memeorandum: America's Withdrawal of Choice (Richard Haass/Project Syndicate)

11:50 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: The Nation, New York Times, UPI, The Reactionary, Talking Points Memo, NPR, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Japan Times, Althouse, The Moderate Voice, Vox and Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I

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: HotAir, Washington Post, The Hill, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Townhall, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Associated Press, 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 …

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, Washington Examiner and New York Times

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: New York Times, Politico and PRESS RUN

Kurt Schlichter / Townhall:
Our Military Is A Woke Joke

Discussion: BizPac Review, Task & Purpose and HotAir

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

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

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

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, HotAir, New Yorker, New York Times, Townhall, Wall Street Journal, The Bulwark and Commentary Magazine

Wall Street Journal:
Biden's Afghanistan Surrender

Discussion: The Hill, Townhall, Louder With Crowder, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Ace of Spades HQ, IJR, The US Sun and Breitbart

ABC News:
Afghanistan updates: Chaos at Kabul airport, world responds

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Times and CNN

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
How Republicans are slamming Biden on Afghanistan

Discussion: Preston Byrne, National Review, Lincoln Journal Star and Bipartisan Report

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

Discussion: The Bulwark, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Israpundit and The Dispatch

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

Discussion: IJR, RedState and Breitbart

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

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

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 CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Patrick Reilly / New York Post:
Trump calls on Biden to ‘resign in disgrace’ over crisis in Afghanistan

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Telegraph, The American Spectator, Trending Politics, Raw Story, TheBlaze, Washington Times, Instapundit and Crooks and Liars

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

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Post and The Daily Caller

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

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

Discussion: Politico, Poynter, HotAir, Insider and Maggie's Farm

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, Insider, Task & Purpose, Page Array, Al Jazeera, The Federalist, Washington Post, Fox News, Associated Press and The Hill

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, Associated Press, CBS News, HotAir, Reuters, CNN, Mock Paper Scissors, 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, HotAir, Townhall, TheBlaze, The Federalist, Mediaite, RedState, BizPac Review, Florida Politics, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, Twitchy, CNN and IJR

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, AIRLIVE, NBC News, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Gizmodo, Human Events, Trending Politics, Al Jazeera, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Fox News, RedState, National Review, KXAN-TV, Raw Story and FOX 5 San Diego

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, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Insider, Althouse and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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

Discussion: Reuters, France 24, TheBlaze, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Associated Press and Insider

Ben Smith / New York Times:
Afghans working for U.S. government broadcasters fear Taliban backlash.

Discussion: Associated Press, Townhall, Raw Story, MSNBC, Insider and FOX 5 San Diego, more at Mediagazer »

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

Discussion: Breitbart, The Nation, Insider, Religion News Service and IJR

Jazz Shaw / HotAir:
US pauses flights out of Kabul

Discussion: CNN, CBS News and Talking Points Memo

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

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera, Louder With Crowder, CNN, Forbes, Quartz, Variety, RedState, Associated Press, Fox News and BBC

Tom Porter / Insider:
The RNC deleted a webpage hailing Trump's Taliban deal as fighters swept Afghanistan, but says it was part of routine web maintenance

Discussion: Mediaite, HotAir, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Bipartisan Report, The Intellectualist and Raw Story

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, 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 and The Daily Caller

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 and Raw Story

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: WCCO | CBS Minnesota and Law & Crime

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: globaltimes.cn, United States Department …, U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, New York Post, New York Times, Washington Examiner, RedState, The Daily Caller, NPR, Power Line, Associated Press and Forbes

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.