We reported earlier on one of the reasons that Americans were likely told to stay away from the airport – the horrific conditions that are happening right now. It’s gotten even worse.
Taliban were shooting people. Several people were hit outside the airport. But even beyond that, with the thousands trying to get in and the heat, people are being crushed to death and having medical emergencies right outside the walls, as they pushed forward, desperate to get away from the Taliban.
People were crushed to death today at Kabul airport and thousands others panicking. #afghanistan pic.twitter.com/NhF8zcuK1k
— Ted Buddy (@TedBuddy8) August 21, 2021
We are not seeing images of #Afghanistan from the #KabulAiport like this on American TV. Graphic content warning. https://t.co/vYjrOqgupR via @YouTube
— John Boit (@johnboit) August 21, 2021
But I said, it was likely to get worse. Unfortunately, now there’s even more to be concerned about.
The U.S. is tracking specific threats from ISIS against Kabul’s airport and against Americans and others trying to leave Afghanistan, two defense officials said Saturday.
The military is working on alternative ways to get Americans, Afghans and third-country nationals safely to the airport. “We are executing an alternate path,” a defense official said.
That was one of the reasons Americans were told not to go the airport by themselves, despite Joe Biden falsely telling everyone hours before that there were no difficulties for Americans getting to the airport.
There were also reports of the Taliban seizing the passports of Americans and not giving them back. Not only does that hurt the ability of the Americans then to prove their identity, but then it creates a concern about what the Taliban would be doing with the passports. They could have people impersonating Afghan-Americans, for example, to get on flights or into the airport.
If that wasn’t enough, there’s also the report about who is in control of security in Kabul for the Taliban.
Joe Biden said that he and his folks were in constant contact with the Taliban about safe passage of Americans to the airport. Some of that contact is likely going through Khalil Haqqani, who is in charge of security in the city. He also happens to be one of America’s most-wanted terrorists – with a $5 million bounty on his head for his links to Al Qaeda. That means Joe is basically talking with and entrusting the security of Americans to a terrorist connected to Al Qaeda.
“The fact we have Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani in charge of Kabul security is dismaying,” a British intelligence official told VOA on the condition of anonymity. “The Haqqani and al-Qaida have a long history together, you could argue they are intertwined, and it is highly unlikely they will cut ties.”
Retired senior British diplomat Ivor Roberts told VOA that assigning members of the Haqqani network to oversee the security of Kabul is akin to the “fox being put in charge of a chicken coop.”
Roberts, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit network that researches extremist groups, said he was surprised at the move. “I thought from the PR point of view, the Taliban was being a bit smarter than that,” he said.
“Instead, they’re putting forward the worst elements of their loose coalition, which sends a terrible signal to women, girls and civil society. And I think it increases the possibility of Afghanistan becoming a breeding ground for international terrorism again.”
He added, “I don’t think they will ever cut ties with al-Qaida. They’re deeply embedded with al-Qaida and always have been.”
Now remember, Joe said we didn’t have to worry about terrorism any more from Afghanistan. Yet, even as he says that, there’s now an ISIS threat against the airport. Even as he claims there isn’t Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and his own team contradicts him, there’s this guy with the Al Qaeda connection in charge. How safe are any Americans if this is the guy in charge? Joe Biden doesn’t seem to have a clue.
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