memeorandum: US officials say 7 killed in Kabul airport evacuation chaos (Associated Press)

4:45 PM ET, August 16, 2021

Top Items:

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 …

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: Media Matters for America, Glenn Greenwald, Responsible Statecraft, Tangle, The Federalist, New York Times, HotAir, IJR, The Nation, Raw Story, NPR, The Diplomat, Mediaite, Townhall and Japan Times

Joseph Choi / The Hill:

US reaches deal with Taliban on evacuations: report — The U.S. has reached a deal with the Taliban to ensure that evacuations from Kabul's airport can take place without interference from the group, according to a report by The Associated Press. — The deal was reached in talks in Doha …

Discussion: HotAir, Military Times, New York Times, CNN, TheBlaze, National Review and Althouse

Daniel Silverberg / The Atlantic:

Biden Was Right — In 2017, I arrived at Kabul's Hamid Karzai Airport as part of a congressional staff delegation. Even though the U.S. embassy stood a mere four miles away, safety concerns necessitated our helicoptering from a recently constructed multimillion-dollar transit facility instead of traveling by road.

Discussion: NBC4 Washington, Commentary Magazine, Breitbart and Financial Times

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, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Fox News, Florida Politics, IJR, The Moderate Voice and Crooks and Liars

Tara Copp / Defense One:

Inside Reach 871, A US C-17 Packed With 640 Afghans Trying to Escape the Taliban — The Air Force evacuation flight from Kabul to Qatar came near the record for most people ever flown in the Boeing airlifter. — AFGHANISTAN - WHITE HOUSE - AIR FORCE - CIVILIANS

Daria Litvinova / Associated Press:

Uzbekistan says it downed Afghan military plane crossing in — MOSCOW (AP) — An Afghan military plane was downed by Uzbekistan's air defense system on Sunday over an attempt to illegally enter the country's air space, Uzbek authorities said Monday. — The downing took place in southeastern Uzbekistan …

Discussion: Breitbart

Preston Byrne:

Did America just lose Afghanistan because of WhatsApp? — In the middle of a conflict, good analysis is hard to come by. Because adversaries do not telegraph their plans to one another, plans depend greatly on the fact patterns surrounding their execution, and no human mind can possibly observe …

Discussion: Washington Post, Newsweek, The Nation and Jihad Watch

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 …

BBC:
Afghanistan: US takes control of Kabul airport to evacuate staff from country

Discussion: Telegraph, Wall Street Journal, HotAir, RedState, Breitbart, Al Jazeera, France 24, Bloomberg, Quartz and Insider

James Gordon Meek / ABC News:
Afghanistan's collapse: Did US intelligence get it wrong?

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Post, CBS News, RedState, Gizmodo, Washington Free Beacon, Townhall, New York Times, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Breitbart, The Hill, Associated Press and Twin Cities

The Guardian:
An Afghan woman in Kabul: ‘Now I have to burn everything I achieved’

Discussion: inews.co.uk, The 19th, Insider and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
Afghanistan Is Your Fault — Kabul has fallen. Americans will now exercise …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Salon, The Dispatch, USA Today and Twitchy

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

Discussion: USA Today, Insider, Washington Post, HotAir, NBC News, Al Jazeera and The Dispatch

Kurt Schlichter / Townhall:
Our Military Is A Woke Joke

Discussion: Politico, RealClearPolitics, HotAir and BizPac Review

Eliot A. Cohen / The Atlantic: A Moment for Soul-Searching — My Afghanistan war lasted almost exactly two years …

Shannon Pettypiece / NBC News:
White House weighs response as Biden faces mounting criticism over Afghanistan crisis

Discussion: RedState, Washington Examiner, Politico, Althouse, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, IJR, Insider and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Associated Press:
The Latest: Merkel says latest Afghan developments ‘awful’

Discussion: TheBlaze, Al Jazeera, Just Security and National Review

Gerald F. Seib / Wall Street Journal:
America's Failures in Afghanistan Were Bipartisan and Long-Running

Discussion: Twin Cities

Associated Press:
US officials say 7 killed in Kabul airport evacuation chaos

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Axios, National Review, TFIPOST, The Times of Israel, IJR, Associated Press, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Insider and Fox News

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

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HotAir, Fox News, Project Syndicate, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Times, New York Post, Common Dreams, Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Bulwark and Commentary Magazine

Lynsey Addario / The Atlantic:
The Taliban's Return Is Catastrophic for Women

Discussion: National Review, The American Spectator, Insider and Page Array

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

Discussion: Axios, HotAir, New Republic, New York Times, PRESS RUN, Quartz and Persuasion, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
Biden admits Afghanistan's collapse ‘did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated’

Discussion: The Hill, WDRB, Associated Press, CNBC, Insider, Boston Herald, WGN-TV, KTLA and Althouse

Jacqui Heinrich / Fox News:
US prepares to house thousands of Afghan refugees on American military installations

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Townhall, New York Post and TheBlaze

Al Jazeera:
Chaos at Kabul airport as Taliban retakes Afghanistan: Live News

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart, TFIPOST, The Guardian, Louder With Crowder, Forbes, Politico and Twitchy

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
For Biden, Images of Defeat He Wanted to Avoid

Shay Khatiri / The Bulwark:
Why the Afghan Army Fell to the Taliban

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and RedState

Brett Bruen / USA Today:

Ex-Obama adviser: Why Biden must fire his national security adviser for Afghanistan failure — The people, plans and processes that President Joe Biden has put in place to keep America safe are not working. — President Joe Biden needs to shake up his national security team.

Discussion: Insider, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, All Arab News and RedState

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

Joe Biden is facing a crisis of competence — (CNN)At the heart of Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign was a single word: competence. — After four years of Donald Trump's incompetence in, well, everything, the Biden argument was that the country badly needed a steady hand on the tiller …

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The Federalist, Bipartisan Report, USAFeatures.news, Raw Story, The American Independent, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, IJR and Twitchy

Ben Sasse / National Review:
Worse Than Saigon — In yielding Afghanistan to the Taliban, Joe Biden has engineered …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Lincoln Journal Star, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Townhall, Common Dreams, New York Times, Ace of Spades HQ and Israpundit

Axios:

Scoop: Investigation finds fired Tennessee vaccine official mailed dog muzzle to self — A Tennessee investigation found evidence that the state's fired vaccine chief, Michelle Fiscus, purchased a dog muzzle that she previously claimed someone had mailed in an attempt to intimidate her.

Discussion: USA Today

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, New York Post, Friendly Atheist, Crooks and Liars, Balloon Juice, KXAN-TV, 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: The Daily Caller and HotAir

CNN:

Exclusive: Title, cover and details of new Trump book from Bob Woodward and Robert Costa revealed — (CNN)First it was “Fear,” then it was “Rage,” now it is “Peril.” That is the title of the highly-anticipated third book about President Trump from legendary journalist Bob Woodward …

Discussion: The Guardian

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.

Discussion: Salon

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

Eugene Scott / Washington Post:

New York lawmakers to continue investigation into Cuomo after resignation — New York state lawmakers announced Monday that the investigation into Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) will continue days after initially saying it would end following his resignation. — Carl Heastie (D) …

Discussion: Fox News