Hosts Vice President Joe Biden and Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken
An internal memo in the State Department warned U.S. top officials of a potential collapse in Kabul following the Aug. 31 troop withdrawal deadline. The leaked information was reported by Wall Street Journal, citing ‘a U.S. official and a person familiar with the document.’
According to the classified cable, U.S. officials in Afghanistan warned the state’s administration that the Taliban was rapidly gaining territories and Afghan security forces may fail to stop its advance. The memo reportedly recommended on ways to mitigate the crisis and speed up an evacuation.
The cable reportedly urged the Biden administration to start evacuation no later than August 1.
The signatories of the dissent channel cable urged the State Department to begin registering and collecting personal data in advance for all Afghans who qualify for Special Immigrant Visas, aimed at those who worked as translators or interpreters; locally employed embassy staff; and for those eligible for other U.S. refugee programs while there was still six weeks left before the withdrawal deadline.
The memo was dated July 13 and was signed by 23 staff members at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. It was addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Director of Policy Planning Salman Ahmed.
According to the person familiar with the details, Blinken reviewed the cable shortly after he received it.
On July 14, a day after the cable was sent, the White House announced Operation Allies Refuge to support the relocation of interested and eligible Afghan nationals and their immediate families who supported the U.S. government for the special immigrant visas. Evacuations didn’t kick into high gear until last week and have been complicated by the Taliban takeover of Kabul on Sunday.
Some 18,000 Afghans and their families who had applied for special US Immigrant Visas reportedly remained in Kabul under Taliban control, while their efforts to reach the airport have failed.
Following the dispute between the White House and U.S. intelligence officials, the leaked memo is an important peace to solve the riddle of the U.S. policies in Afghanistan.
It is still not clear why Blinken and Biden disregarded the warnings from their officials in Kabul. Meanwhile, the Biden administration claims there were no signals of the near collapse.
Last month, Biden stood his ground, claiming that the defeat of the Afghan government was “highly unlikely” and that the US-trained Afghan forces could handle the threat.
The WSJ’s report comes soon after Gen. Mark Milley, the ‘woke’ chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, claimed that the rapid fall of Kabul was unanticipated.
“There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days.”- he said.
New details sparkled yet another wave of criticism against the Biden’s policy.
🚨🚨🚨 OMG 🚨🚨🚨
BIDEN WAS WARNED!!!
Confidential State Department Cable in July Warned of Afghanistan’s Collapse Confidential State Department Cable in July Warned of Afghanistan’s Collapse – WSJ https://t.co/THtB1DdouJ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 19, 2021
If the @WSJ report that Secretary Blinken knew terrorists were coming to Kabul is true, and he did nothing about it, then he needs to resign immediately. https://t.co/80nsDTZaOa
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) August 19, 2021
There were always only 2 possibilities for the Afghan debacle:
Either massive intel failure so Biden-Harris didn’t know what was going to happen OR they knew but ignored & misled Americans.
It’s now undeniable: Accurate intel was coming out of Afghanistan. https://t.co/RxSL25k4ya
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 19, 2021
