In Kabul, Private Rescue Efforts Grow Desperate as Time to Evacuate Afghans Runs Out  —  Defense contractor Erik Prince charges $6,500 a person, other groups' planes leave Kabul empty  —  A disparate group of American veterans, military contractors, aid workers and former spies is scrambling …

A Better Afghan Policy  —  What would it have been?  —  What might a more successful exit from Afghanistan have looked like?  —  I have spent some time talking with colleagues and experts about that question, and it is a difficult one to answer.  President Biden's exit certainly has not gone well.

The Afghan Army Collapsed Against the Taliban.  Here's Why.  —  General Sadat is a commander in the Afghan National Army.  —  For the past three and a half months, I fought day and night, nonstop, in southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province against an escalating and bloody Taliban offensive.

Is Jen Rubin now doing PR for the Taliban now or just lying by omission?  —  Jen Rubin has been supporting and defending the Biden administration on every possible front for months but she has really put her flack-act into high gear since Biden's drawdown of troops in Afghanistan has turned into a disaster.

Second Dose of J. & J. Vaccine Gives Strong Boost, Company Reports  —  Johnson & Johnson will submit the data to the Food and Drug Administration, which is evaluating similar data on boosters from Pfizer and Moderna.  —  A booster shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine dramatically raises …

Ron DeSantis's anti-mask mania is deeply unpopular.  Democrats must jump on that.  —  We now have a quality poll — from Quinnipiac University — that seeks to probe public opinion on the great mask debate in Florida in a lot of fine-grained detail.  And the conclusion is clear: Anti-mask derangement is losing the argument.