Things are getting so bad in Afghanistan that I can hardly keep up. By the time I publish one update, thinking it can’t get any worse for a while, more bad news breaks.

That’s happened again, this time via State Department Undersecretary Wendy Sherman, who took to the podium today to ostensibly give information on what’s transpiring. Instead, we got faux empathy and a lot of evidence that we are truly led by the most mediocre people imaginable.

Here was a bit of that before we get to the really disturbing announcements coming out of State.

Wendy Sherman: "[The Taliban] seek legitimacy….Their actions will speak to whether in fact they will protect the basic human rights of the Afghan people and their actions in these days will tell us whether there's reality to what their words say or whether there is not." pic.twitter.com/I0eMzr93VC

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 18, 2021

Will someone tell The Taliban that Wendy Sherman teaches at Harvard and therefore demands their respect?!

— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.substack.com (@JordanSchachtel) August 18, 2021

The Taliban don’t give two shakes about “legitimacy.” They just want Americans gone. After that, they will be content to isolate themselves as a tribal land more at home in the 8th century than the 21st. These kinds of pleas for them to respect human rights are just embarrassing at this point. It makes us look pathetic and weak. The Taliban do not care about your strongly worded letters.

But while Sherman’s general commentary was bad, it was her announcement that the Taliban are breaking the deal to provide safe passage to the airport for those looking to flee that stood out.

#BREAKING Taliban violating promises on Afghans' access to airport, says US State Department No. 2 pic.twitter.com/d2w9e9HmB5

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 18, 2021

Worse, the State Department also let it be known that they could not and would not guarantee safe passage to the airport for Americans stuck behind enemy lines.

"THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CANNOT ENSURE SAFE PASSAGE TO THE HAMID KARZAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,” the US Embassy in Kabul told American citizens in a security alert today, per @kylieatwood, adding space on evac flights will now be available on “first come, first serve basis.”

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 18, 2021

Right now, the British are running ops outside the airport to retrieve their citizens. US forces are staying within the perimeter, apparently under orders to just let Americans figure it out themselves.

The next act of this tragic saga is predictable. Americans are going to end up dead, and lots and lots of Afghan allies with special issuance visas are going to end up dead. In response, we are going to end up in open conflict again. By withdrawing in the incompetent and inexcusable way that he has, Biden has accomplished the opposite of what he promised. Instead of getting our troops out, we now have 7,000 of them redeployed to Kabul. This is a powder-keg waiting to go off, and even if it’s accidental, someone is going to light a match.

Stay tuned because I’m fairly confident this won’t be the last piece of terrible news we get today. Things are on a knife’s edge, and Biden has already announced that he’s going to talk about COVID and then head back to Delaware.