REACTIONS TO TALIBAN TAKEOVER ON AUGUST 16, 2021
The Taliban has taken almost full control of Afghanistan, and is now firmly in power in the capital city of Kabul. The US is attempting to evacuate US citizens an personnel from the airport in Kabul. The speed of the Taliban advance has taken the world by shock (Russian RTAmerica perspective). YouTube Tips ⓘ
Zaranj, the capital of southern Nimruz province, fell to the Taliban on Friday, August 6, 2021, and was the first provincial capital to be taken from the Afghan government.
Analysts stunned by the rapid fall of Afghanistan, speculate that China and Russia will interpret the military takeover by the Taliban as a confirmation of American decline and the failure of the democratic model.
There were 130,000 Americans in Afghanistan at one point in the American occupation in Afghanistan that spanned almost 20 years. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States and allies drove the Taliban from power in order to deny al-Qaeda a safe base of operations in Afghanistan in a war on October 7, 2021 (Operation Enduring Freedom).
Operation Enduring Freedom (October 7, 2021 to December 28, 2014), which covered regions in Afghanistan, Philippines, Somalia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Sahara, is considered Phase 1 of the war.
Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (January 1, 2015 to August 31, 2021), which operated in Afghanistan with the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission, which also began on January 1, 2015. Operation Freedom’s Sentinel had two components: 1) counterterrorism, and 2) cooperation with allies as part of Resolute Support. Operation Freedom’s Sentinel is the official name used by the U.S. government for the mission succeeding Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), and is considered Phase 2 of the war.
The Afghan military was estimated at 300,000.
President Biden on Monday afternoon, Monday August 16, 2021 made an address to the nation on the situation on Afghanistan as the Taliban swiftly takes over Afghanistan. Biden stood firm on his decision to withdraw U.S. troops amid the chaos. YouTube Tips ⓘ
Gen. Jack Keane points out ‘factual inaccuracies’ in Biden’s Afghanistan speech on Fox News. YouTube Tips ⓘ
Robert Charles, former assistant secretary of state for President George W. Bush, reacted to the president’s press conference following the Taliban takeover, and referred to the F77 document that reports that 15,000 to 40,000 Americans are scattered across Afghanistan this week in the midst of the Taliban takeover. YouTube Tips ⓘ
Former State Department official David Tafuri says he’s ‘skeptical’ of the Taliban on ‘Fox News Primetime.’ YouTube Tips ⓘ
Scenes of chaos in Afghanistan have quickly become the Biden administration’s biggest foreign policy challenge. Under fire from both sides of the aisle, the White House is scrambling to contain the fallout. NBC chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander reports for TODAY. YouTube Tips ⓘ
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Tucker Carlson (Fox News): We are led by buffoons, everything they touch turns to chaos YouTube Tips ⓘ
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tells ‘Fox & Friends’ MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace’s ‘remarkable statement’ is encouraging Biden to ‘surrender’ to the Taliban, and that 90 percent of Americans are in line with President Biden. YouTube Tips ⓘ
White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing on Tuesday with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, days after Kabul fell to Taliban forces in a much quicker than expected rout of Afghan security forces. The Taliban takeover caused chaotic scenes at Kabul’s national airport, during which civilians stormed the tarmac and tried to board departing planes. YouTube Tips ⓘ
“The whole country is worried about what is going to happen in the future,” said one man interviewed on the street. Another said the new government should “receive recognition from the international community.” [Two interviews on the street on NBC.] YouTube Tips ⓘ
Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in the first Kabul news conference promised to build a government “acceptable by all Afghans,” and to guarantee the rights of women “within the limits of Islam.” Commenters on the YouTube video claimed that the translation on the subtitles was wrong, and that Zabihullah Mujahid was reciting verse from the Quran. YouTube Tips ⓘ