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2021-08-13 Afghanistan
3,000 troops are heading to Afghanistan to join about 650 troops already there
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

The United Kingdom is also sending military personnel -- about 600 paratroopers -- to Kabul on a short-term basis to provide support to British nationals leaving the country, according to a joint blurb from the Ministry of Defence and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The number of staffers working at the British Embassy in Kabul has also been reduced to a core team focused on providing consular and visa services for those needing to rapidly leave the country.

At the Pentagon, Kirby said the Defense Department was sending 3,000 troops from three infantry battalions -- two Marine and one Army -- to Kabul's Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
...A product, and probably the sole product, of the Southern Alliance...
 International Airport to help out with the removal of American personnel from the U.S. Embassy.

They'll be there "temporarily" and will begin shipping out in the next 24 to 48 hours. These numbers are on top of the 650 already in Kabul protecting the airport and the embassy.

An additional 1,000 personnel will be sent to assist with the processing of Afghans who worked as interpreters, guides and other contractors and applied for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV).

"I want to stress that these forces are being deployed to support the orderly and safe reduction of civilian personnel at the request of the State Department and to help facilitate an accelerated process of working through SIV applicants," Kirby said. "This is a temporary mission with a narrow focus. As with all deployments of our troops into harm's way, our commanders have the inherent right of self defense, and any attack on them can and will be met with a forceful and appropriate response."

A brigade of 3,000 to 3,500 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne will also be sent to Kuwait to preposition in case they are needed further.
Posted by Fred 2021-08-13 00:00|| || Front Page|| [14 views ]  Top
 File under: Taliban 

#1 This is insanity. Is someone pulling together an official surrender ceremony. Are hostages being send over to be re-purchased? WTF ?
Posted by Besoeker 2021-08-13 02:16||   2021-08-13 02:16|| Front Page Top

#2 The US is considering relocating its Kabul embassy to the city's airport

That's laugh out loud funny! If you need to relocate your embassy to the airport, it's past time to go.
Posted by SteveS 2021-08-13 02:26||   2021-08-13 02:26|| Front Page Top

#3 Gross decision. Afghan military may turn on the US troops just as dangerously as the Taliban because of them leaving Afghanistan forces to the wolves.
Posted by Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 2021-08-13 02:29||   2021-08-13 02:29|| Front Page Top

#4 This is insanity. Is someone pulling together an official surrender ceremony. Are hostages being send over to be re-purchased? WTF ?

The principal lesson of Iran is that you do not leave your embassy open in the face of impending takeover by a hostile regime. Given that the Taliban facilitated the killing of 3,000 civilians on American soil, I think they qualify as hostile. Whether a takeover is impending - we'll see soon enough, when US troops have completely departed. I wish the folks deployed there and the embassy people the best, but it would not be out of character for the Taliban to attempt to inflict serious casualties on the outgoing US presence. For the same reason they helped al Qaeda with 9/11 - mindless aggressiveness amounting to sheer stupidity and megalomania. If they succeed, the midterms will be a landslide win for the GOP.
Posted by Zhang Fei 2021-08-13 13:34||   2021-08-13 13:34|| Front Page Top

#5 Gross decision. Afghan military may turn on the US troops just as dangerously as the Taliban because of them leaving Afghanistan forces to the wolves.

If the embassy were taken hostage or massacred outright - not out of the question, given the Taliban's material support for 9/11 - I expect US troops would be right back in there. For decades.
Posted by Zhang Fei 2021-08-13 13:39||   2021-08-13 13:39|| Front Page Top

#6 “But why would the USA want to keep Afghanistan unstable?

Look at a map. Afghanistan is located in central Asia. It is an impoverished, underdeveloped country that is landlocked. It borders the three top opponents of US power on the global stage, Russia, China, and Iran. Since 2001, not only has Afghanistan been a mess of terrorism, drug trafficking, and societal chaos, but this chaos has spilled over into the three neighboring countries.”
Posted by Glating the Rasher of Bacon2870 2021-08-13 17:56||   2021-08-13 17:56|| Front Page Top

#7 Is someone pulling together an official surrender ceremony.

In front of Green Beans.
Posted by swksvolFF 2021-08-13 19:28||   2021-08-13 19:28|| Front Page Top

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