The term “indulgency fee” is so much more appealing than “extortion“, just ask U.S. Ambassador John Christopher Stevens; oh,…wait. I digress.

It is being reported that CIA Director William Burns flew to Afghanistan to negotiate with Taliban leadership yesterday.  Earlier today,  Joe Biden tells the G7 nations that he is sticking to the August 31st withdrawal deadline imposed by the Taliban who are in control of almost all regions of the country including the capital city of Kabul.

For future reference, remember this CIA meeting with Taliban leadership in case the administration ever tries to say we do not negotiate with terrorists.  The Biden administration doesn’t have a choice.  The Taliban circle the airport in Kabul. The Taliban have U.S. made advanced technology surface-to-air missiles (SAMS) that we left with the Afghan army before their defeat.   As a consequence, the Taliban could easily begin shooting down any airplane attempting to take-off or land from the airport…

Hence… CIA Director Burns is almost certainly negotiating payment terms with the Taliban for safe passage.  We can only imagine how much money the Biden administration is paying the Taliban leadership to permit ongoing operations at the Kabul airport.   Think about how much Biden would pay to avoid the optics of a U.S. airplane carrying hundreds of Americans being blown out of the sky on CNN and BBC news.   That is how much we are paying.

Biden is telling everyone at the G7 he is sticking to the August 31st deadline date.  Biden addressed the leaders on the call for about seven minutes. The NATO allies are worried they will not be able to get their people out.  However, undoubtedly the extraction of Americans and allies AFTER August 31st is part of the agreement between the CIA (on behalf of Biden) and Taliban leaders.

The Taliban are not stupid, they have all the leverage in this dynamic.  The Taliban know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to gain massive ransom payments without the international media visibility of physically holding hostages.  They also know the desperation of the Biden administration to avoid any painful optics.

Earlier today, the Taliban announced they will not permit Afghan nationals to travel to the airport in Kabul.  The Taliban are not going to permit U.S. embassy staff who are Afghan nationals to leave.

BBC is reporting that Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Majahid said: “Afghans should not go to the airport or try to leave the country.”  At the press briefing, Zabihullah Mujahid also said, “Women should stay at home for now, for their safety.”  The Taliban spokesman added it would be a “violation” of the agreement to allow evacuations of foreign nationals beyond the 31st of August.

This is the problem with, and motive for, the Biden administration refusing to quantify the number of Americans and SIV’s who remain in Afghanistan.  As long as the American public do not know how many are there, the administration can use any arbitrary number to claim they have all been removed regardless of their actual disposition.

If you don’t think a Democrat administration is willing to sacrifice a few thousand pesky Americans to save themselves the political issues of their abandonment; and if you think the Democrats are genuinely worried about the disposition of Afghan nationals that will likely be killed silently by Taliban enforcers….  please, remind yourself of Benghazi.

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