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Biden owns the moment. He'll also own the consequences.
Biden owns the moment. He'll also own the consequences.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Twin Cities, Just Security, IJR, The Dispatch and Breitbart
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.
RELATED:
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, Reuters, Mediaite, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox News and globalnews.ca
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:
Politico, Washington Examiner, Fox News, RedState, National Review, Mediaite, Raw Story, Gizmodo, CNN and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »
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:
Reuters, Insider, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller and Snopes.com
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:
Al Jazeera, Forbes, Variety, RedState and Sky News
Wall Street Journal:
Biden's Afghanistan Surrender
Biden's Afghanistan Surrender
Discussion:
The Hill, Louder With Crowder, The US Sun and Breitbart
Anatol Lieven / Politico:
Why Afghan Forces So Quickly Laid Down Their Arms
Why Afghan Forces So Quickly Laid Down Their Arms
Discussion:
Washington Post, Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I and Washington Monthly
Julian Borger / The Guardian:
Taliban's Abdul Ghani Baradar is undisputed victor of a 20-year war
Taliban's Abdul Ghani Baradar is undisputed victor of a 20-year war
Discussion:
Strangely Blogged, The Daily Caller and The Daily Beast
Martin Amin Rahmani / The Bulwark:
We Didn't Think Our American Friends Would Leave Us in the Dead of Night
We Didn't Think Our American Friends Would Leave Us in the Dead of Night
Discussion:
Insider, New York Post and Salon
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:
Wall Street Journal, New York Times, UPI, NPR, Talking Points Memo, The Reactionary, Poynter, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Althouse, Japan Times and Vox
RELATED:
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:
The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Breitbart, Fox News, Associated Press, Twin Cities, RedState, HotAir and Washington Examiner
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, Outside the Beltway, The American Conservative, Power Line, Breitbart, Instapundit, New York Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, Insider, USAFeatures.news, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, Just The News, The Daily Beast, HotAir, Wall Street Journal and justoneminute.typepad.com
Wall Street Journal:
Chaotic Afghanistan Pullout Caps Two Decades of Missteps — Successive U.S. administrations followed strategies that inadvertently fueled support for the insurgency and missed key windows to negotiate — WASHINGTON—In early July, President Biden stood in the East Room of the White House …
Discussion:
HotAir, The Hill, New York Times, National Review, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
After Sunday It's Even More Clear Biden Was Right
After Sunday It's Even More Clear Biden Was Right
Discussion:
The Atlantic
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
RELATED:
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
Krista Torralva / Dallas Morning News:
Jenkins says mask order will stay despite Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocking it — Dallas County judge says he'll remove penalties for noncompliant businesses after a stay was granted at the request of Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Discussion:
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth and Townhall
RELATED:
Annie Linskey / Washington Post:
From Saigon to Kabul: Biden's response to Vietnam echoes in his views of Afghanistan withdrawal — The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights — Two weeks before Saigon fell in April 1975, a 32-year-old Joe Biden was among the senators summoned to the White House …
Discussion:
Townhall, Politico and The Moderate Voice
RELATED:
Gillian Brockell / Washington Post:
The fall of Saigon: As Taliban seizes Kabul, the Vietnam War's final days remembered
The fall of Saigon: As Taliban seizes Kabul, the Vietnam War's final days remembered
Discussion:
Twitchy, Mediaite and Trending Politics