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| Afghanistan |
| Marine in Kabul airport blast says he was told not to shoot ISIS bomber |
| 2023-03-10 |
| [NY Post] A Marine who survived the deadly bombing at Kabul’s airport during the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan told lawmakers Wednesday he was told not to kill a suspected ISIS terrorist who he believes was responsible for later killing 13 of his fellow service members and countless Afghans. Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews recounted to the House Foreign Affairs Committee how his team deployed to Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021, and were tracking a man who intelligence officers believed was a suicide bomber "throughout the entirety" of the day leading up to the explosion. "Intel guys confirmed the suicide bomber ... described as clean-shaven, brown-dressed, black vest and traveling with an older companion," he said. "I asked intel guys why he wasn’t apprehended sooner since we had a full description. I was told the asset could not be compromised." Vargas-Andrews recounted his experience during his opening remarks at the committee’s hearing examining the Biden administration’s handling of the final weeks of the 20-year US war in Afghanistan. The chaotic effort brought massive crowds to the airport with fewer than 6,000 US troops deployed to assist. |
| Posted by:Slavising Unineting5672 |
| #17 Maybe. Busy, sometimes takes some tens of minutes for a simple reply. Read something, get chores done, get a chance to type. Don't know. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-03-10 21:44 |
| #16 #13 - It was likely the short clipped sentences? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2023-03-10 19:22 |
| #15 Nah, he writes better. But its 5 o'clock -somewhere- and Friday, so I guess I have time to check in here after work on how that statement is wrong. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-03-10 16:51 |
| #14 ^ The I talk / write like Dale entry of the day. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-03-10 16:38 |
| #13 Sucks for these troopers and all those civvies stacked like cord. Clusterfuck. Decision to shoot took more guts than the decision makers had. Devilish really. Bad Guys have to figure everyone trying to catch a plane is at some level a hostile. Send in a boomer and A) stack bodies or B) get video of US Troops shooting civilians replayed for eternity Local elder veteran: "Why would you evacuate the troops, and then think you could just evacuate everyone else at your pleasure?" |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-03-10 16:23 |
| #12 Please dont shoot at State Department and CIA assets / contractors. Thank you. |
| Posted by: mossomo 2023-03-10 16:18 |
| #11 That worked out so well... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-03-10 16:10 |
| #10 Personally - I think who made the call didn't want video of US Troops shooting into a crowd. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-03-10 16:04 |
| #9 Yes and no. Plenty of VIPs have been hit by dedicated boomers, like that CIA gal and General Massoud. That scene at the beginning of 13 Hours when they were pulling security for the mayor (I think) and a flash mob of reporters show up. "Any one of these guys could have a bomb." was the line or something like it. In this case, they argued, and I'm not sure to what ends, a boom needed to happen. It's still in my They Wouldn't do That, but then I have transferred a number of stories from that file to my WTF file. "They'd never kick a bunch of refugees off a plane and into certain death to bring home a technical as a trophy." |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-03-10 15:52 |
| #8 If I need specific people killed, someone with a self destruct vest seems iffy. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-03-10 15:27 |
| #7 Back When, some tinfoils were saying somebody on 'our side' needed that blast to happen. Dunno man, that's pretty wild. Then that family got zapped. Then the next two years happened. And here we are. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-03-10 15:24 |
| #6 John Kerry awarded himself 3 purple hearts. When awarded the third you are sent home. |
| Posted by: crazyhorse 2023-03-10 14:37 |
| #5 I think it's better to be Article 90ed than blown up don't you? |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2023-03-10 13:51 |
| #4 It would be interesting to know who received medals for the evacuation. My bet is the officer who said no received a medal. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2023-03-10 10:13 |
| #3 how many times did they say to NOT shoot Osama? a lot! |
| Posted by: 746 2023-03-10 09:38 |
| #2 I believe I would have just disobeyed the order. |
| Posted by: Chris 2023-03-10 09:23 |
| #1 Sgt Vargas-Andrews lost an arm and a leg in explosions from this terror incident that occurred after he was told not to shoot. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2023-03-10 07:05 |