The Fall of Kabul and the Kabul Airlift

Evacuating Hamid Karzai International Airport
August 29, 2021  
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The “Fall of Kabul” colloquially refers to the capture of the city of Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on 15 August 2021 and, only slightly tangentially, the ensuing debacle at Kabul Intl Airport. While capture might be something of a misnomer to purists, there can be no argument that by the middle of the week of 16 August Taliban forces effectively controlled the city and its environs. Though most of the information available is centered on Hamid Karzai International Airport, additional imagery and ground truth about the actual occupation of the city is slowly becoming available.

Edit: But first, an important question answered.

Q: How can I help Afghan refugees?

A: Start with the Combat Flip Flops Afghan Refugee Extraction

Warning: there is graphic imagery below. 

Taliban victory parade after the fall of Kabul.

A Taliban military parade in Kabul on 19 August 2021 celebrating victory and Afghanistan’s Independence Day. In the early 19th century Afghanistan was a British Protectorate. Afghanistan became an independent state after the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919. Unknown photo provenance.

Read on for additional ways to help.

Warning: It will be a difficult task to write about this inexcusable travesty of American foreign policy and military strategy without using our entire repertoire of profanity, but we will try. If you are any form of apologist who has found a way to justify, excuse, or rationalize this appalling event (whether for partisan or other reasons), you should probably fuck off to another website now. Or just fuck off. For those querulous few who have questioned our opinion(s), I cannot speak for the team here. I will speak only for me: yes, we should have withdrawn from Afghanistan. In fact, we should have done so years ago. However, the irredeemable, unprofessional, and ad hoc manner in which the penultimate activity of “Operation Freedom Sentinel” was conducted is — and should be treated as — criminal.

Political and military careers should end over this.

The Fall of Kabul

Evacuating Aghans, Allies, and AmCits 

 

The Abbey Gate / Baron Hotel Attack

Events at Hamid Karzai International Airport

Scenes from the Fall of Kabul

 

Scenes from the Withdrawal

Desperate Afghans fall from plan

Taliban Take Control

 

Life after the Taliban

Complex Attack

Credits, Appreciations, and Citations

NOTE: WE ARE AWARE THIS IS INCOMPLETE. VETTING IMAGERY AND INFORMATION TAKES TIME. PLEASE BEAR WITH US.

Operation Allies Refuge

Kabul Airlift: Evacuating Afghan SVIs, Allies, and American Citizens

Operation Allies Refuge is the official name of the United States military operation to evacuate Afghan citizens who are/were at great risk of retaliation by Taliban and related forces after the end of the NATO mission in July and the remaining months of Operation Freedom’s Shield.

British, French, and other military personnel (notably not Americans) were operating, and as of this writing continue to operate, within the city to “recover” their own nationals (and other civilians). However, their ability to do so seemed to be more by the sufferance and in some areas inattention of the Taliban leadership as it was their ability to project firepower.

The militaries of other Coalition forces were deployed to Hamid Karzai International Airport, including Australian troops and German, Norwegian, and Polish SOF personnel, but initial reports make it unclear whether any of those formations are pushing out of the airport area — or indeed even if “friendlies” are in control of the MANPAD footprint.

United States military personnel, primarily of the 24th MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) and the 82nd Airborne (elements of which are always on standby as part of the IRF, or Immediate Response Force), deployed to Afghanistan to reinforce soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 31st infantry of the 10th Mountain Divisions 2nd Brigade Combat Team shortly after some those soldiers returned to Ft. Drum. 4-31 INF was already in-country providing security for the airport.

Gyrene of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines at Kabul International Airport.

Gyrene of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines at Kabul International Airport.

 

Soldiers of 4-31 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, HKIA.

Soldiers of 4-31 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, HKIA.

None of the US Task Force were, as of the end of the first week, pushing patrols out of the immediate vicinity of the airport. This inaction was reportedly a source of significant friction between the command staff of the 82nd Airborne and that of the British Paras, though we do not know as yet if that was due to a National Command Authority directive or indecisiveness and hesitation on the part of the local US commander.

And we may never know.

On 18 August, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin advised reporters at a press conference that despite having 5,000 or more troops on the ground at the Kabul Airport, the United States did not have the “capability” to reach out from HKIA to retrieve US citizens or approved Afghans.

“The forces that we have are focused on the security of the airfield. And you know how important that is, and you know what happens if we — if we lose the ability to provide that security,” Aspin said.

This statement was made literally as British and French soldiers (less than 1,000 and approximately 200 soldiers deployed, respectively) were doing exactly that. So too were operators of the Bundeswehr’s KSK, who conducted one or missions under the name “Blue Light” during the week of August 23rd. There were approximately 300 German soldiers on the ground at HKIA (not counting aircrews, etc.)

French SOF personnel evacuating people for the Kabul Airlift

French special operator (unknown if RAID, GIGN, or military SOF) in Kabul, week of 23 August 21. Unknown photo provenance.

Granted, none of these contingents had overall responsibility for securing the entire site, but it defies credulity that the United States could not project power into Kabul and its suburbs. This appears to have been a sentiment shared by the troops on the ground during the entirety of the “Kabul Airlift” operation. Numerous anecdotal reports, social media posts, and unofficial communications from Marines and Airborne troopers made it clear the inability or unwillingness of their leadership to commit to action was at least as galling to them as it was to their British, French, Afghan Commando, and other allied counterparts.

German KSK soldier at nor near HKIA

German KSK soldier at nor near HKIA. Unknown if this was before, after, or during “Blue Light”. Unknown photo provenance.

Edit 28 AUG 21: Reuters.com is maintaining a list of Afghanistan evacuees by nationality. You can find that here.

A Taliban fighter walks past the defaced front of a beauty salon in the Shahr-e-Naw of Kabul.

A Taliban fighter walks past the defaced front of a beauty salon in the Shahr-e-Naw of Kabul. Taliban longtime repression of women is based on their interpretation Sharia law and has been well documented. Women under their rule were not allowed out of their homes without a male escort and “suitable” garb, were not allowed to work with men (where they were able to work at all), and were subject to savage punishments for perceived or alleged crimes. Younger females, including teenage girls and younger, were often “awarded” to Taliban fighters in recognition of valor, accomplishments, loyalty, etc. The first fatwa issued by the Taliban since assuming control of the government forbade the co-education of males and females in the same classroom, because such a practice is the “root of all evils” in society.  

Taliban take Kabul: at Bagram Airfield

“One of the most surreal moments of documenting the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan was standing alongside Taliban fighters in the exact same spot on the runway of Bagram Airfield, where four years earlier Sebastian Walker (@sebwalker) and Javier Manzano (@javiermanzano_films) and I interviewed US soldiers from the Army’s 10th Mountain Division who had just stepped foot on Afghan soil, eager to join the fight. The American soldiers were idealistic, hailing from the most deployed unit of US soldiers since the 9/11 terror attacks. They believed they could change the tide of a war that had already dragged on for 17 years. That promise now feels like nothing more than a distant memory.”  Adam Desiderio 

 

 

Kabul Intl Airport

 

[Hamid Karzai International Airport, or HKIA]

By the time the US-backed government of Afghanistan collapsed the only large-scale safe way out of the country was Kabul Intl Airport (formally the Hamid Karzai International Airport).

Chaos at HKIA during the Kabul Airlift

Thousands of Afghans and foreign nationals thronged the airport in an attempt to escape the country before the Taliban completely assumed power. The images and videos from this have provoked visceral reactions from people around the world. Many hearken back directly to the abandonment of Saigon in Vietnam in April, 1975.

How the very last aircraft with American aboard will manage to depart, with no friendly troops on the ground to assure safety, I cannot imagine.

Aerial view of Hamid Karzai International Airport by @maxarttechnolgies (IG account)

Aerial view of Hamid Karzai International Airport by @maxarttechnolgies.

 

The Kabul Intl Airport is in the NE of the country, on the NE side of the city of Kabul.

The Kabul International Airport is in the NE of the country, on the NE side of the city of Kabul.

 

Hamid Karzai International Airport as it relates to the geography of the city.

Hamid Karzai International Airport as it relates to the geography of the city.

 

They layout of Kabul Intl Airport

The basic layout of the airport. HKIA runs somewhat East-to-West and lies roughly on the NE side of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

A soldier from 4th Platoon, D Company ("Punishers"), 34th Infantry of the 10th Mountain Division and two local youngsters he has temporarily been charged with looking after.

A soldier from 4th Platoon, D Company (“Punishers”), 34th Infantry of the 10th Mountain Division, and two local youngsters he has temporarily been charged with looking after.

 

GROM operators evacuating Polish nationals at HKIA.

GROM operators evacuating Polish nationals at HKIA.

 

Danish SOF troops recovering Denmark embassy personnel during the evacuation of Kabul Intl Airport

Danish SOF troops recovering Denmark embassy personnel during the evacuation of Hamid Karzai International Airport.

 

Squaddies from 16 Air Assault Brigade evacuating Kabul International Airport

Squaddies from 16 Air Assault Brigade evacuating Kabul International Airport.

 

Unidentified Norwegian soldier with unidentified infant on military aircraft scheduled to depart to Oslo from Kabul Intl Airport, several days after Taliban forces took control of Kabul.

Unidentified Norwegian soldier with unidentified infant on military aircraft scheduled to depart to Oslo from Kabul Intl Airport, several days after Taliban forces took control of Kabul.

 

US Marines and soldiers of British 16 Air Assault Brigade taking a breather during evacuation of Hamid Karzai International Airport

US Marines and soldiers of British 16 Air Assault Brigade taking a breather during evacuation of Hamid Karzai International Airport.

 

1/8 Marines at HKIA.

1/8 Marines at HKIA.

 

Airmen of a Spanish EADA (Air Deployment Support Squadron). The two EADAs and the EZAPAC (Parachute Sapper Squadron) comprise the air-ground component of the Spanish Air Force. Their motto is Obviam Primus, Latin for “First to Engage”.

 

French SOF personnel evacuating people for the Kabul Airlift

French SOF personnel evacuating people for the Kabul Airlift (1 of 5); unknown original photo provenance. A cursory look at various posts seems to indicate the presence of both military SOF personnel and police special operators (specifically, RAID). Recherche, Assistance, Intervention, Dissuasion is a National Police asset, roughly analogous to GIGN, or Groupe d’intervention de la Gendarmerie National, which is a formation of French Gendarmerie. Which unit(s) of French SOF are involved is unclear, not least because “SOF” can be such an ambiguous term. Soldiers in multiple camouflage patterns have been seen, including France’s unique take on woodland camo (which is typically worn by line units). The French contingent at Kabul Intl Airport probably consisted of both conventional and Commandement des Opérations Spéciales (COS; Special Operations Command) personnel.

 

French SOF personnel evacuating people for the Kabul Airlift

French SOF soldier at or near Hamid Karzai International Airport, 2 of 5.

 

French SOF personnel evacuating people for the Kabul Airlift

French SOF soldier at or near Hamid Karzai International Airport, 3 of 5.

 

French SOF personnel evacuating people for the Kabul Airlift

French SOF soldier at or near Hamid Karzai International Airport, 4 of 6.

 

French SOF personnel evacuating people for the Kabul Airlift

French SOF soldier at or near Hamid Karzai International Airport, 5 of 6.

 

KSK operators (German Bundeswehr SOF) evacuation German nationals during the Kabul Airlift.

KSK operators (German Bundeswehr SOF) evacuating German nationals during the Kabul Airlift.

 

KCT Korps Commandotroepen (Dutch Special Forces) at HKIA assisting with the Kabul Airlift.

KCT Korps Commandotroepen (Dutch Special Forces) at HKIA assisting with the Kabul Airlift.

 

 

 

 

For more perspective on things, check out: From Kabul to Texas, an Interpreter’s Story

Warning: there is graphic imagery below. 

Abbey Gate / Baron Hotel Attack

A complex attack* on the airport was conducted late Thursday night (Kabul time).  Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) was reckoned to be most likely responsible for the attack, which has thus far claimed the lives of at least 12 military personnel and an unknown number of civilians [this will be updated as more info is available]. Attacks reportedly occurred at the Abbey Gate and near (possibly immediately adjacent to) the Baron Hotel. As of approximately 18h00Z, 26 August 21, it appeared that the Abbey Gate and Baron Hotel attacks consisted of at least two explosions, both suicide bombings with one thought to be the result of a VBIED.

Initial reports (which are, as we know, always wrong) ranged from “3 US Marines wounded and numerous Afghans dead” to “at least 60 Afghans and 10 US Marines killed”. The actual total number of casualties reported over the next few hours varied depending upon the source of information (the latter came from the Jerusalem Post, for instance). The commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) later advised that twelve US military personnel were killed and another 15 injured. At least one of the dead is reportedly a “Devil Doc” (US Navy “Greenside” Corpsman assigned to a Marine unit).

These are the first US service members killed in Afghanistan since February 2020 and the largest number killed in a single incident in combat in approximately a decade.**

Edit 02h00Z 27 August 21: It appears that at least two of the US military personnel killed today were sailors (see icastualties.org).

Crowds react to small arms fire and possibly explosions resulting on the attacks on Abbey Gate at HKIA and the nearby Briton Hotel.

Crowds react to small arms fire and possibly explosions resulting from the attacks on Abbey Gate at HKIA and the nearby Briton Hotel.

It’s very likely that some of the dead are actually Taliban fighters, as ISIS-K “RUMINT” indicates they detonated one device near Taliban personnel. How this will affect the dynamic of the environment remains to be seen, though it doesn’t take a genius to predict there will be an even greater amount of “friction of war”, violence, and casualties.

Abbey Gate and Baron Hotel attack

Estimated location of the Abbey Gate attack at Kabul Intl Airport.

The estimated (and confirmed by US sources) location of the Abbey Gate attack at Kabul Intl Airport. (via @terceirofront).

The following images, purportedly from the aftermath of the attack, have been circulating on social media. They are of unknown provenance.

As of 19h30Z we do not know if these are from the Abbey Gate or Baron Hotel. 

 

 

Abbey Gate attack

Unidentified local women reportedly wounded during the attacks on Abbey Gate and the Briton Hotel.

Unidentified local women reportedly wounded during the attacks on Abbey Gate and the Briton Hotel.

Abbey Gate attack

Abbey Gate attack

A Complex Attack

*Note: A complex attack in this particular usage reflects an actual military definition, in this case specifically by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. The UNAMA definition of “complex attack” is “…a deliberate and coordinated attack that includes a suicide device, more than one attacker, and more than one type of device (e.g. IED and mortars). All three elements must be present for an attack to be considered complex.”

The Pentagon’s use of the word complex when reporting is significant unless made in error, in that it tells us at least some of what occurred at the Abbey Gate.

There are often two or more phases to a complex attack using the three elements described above. These phases are frequently synchronized or timed for a specific effect. An example (and this is just one example) of this might as a diversionary or channeling/focusing event, followed by indirect fire and then a VBIED (Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device) used to cause casualties among responding personnel (medics, reinforcements, etc.). A maneuver element, i.e. insurgents on the ground exploiting the damage and confusion, might also be involved.

A similar term when referring to terrorist attacks is CCTA, or Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attack. The two phrases are sometimes used interchangeably but that is technically incorrect.

**Fourteen Marines and an Iraqi interpreter from Lima Co. 3-25 Marines were killed in 2005 when their AAV was destroyed by an explosive device near Haditha, Iraq. That same year, 16 US personnel were killed when Turbine 33, an MH-47, was shot down at Sawtalo Sar Afghanistan. Six years later, in 2011, 31 service members were lost when a CH-47 (“Extortion 17”) was hit with an RPG and went down in Wardak Province, Afghanistan.

 

Scenes from the Fall of Kabul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scenes from the Withdrawal

 

 

 

 

 

Desperate Afghans Fall From C-17

One of the most memorable of many terrible moments during the evacuation of the Kabul airport was that of desperate Afghans attempting to climb onto the outside of US military aircraft as they taxied down the runway. Some actually managed to hang onto the sides of the plane(s) until airborne, after which at several fell to their deaths. One of those was a 19-year old soccer player from Afghanistan’s national youth team. Another was an Afghan dentist named Fada Mohammad. Four bodies were later photographed on the runway. At least two dropped onto neighboring rooftops of Kabul’s Mandawi Market.

According to USAF accounts, the aircraft in question was just landing. When swarms of would-be evacuees began thronging toward them, the crew opted not to stop, intending to take off again until the crowd could be removed from the flightline.

Some, like the man seen below, were trapped by retracting landing gear and died in the air. This aircraft was diverted to a base in the Arabian peninsula so the corpse could be removed and the evacuation flight continued.

Desperate Afghan trapped in landing gear from aircraft in the early stages of the Kabul Airlift.

The body of an Afghan man trapped in the landing gear from aircraft in the early stages of the Kabul Airlift. It is unknown if he suffocated, froze to death, or was beaten to death against the fuselage by the wind stream.

 

 

 

 

The Taliban Take Control

The last American aircraft of the Kabul Airlift, a C-17, took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport moments before the (self-imposed) deadline for the complete withdrawal of US military personnel.

The last plane out of Afghanistan

Two different perspectives of the last plane out of Afghanistan. Left: Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, the so-called “last man out of Afghanistan”, boards the final aircraft of the Kabul Airlift. Right: a Taliban fighter attempts to take a smartphone picture of the last aircraft out of Afghanistan (photo by @yamphoto, article by Nabih Bulos of the LA Times). Although overall command of US forces in Afghanistan was held by Rear Adm. Peter Vasely, USN, Gen. Donahue was in direct command of airfield security operations. CENTCOM Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie (USMC) visited the airfield as well.

 

The last man out of Afghanistan boards the last aircraft of the Kabul Airlift

Two versions of the last plane out of Afghanistan. Here, Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne “All American” Division, of XVIII Airborne Corps, boards the ramp of a C17. The aircraft was the last official US military plane out of Afghanistan, ending a 20-year presence by American and Allied military personnel in that country. Among many previous billets, Gen. Donahue commanded Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. Donahue, a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, was widely (albeit anecdotally) reported as being at odds with his British and French counterparts during the Kabul Airlift. The source of this tension was the purported unwillingness or inability of US military units at the airport to push out from HKIA and secure American and Allied evacuees. This may have been an ROE dictated by POTUS or it might have been a self-imposed restriction. As of right now, we do not know. Many reports from individual military, contractor, and diplomatic personnel on the ground indicate this issue was exacerbated by bad communication and coordination (described using words from poor to fucking criminal) between the US State Department, the Pentagon, and the White House. General McKenzie, Gen. Donahue, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are among many high-ranking Pentagon and Dept. of State officials who have been excoriated over the handling of ground element part of the evacuation.

 

 

 

Taliban celebrate US withdrawal

The resurgence of the Taliban, as globally reviled as it was, did spawn some humorous posts. Mostly scathing, political, and/or ironic, but some them are pretty good.

Life After Taliban Control

An ironic and unsettling image taken in or near Kabul: Taliban fighters pose near a pro women's rights wall mural.

An ironic and unsettling image taken in or near Kabul: Taliban fighters pose near a pro women’s rights wall mural.

 

This 28 year old commando, who used the nom de guerre Y to avoid being identified, worked alongside British SOF troops deployed to Afghanistan prior to the withdrawal. Although hiding in Kabul, Y was discovered by the Taliban and executed in front of his family sometime on the 13th of September. This was reported by Col. Ash Alexander-Cooper (Ret), a British officer and senior advisor to the Afghan Minister of Interior Affairs. Col. Alexander-Cooper served 8 tours in Afghanistan and served operationally alongside the young sniper.

This 28-year-old commando, who used the nom de guerre Y to avoid being identified, worked alongside British SOF troops deployed to Afghanistan prior to the withdrawal. Although hiding in Kabul, Y was discovered by the Taliban and executed in front of his family sometime on the 13th of September. This was reported by Col. Ash Alexander-Cooper (Ret), a British officer and senior advisor to the Afghan Minister of Interior Affairs. Col. Alexander-Cooper served 8 tours in Afghanistan and served operationally alongside the young sniper.

 

Abbey Gate, Kabul International Airport (after the US withdrawal)

Taliban fighters inspect the area of the Abbey Gate (Hamid Karzai International Airport) after the withdrawal of all US forces in Afghanistan.

 

Abbey Gate, Kabul International Airport (after the US withdrawal)

The suicide bomber (or possibly VBIED, the point remains contended) attack on the Abbey Gate and nearby Bristol Hotel killed or wounded scores of Afghan civilians, numerous US military members (including 13 KIA), and reportedly at least a few Taliban fighters. Responsibility for the bombing was claimed by ISIS-K.

Abbey Gate, Kabul International Airport (after the US withdrawal)

Piles of trash, discarded clothing, and abandoned belongings line the path to the Abbey Gate at Kabul Intl Airport following the US troop withdrawal.

An Afghan man weeps while watching Taliban fighters attack other Afghan civilians in a crowd attempting to reach HKIA.

An Afghan man weeps while watching Taliban fighters attack other Afghan civilians in a crowd attempting to reach HKIA. (Marcus Yam, LA Times)

 

 

 

 

Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks

NATO defines a complex coordinated attack as one that employs “…multiple hostile elements which employ at least two distinct classes of weapon systems, i.e. indirect fire and direct fire, improvised explosive devices, surface to air fire, et al. 

The Joint Counter Terrorism Workshop Series (JCTAWS) defines a complex, coordinated assault as a “…“a coordinated assault on one or more locations in close succession, initiated after little or no warning, employing one or more of the following: firearms, explosives, and arson”.

The US Department of Homeland Security offers the following definition of a complex, coordinated attack: “CCTAs are acts of terrorism that involve synchronized and independent team(s) at multiple locations, sequentially or in close succession, initiated with little or no warning, and employing one or more weapon systems: firearms, explosives, fire as a weapon, and other nontraditional attack methodologies that are intended to result in large numbers of casualties.”

The Lashkar-e-Taiba attack on multiple locations in Mumbai in 2008 is an extraordinary example of a successful complex, coordinated terrorist attack.

 

 

 

Please check back for updates, this is a work in progress. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a number of sources referenced for this compilation. Many of them did an extraordinary job of reporting as close to real-time as is possible. Virtually none of this article would have been possible without them. This list is also a work in progress. 
@Atlas.News
https://www.instagram.com/atlas.news/
Caution: for reasons unknown, Atlas News is frequently shut down by Instagram. If the account doesn’t come up, try @atlas.news2 or @atlas.news3, etc.
@adamdesiderio
@afshinismaeli
@atlas.news
@bcsololomon
@byron_rodgers
https://www.instagram.com/byron_rodgers/
@coffeeordiemag
@holliesmckay
@havokjournal
@jakesimkinphotos
@laidbackberserker
https://www.instagram.com/laidbackberserker/
warofficeproductions.com
@maneuver_____up
@martyskovlundjr
@nabihbulos
https://www.instagram.com/nabihbulos/
@popular.front
@soldiersdoingthings
@taskandpurpose
https://www.instagram.com/taskandpurpose/
@terceirofront
https://www.instagram.com/terceirofront/
@terminalcwo
https://www.instagram.com/terminalcwo/
https://linktr.ee/terminalcwo
@yamphoto
https://www.instagram.com/yamphoto/

See also:

https://www.wartimeallies.co/

https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-21-46-LL.pdf

 


⚠️ Some hyperlinks in this article may contain affiliate links. If you use them to make a purchase, we will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. It’s just one way to Back the Bang. #backthebang 

David Reeder

David Reeder

About the Author

10 Comments

  1. Independent Thinker

    I love how the liberals show up with their talking points and can not even debate and respond to actual, true event facts that have happened in both history and current times. Facts and logic seem to be quite alien to them, feelings and emotion rule the day. Quite strange, and talk about people caught up in a narrative, the liberals have that down pat. Follow in lockstep with The Party, and do not divert from The Message. Independent thought is forbidden!

    Now, if only the Republican party would return to it’s roots, and adhere to and defend conservative values things could be interesting. Alas, with the likes of Mitch The Turtle at the helm, it will never happen.

    Our Founding Fathers would be quite dismayed at what has become of the nation they bled to create.

    Reply
  2. El Terryble


    In normal times, the remedy for Biden’s treason would be a firing squad or a life-term in a military prison. Today, who knows? Not a single general has been court-martialed for this disgraceful and dangerous surrender of American power, pride and national security. It is a surrender that will cost the lives of countless innocents not only in Afghanistan but around the world and in America itself. Biden’s response to this debacle? Full steam ahead and pretend defeat is – in Joe’s words – “an amazing success.” This is exactly the kind of response one would expect from a one-party regime.” — David Horowitz, FRONTPAGE Mag, Who Is Responsible For the Darkness That Has Descended Upon Us? The Treason Party

    Reply
    • El Terryble

      This is all part and parcel of the Marxist revolution we saw unleashed upon America with the George Floyd riots, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, the use of mail-in ballots from the Plandemic to steal the 2020 election, and now the what could only be described as the biggest foreign policy disaster in American History. No body is this incompetent. The Democrat Party is using a senile stooge, placed in the Oval Office through a stolen election, to destroy America and turn it into a Marxist, panopticonal police state, so they can meld it into a one-world government with the comrades in Beijing, Moscow, and Brussels.

      Reply
      • Jack

        Quite right, but the momentum is on their side and the will to fight them is only thinly evident. No doubt they are compiling lists of what they consider politically dangerous people, and the next big step is when they form an American NKVD to deal with us. Maybe they will just call it FBIATF?

        Reply
    • Maxwell Weston

      Oh please give me a break! Just stop with the Biden is to blame for this and he should be put in prison bit or other people commenting that is all part of the marxist revolution taking place in the U.S.. It just makes me embarrassed for the commenters. Please look up what Marxism is and take the time to understand what you are talking about. Of course there is also the election was stolen trolls and the required name calling and criticism of all democrats. No where in these ill conceived comments do we see any blame assigned to trump and the less than intelligent decisions he made on a seemingly daily basis. Seriously, I just feel embarrassed and sorry for you. All we need now is a few antivax comments thrown in for good measure.

      Please do your research before you make a comment that only makes you look like the stereotypical right wing nut job. Think through your positions and statements before you put it out there for everyone to read. Critical thinking is a skill that can be learned and one I encourage you to look into it.

      Ok, let me have all the insults about democrats, antifa, Marxism or socialism (yes they are different).

      Reply
  3. Aebe mac Gill

    Abandon an airport that can be defended, one that did not have crowds of Taliban waiting to jump into aircraft? You betcha.
    Abandon billions in equipment and weapons? You betcha. And you will not conduct airstrikes to destroy that stuff, because it is a gift.
    What the Dims have done is already having repercussions around the world, and it will get worse, which is pretty good for a “mistake”, you betcha.
    What we get is one more reason to throw every democrat out of our Country.
    All of them.

    Reply
  4. John

    Absolutely nobody at the top of this, whether military or civilian, will be held to account for this debacle. The elite always protect their own and someone will get hung out to dry that is further down the food chain. It is despicable what has happened.

    Democrat voters, you have blood on your hands.

    Reply
    • Maxilla Weston

      Sooo if Democrats have blood on their hands for this does that mean that republicans have blood on their hands from that little episode at the capital earlier this year? Yes, trump did encourage them and no the election was not stolen.

      Reply
      • Tired of it

        Oh, wow. Your TDS runs deep. Please, spare me your fake outrage. What about the literally countless assaults and untold millions of dollars in damages done by Dem party “protestors” all over the country for almost two years? The only person killed at the Capitol protest was an unarmed woman. Tell me, do you know who David Dorn was?

        How does it feel to be an apologist for the Democrat party? The party that : started a war to keep slavery, started the KKK to suppress the slaves that were freed as a result of that war, that suppressed suffrage movement, that incarcerated American citizens based solely on their race, that enacted Jim Crow laws, that filibustered the Civil Rights Act, that stood in school house doors attempting to prevent integration, that started a war in Vietnam that cost tens of thousands of lives based on a known lie, that thinks that the Constitution protects the right to kill a baby up to the point of birth? The party that actively supports criminals and seeks to make their lives easier in any way possible, regardless of their impact on innocent victims?

        How about your president, a known racist with so many comments on record that I won’t bother with repeating them here except for the most recent one of ” if you don’t vote for me, you ain’t black “, a comment of such matter being uttered by a Republican would have led to their ruin for the rest of their lives. Lastly, how about this man who’s clearly in such cognitive decline only a blathering idiot could not see it. All that mattered was Orange Man Bad? Please, get a grip.

        But, hey, I bet you enjoy paying $5 a gallon for your gas and think that our borders should be wide open to allow anyone to come into our country, regardless of those who were born here or immigrated the right way.

        Wake up and get off the Democrat plantation. They are not on the side of America.

        Reply
        • Maxilla Weston

          Wow – you were able to get everything off your chest so do you now feel better? The problem here is that I don’t think that you even see that what you are saying does not even line up with the facts. I am more than happy to debate an issue but for many of the trump people there are no such things as facts. There is only the narrative that you keep repeating to yourselves no matter what proof you are shown.

          You exhaust me as I feel there is no saving you as you are so caught up in your narrative.

          Reply

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