Earlier today the occupant of the White House, or someone on his behalf, released a written statement on the current status of the Afghanistan crisis:

WHITE HOUSE – “This morning, I met with my national security team in Washington and my commanders in the field. We discussed the strike that U.S. forces took last night against the terrorist group ISIS-K in Afghanistan. I said we would go after the group responsible for the attack on our troops and innocent civilians in Kabul, and we have. This strike was not the last. We will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay. Whenever anyone seeks to harm the United States or attack our troops, we will respond. That will never be in doubt. I thanked General McKenzie for his leadership of that mission, and for his commitment to the safety of our troops in Afghanistan.

The situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous, and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high. Our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24-36 hours. I directed them to take every possible measure to prioritize force protection, and ensured that they have all the authorities, resources and plans to protect our men and women on the ground. They assured me that they did, and that they could take these measures while completing the mission and safely retrograding our personnel.

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There are two puzzle pieces that help to make sense of the Politico report about “U.S. Officials” giving the Taliban a list of American and U.S. Afghan names to allow through the checkpoints. {GO DEEP 1 and GO DEEP 2}  However, if you don’t understand the two dueling power teams -each attempting to position- it doesn’t make sense.

Remember, the State Dept (DoS) and CIA are one team.  The White House and Pentagon are another team.

♦ TEAM One – The Department of State is aligned with the CIA.  Their media PR firms are CNN, CNNi and the Washington Post. Their ideology is favorable to the United Nations.  Their internal corruption is generally driven by relationship with foreign actors.  References: Hillary Clinton, Clinton Global Initiative, John McCain, Qatar, Muslim Brotherhood, Samantha Powers, Susan Rice, Cass Sunstein, Brookings Institute, Lawfare, China-centric, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Council on Foreign Relations.

♦ TEAM Two – The White House is aligned with the Pentagon (DoD) and National Security Council (NSC).  Their media PR firms are domestic in nature. New York Times, Politico, etc.  Their internal corruption is generally driven by domestic influence.  References: Barack Obama, George Bush, Wall St, Big Banks, Multinational Corporations, Defense Contractors, FBI (state police), Judicial Branch, and community activists writ large.

Both teams are highly political. However, the State Dept/CIA team consider themselves above political changes; essentially the deeper Deep State.

With the DoS/CIA aligned with CNN/WaPo, when the Pentagon needs to defend their specific interests in crisis management, they must go elsewhere, hence Politico.

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♦ 82,300 people have been evacuated by U.S. personnel.  ♦ 4,500 of them are Americans.

The U.S. and U.K. officials are warning American and British citizens to leave the vicinity of the Kabul airport immediately. [BBC Alert Here – and – State Dept. Alert Here].

The State Department warning reads:

“Because of security threats outside the gates of Kabul airport, we are advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a U.S. government representative to do so.

U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately.” (link)

The U.K. Foreign Office said: “Move away to a safe location and await further advice.”  Commanders dealing with vast crowds around the airport are increasingly concerned about the possibility of suicide attacks.  What the new advice means for the British evacuation operation is not clear.

From Earlier Reporting there were an original 6,000 Americans in the region  – “U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that 4,500 Americans have been “safely” evacuated from Afghanistan in the last couple of weeks, with up to 1,500 more remaining in the country.

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Following a seven minute meeting with G7 allies, the White House occupant will attempt to justify the ever-worsening crisis in Afghanistan.

The effort is expected to begin at 4:30pm ET with Livestream Links below:

White House Livestream Link – Global News Livestream Link – WaPo Alternate Livestream Link

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If the White House appears to be running around in a panic that’s because they are.  The USA Today/Suffolk polling shows a massive collapse in Joe Biden approval far below anything previously registered for President Trump.

According to the reports of polling outcome, overall approval for Biden is 41% with disapproval at 55%.

Additionally, Biden barely has 50% approval for his handling of the pandemic, but a mere 39% approve of his handling of the economy.  THAT is a major issue that has the potential to infect the entire Democrat platform.

THAT is also why Nancy Pelosi is pushing the agenda so hard right now.  They have lost the American public and the tsunami consequences are creating massive voter backlash.

According to USA today, “while he has held the backing of 87% of Democrats, only 32% of independents say he’s doing a good job,” again, that’s a major problem.

(USA Today) […] Half approved of his handling of the pandemic, 39% of his handling of the economy, 26% of his handling of the Afghan withdrawal.

“Today, President Biden’s overall approval has taken a turn for the worse due to his awful job performance rating on Afghanistan,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk Political Research Center. “His approval on immigration and the economy are also upside down. The only issue keeping him remotely in the game is his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, where he is barely at 50%.” (more)

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It’s all a pantomime folks.  According to BBC News reporting on the Joe Biden teleconference call with G7 leaders, the sum total of the call lasted seven minutes.

Think about that.  With so much at stake and so much to be discussed and coordinated within the emergency situation in Afghanistan, the discussion between Joe Biden and the allied leaders of the U.K, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan, lasted only seven minutes:

(LINK)

It takes longer to get through the drive-thru at a McDonalds than the G7 spent on their Afghanistan briefing and coordination.

That conference call was for two reasons: (1) the White House talking point of a ‘collaboration with G7 leaders’; and (2) a photo-op.  That’s it folks, nothing more.

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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.

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Keeping in mind that State Department personnel are delicate wallflowers prone to exaggerated proclamations of situations, a report from U.S. embassy staff in Afghanistan trying to reach the airport contrasts a different narrative than currently outlined by the White House.

According to state department cables released to NBC news, some of the Afghan staff said they would rather take a bullet from the Taliban rather than attempt another effort to run the gauntlet and reach the Kabul airport.

(Via NBC) […]  The cable, which was sent Saturday, said memos were sent Wednesday inviting Afghan staff members at the embassy to head to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. It told them to take food and to prepare for difficult conditions.  “However, no one anticipated the brutal experience that occurred,” the cable said.

Staffers reported being jostled, hit, spat on and cursed at by Taliban fighters at checkpoints near the airport, it said, adding that criminals were taking advantage of the chaos while the U.S. military tried to maintain order “in an extremely physical situation.”

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The old axiom about being in a hole and quit digging applies here.  In some weird disconnected reality today, Joe Biden not only reflected his detachment, but he pulled Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Nat Sec Advisor Jake Sullivan, Def Sec Lloyd Austin and co-dependent enabler Kamala Harris into the hole with him with these remarks:

“I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world. I have spoken with our NATO allies, we’ve spoken with our NATO allies through our secretary of state (points to Blinken). Our National Security Advisor (points to Sullivan) has been in contact with his counterparts throughout the world and our allies; as has my […] secretary of defense (points to Austin), the fact of the matter is I have not seen that. As a matter of fact the exact opposite I have gotten”.

This statement is exactly the opposite of the reality.  The U.K. has roundly condemned Joe Biden’s poor and unilateral decision-making, even going so far as both parties in British Parliament holding Biden in contempt with their public criticism.  As noted by Newsweek, “Like much of the world, European countries have looked on with dismay as two decades of a U.S-led Western campaign in Afghanistan collapsed within hours,” and leaders of those nations have been very public with their criticism of Biden’s weak, ineffective and incompetent action.

Either the people around Joe Biden are lying to him about the perspective of the international community toward his incompetence; or Biden simply doesn’t pay enough attention to the world around him to see it.  Either explanation is alarming in the extreme, and the U.S. media’s willingness to keep pretending the emperor is not naked is only making things worse.  WATCH:

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The FUBAR in Afghanistan is so large in scope and failure, the Pentagon appears to be throwing the White House under the bus; and they are being considerably obtuse while doing it…. or are they?

If these reports from Daily Mail and Wall Street Journal are accurate, the Pentagon is claiming that Joint Chief’s Chairman General Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Joe Biden about the pending collapse of Afghanistan if 2,500 troops were removed.   However, both Milley and Austin are on record only a few weeks before the collapse saying exactly the opposite.

(Via Wall Street Journal) –  In his Monday speech defending America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Biden said he would not shrink from his share of responsibility.

That would include his decision to bring home U.S. troops, which was made against the recommendations of his top military generals and many diplomats, who warned that a hasty withdrawal would undermine security in Afghanistan, several administration and defense officials said.

The president’s top generals, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley, urged Mr. Biden to keep a force of about 2,500 troops, the size he inherited, while seeking a peace agreement between warring Afghan factions, to help maintain stability. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who previously served as a military commander in the region, said a full withdrawal wouldn’t provide any insurance against instability.

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