“The U.S. embassy in Kabul told Americans in Afghanistan to leave the country immediately in response to an increase in violence, and to not “rely on U.S. government flights” in the process.
“The U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options. Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the Embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul,” the embassy said on its government website Saturday.
Fox News has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment. ” Foxnews
Comment: Time to go. pl
https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-embassy-kabul-leave-taliban-violence
Good advice. With two provincial capitals in as many days falling to the Taliban and several more under heavy attack it’s clear they are going for broke. Daily US airstrikes seem to be doing little to halt the advance. In fact it looks to me like PR is a primary concern, as many seem to follow directly after the Taliban capture Humvees and other vehicles. CNN showing taxpayer funder hardware driving around flying the flag of the IEA is very bad optics for the Pentagon, after all.
The increasing number of USAF bombing sorties over Afghanistan, another today killing an estimated 200 Taliban seems to show yet again how agreement incapable the US now is.
This must be putting any US operatives in the country at increasing risk of retribution.
Add to that what seems to me to be a Taliban strategy of taking over the countryside and smaller regional cities followed by food sieges on the holdout cities.
Take Kabul, say the Taliban locate a couple of their SF teams, armed with Stingers, oh the irony, that down say an outgoing flight loaded with fleeing Government employees. This would pretty much shut the airport down. How then do the 600 US Marines get fed or even out with the enraged Taliban after then.
Whilst understanding why they are doing it the bombing is very much a two edged sword.
If you look over there, in the opposite direction, you will see everything is fantastic. Easy
KIA
Back on 26 February 2003, Hamid Karzai, the “interim president” of Afghanistan, appeared before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations committee, in a typical event with typical talk that went on for an hour and 24 minutes. One of the members of the committee was a senator named Joe Biden–
https://www.c-span.org/video/?175245-1/post-conflict-afghanistan
So far, Karzai does not appear to have a problem with the Taliban, and is (predictably) criticizing the U.S. How much U.S. taxpayer money made its way to Karzai and his relatives and friends?
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) deals only with “reconstruction”, and not with other money spent for almost 20 years.
https://www.sigar.mil/about/index.aspx?SSR=1
Elements of the Afghan Army are joining up with the Taliban and are being welcomed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8INVJZgD9C4&t=57s
No RnR for the contractors, Bangkok is not open for business.
Taliban took 5 provincial capitals in the past 48 hours, these are the first major population centers they have taken. This is rout. Video showing Afghan army amicably defecting to the Taliban near Kunduz, riding on their US humvees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8INVJZgD9C4&t=57s
Gradually, then suddenly.
Barbara Ann
Like a rotten brick wall falling.
Tickets booked.
Nathan W Stroupe
On the assumption that Tidewater is correct in identifying you as the Afghanistan Country Director for Turquoise Mountain, I’d like to wish yourself and your team the best of luck. I, like many folk I guess, first learned of Turquoise Mountain after reading Rory Stewart’s The Places in Between. The work you do is important and your team must be worried for the future.
If you were to be inclined to author a guest post here about Turquoise Mountain’s work on preserving Afghanistan’s heritage and so on, I’d advise you to get in touch with Colonel Lang. Personally, I’d find this very interesting and it would make a change from the endless bad news emanating from that Place in Between.
Barbara Ann
He IS in touch with me. I advised him and his Afghan Pushtun wife to leave a month ago.
Good to hear Colonel.
Are you the Nathan W. Stroupe who is the in-country director of Turquoise Mountain in Kabul? I understand that your organization has been working hard to preserve Afghan craftsmanship and has been in fact, quite successful.
https: //www.turquoisemountain.org/about
I am very sorry this is happening to you and to your artists. I pray that the people who absolutely must leave have been able to get permission to enter the UK. I wish you and them safe travelling and good fortune.