Tag : Afghanistan
Pentagon Adds Afghan Resistance to SOL List
By Tom Squitieri WASHINGTON — The Pentagon made it clear Thursday that the remains of the once-recognized Afghan government — now battling the Taliban from the Panjshir Valley — is on its own and not to expect U.S. assistance. “The US military mission in Afghanistan is over,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said when asked whetherRead more
As Kabul Morphs to Saigon And Then Beirut, The Pentagon Works To Recreate Dunkirk. But There Will Be No Casablanca Endings
By Tom Squitieri Red Snow News WASHINGTON – The last frenzy days of the current chapter of America’s longest war are set to end after a few more sunsets over the Hindu Kush. Much will be left behind, beyond weapons, dashed dreams, and thousands whose lives now are in jeopardy. The rubble of relevancy andRead more
Out Of Despair Comes New Life
By Tom Squitieri WASHINGTON – Three babies have been born on US military aircraft flying them out of Afghanistan, Gen. Stephen Lyons, head of U.S, Transportation Command, told Pentagon reporters Monday. What nationality those babies will be remains to be determined. In Germany, where one of the Afghan woman’s baby was born, citizenship is notRead more
An Air Maneuver From Vietnam Resurfaces At Kabul As Threat is “Significant”
By Tom Squitieri WASHINGTON — No one at the Pentagon wants to harken back to Vietnam regarding anything to do with Afghanistan but actions speak louder than silence at the Kabul airport. To avoid being downed by hostile fire at the airport — Gen. Stephen Lyons, head of U.S. Transportation Command said “The threat isRead more
While U.S. military leaders fret about its citizens in Kabul getting to airport, UK, French forces ferret out their citizens and escort them to safety
By Tom Squitieri WASHINGTON — The mission in Kabul is set, the Pentagon’s top leaders said, and that seems to mean U.S. citizens are on their own to get to the airport and fly to safety. Asked during a press briefing if the burgeoning U.S. military assets at Kabul airport will include ways to escortRead more
It Started With People Jumping to End Their Lives; It Ends With People Clinging to Save Their Lives. Both Wound Up Falling to Deaths.
By Tom Squitieri WASHINGTON – Joe Biden had a clear vision what needed to do in Afghanistan when he spoke to reporters during his visit to Kabul in January 2002. “Let’s make it clear,” Biden said then. “I am not talking about peacekeepers. I’m not talking about blue helmets. I’m talking about people who shootRead more
BIDEN OVERSAW THE REOPENING OF U.S. EMBASSY IN KABUL IN 2002; TODAY HE AUTHORIZES TROOPS TO HELP EVACUATE EMBASSY PERSONNEL AND OTHERS.
By Tom Squitieri WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is mobilizing around 6,000 troops to help evacuate and protect U.S. diplomatic personnel and qualified Afghans from Kabul, with the operation to begin within 24 to 48 hours, Pentagon officials said Thursday. Following the Pentagon announcement, officials in the U.K. and Germany said their governments areRead more
A Potemkin Peace in Afghanistan –“It Really Is A Mess”
By Tom Squitieri, Talk Media News WASHINGTON — Late last month, U.S. military units went into rural Afghanistan and took out a top al-Qaeda operative. This would be October 2020 — 19 years after U.S. troops first entered Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, attacks, in October 2001 to do the same thing: take outRead moreIf not victory, , can there be success in Afghanistan?
WASHINGTON — If you search for the metrics to winning the war in Afghanistan, you will get plenty of results, plenty of metrics — and no victory declared. And that may be the way it will be, indefinitely. At best, the U.S. is seeking success, not victory, experts are now saying. The U.S.-led coalition isRead moreObama’s Foreign Policy Poker Face
(U.S. News and World Report) By the end of week two, students taking the course “Navigating the Checkpoints in Life” at Washington and Jefferson College are happily grasping just how the “the rules of the bluff” work. You can see it in their eyes and smiles. They beam with appreciation of this new knowledge. TheyRead more
Guns for the Guys
The idea of arming the Syrian rebels is being chatted up once again. The debate will wander and focus in many theoretical directions. Yet essentially the decision will focus on one key pivot: is the goal a short-term or long-term victory? The safe bet: short-term considerations will win out. The U.N. proclamation that the oneRead more-
Karzai Hat, No Takers
The bloom has long been off the Karzai hat as Afghanistan becomes worse and worse. Right after U.S. forces went into Afghanistan in 2001 — in those heady “Paris 1944” days of liberating Kabul and most of the country — one of my best friends put to me an urgent request. Knowing I was enRead more
