Article

2022-07-26 Afghanistan

CIA director ‘very proud' of Afghanistan analysis that led to the disastrous withdrawal

[American Thinker] Close enough for government work’ has taken on a whole new dimension in the Biden era with the remarks reportedly delivered by CIA Director William Burns Wednesday at an Aspen Security Forum discussion. Jerry Dunleavy of the Washington Examiner has the story.

CIA Director William Burns said he is "very proud" of the agency’s analysis in Afghanistan in 2021 despite being blindsided by the swift collapse of the Afghan government and failing to predict how quickly the Taliban would take Kabul. (snip)

Burns said Wednesday during an Aspen Security Forum discussion that he was "very proud ... of the analysis, with all of its imperfections, that we tried to provide to policymakers over the six months leading up to the withdrawal."

The CIA director prefaced this by admitting the agency had not predicted the Taliban would take over the country as fast as they did and that "all of us have lessons to learn from experiences like that." He suggested that the CIA had at least gotten it less wrong than other parts of the U.S. government.

"As the president has said publicly, none of us anticipated that the Afghan government was going to flee as quickly as it did, that the Afghan military was going to collapse as fast as it did," Burns said. "Having said that, I think CIA at least was always on the more pessimistic end of the spectrum in terms of highlighting, you know, over the course of the spring and the summer, the obvious ways in which the Taliban were advancing rapidly and how this was hollowing out in many ways, not just the political leadership but also the military."

Burns shared the CIA’s assessment in July 2021, when he did not say he believed the country would fall in half a year, let alone in less than a month.

Posted by Besoeker 2022-07-26 03:46|| || Front Page|| [25 views ] Top

Evidently monitoring and controlling your failed effort for twenty years gave you no additional insights.

It is very difficult for me to believe that not one AFG analyst or cell of analysts proffered a scenario or predictive analysis that might have foretold such events.

Posted by Besoeker 2022-07-26 04:28|| 2022-07-26 04:28|| Front Page Top

#2 ...At this point, I'm inclined to wonder if the plan wasn't simply, "Get us the hell out of there and blame everything on Trump," knowing they'd have cover in the media.

Mike

Posted by MikeKozlowski 2022-07-26 06:37|| 2022-07-26 06:37|| Front Page Top

#3 If so, then the results must have been intentional.

Posted by Ebbaise Brown5939 2022-07-26 07:08|| 2022-07-26 07:08|| Front Page Top

#4 /\ It was an obvious money pit which would produce zero dividends for 'Build Back Better' or the 'Green New Deal.' Biden pulled the plug, AFG funding found it's way elsewhere, possibly Biden's signature effort against Trump's Russian collaborators in Ukraine.

New day, new effort. Same Deep State handlers and MIC accomplices.

The AFG effort was likely sold to the Chinese for $1.00

Posted by Besoeker 2022-07-26 07:09|| 2022-07-26 07:09|| Front Page Top

#5 One can look at a country and think it is strong only to have everything change by the appearance of the US leaving so quick we left our own civilians behind. I'd like to hear how proud the withdrawal planners are.

Posted by ruprecht 2022-07-26 11:08|| 2022-07-26 11:08|| Front Page Top

#6 One wonders if the precipitous pull out was due to foreknowledge of the Russian invasion. A shifting of investment opportunity so to speak.

Posted by Jefe101 2022-07-26 11:29|| 2022-07-26 11:29|| Front Page Top

#7 Ref #6: I would not discount your theory Jefe.

Posted by Besoeker 2022-07-26 11:40|| 2022-07-26 11:40|| Front Page Top

#8 I guess that if you hold up the Bay of Pigs as your standard CIA operation, this one was a rousing success.

Posted by Super Hose 2022-07-26 12:29|| 2022-07-26 12:29|| Front Page Top

#9 I just assumed they had their war taken away and fucked up the withdrawal in a gigantic temper tantrum.

The people who tell you they are the adults in the room are actually have the emotional stability of a three-year-old who just had his marshmallow taken away.

Posted by Tiny Jeater6933 2022-07-26 13:04|| 2022-07-26 13:04|| Front Page Top

#10 he is "very proud" of the agency’s analysis in Afghanistan in 2021 despite being blindsided by the swift collapse of the Afghan government and failing to predict how quickly the Taliban would take Kabul. (snip)

Blind-sided ya say? Arrrrgh.

Posted by JohnQC 2022-07-26 15:25|| 2022-07-26 15:25|| Front Page Top

#11 Is the new Klingon motto going to be "We're f*&^ed up, just not State Department f*&^ed up"??

Posted by Bangkok Billy 2022-07-26 17:08|| 2022-07-26 17:08|| Front Page Top

#12 Ref #9: They closed up shop and were wheels up two weeks prior to their Foggy Bottom colleagues. Asset recruitment and reporting ended sometime prior to that.
Took their toys and went home.

Thanks Tiny.

Posted by Besoeker 2022-07-26 21:22|| 2022-07-26 21:22|| Front Page Top

17:51 Super Hose
17:19 Uneanter Snavith8416
16:56 Jefe101
16:32 Mullah Richard
16:29 Mullah Richard
16:27 Mullah Richard
16:19 Mullah Richard
16:16 Procopius2k
16:15 swksvolFF
16:11 Besoeker
16:09 Tom
16:08 Procopius2k
16:05 Procopius2k
16:04 Skidmark
16:04 Lord Garth
16:01 Lord Garth
15:55 M. Murcek
15:52 Lord Garth
15:30 NoMoreBS
15:16 Mullah Richard
15:12 MikeKozlowski
15:09 NoMoreBS
14:57 NoMoreBS
14:56 Grom the Reflective