We must be cautious in reviewing any/all media articles about the fluid situation in Afghanistan, as both Leftist and NeoCon media are framing the crisis story to fit their preferred narrative. All DC media reporting should be viewed through the prism of cynicism and skepticism.
CNN is reporting the State Dept. Narrative that Taliban have surrounded the Kabul airport and there is no safe way for Americans to reach the evacuation point. However, the Pentagon is reporting that the Taliban is “not interfering in their mission” to facilitate the evacuation of Americans, and Taliban members “are not stopping U.S. citizens with American passports” from traveling to the airport.
When we review a State Department position (DoS) on anything, it should be noted that DoS personnel are, by ideological tribe, very dramatic, tender and pearl-clutching leftists in their worldview. State Department officials are the wokeist of the international woke community. As a consequence of their alignment and role, CNN is almost identically predisposed to the dramatic flair.
CNN takes the DoS bulletin and proclaims that Americans are trapped outside the airport by the Taliban. There is no evidence of this claim being accurate. There’s a difference between “we cannot ensure safe passage”, and “your passage is unsafe.” Yes, things are sketchy and unstable, but there have been no reports of safety incidents with any Americans.
When this baseline forms the forward analysis, the paradigm of historic western engagement with North Korea takes on an entire new dimension.
The train wreck was started by challenging China publicly, in front of the international press, likely believing such an aggressive posture would weaken Republican criticism about the Job Biden administration being soft/weak on China. However, using a joint press conference as the forum only provided insult to the Beijing delegation.
