Clarissa Ward on Colbert last night reported that they were told by the government that they didn't

[JohnSJ]

need to be concerned for at least a month, and the quickness of the Taliban operation was a shock to everyone

When Colbert asked Ward if the Taliban was surprised how quickly the cities fell, she said they said yes

There was no resistance, and very little resistance

Ward said that Afghan Army did not have their heart into defending the government

It was an interesting perspective from someone who actually talked with the Taliban

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

1. She is live today showing utter chaos on streets as Taliban whip people and fire guns over crowd

Incredibly brave reporting, her crew was about to be pistol whipped until some other Taliban came by to stop them

[grumpyduck]

2. Why would they have their hearts

into defending the government? They're Afghanis too. To them, the Taliban is probably doing the right thing.

There's lots of fascinating material on Afghanistan and its history on line. But apparently the genius planners didn't bother to read it.

[JoanofArgh]

3. She must not have read investigative reporter Whitlock's recent articles in WaPo

I suggest she do so.


KABUL — The spectacular collapse of Afghanistan’s military that allowed Taliban fighters to walk into the Afghan capital Sunday despite 20 years of training and billions of dollars in American aid began with a series of deals brokered in rural villages between the militant group and some of the Afghan government’s lowest-ranking officials.

The deals, initially offered early last year, were often described by Afghan officials as cease-fires, but Taliban leaders were in fact offering money in exchange for government forces to hand over their weapons, according to an Afghan officer and a U.S. official.

Over the next year and a half, the meetings advanced to the district level and then rapidly on to provincial capitals, culminating in a breathtaking series of negotiated surrenders by government forces, according to interviews with more than a dozen Afghan officers, police, special operations troops and other soldiers.

Within a little more than a week, Taliban fighters overran more than a dozen provincial capitals and entered Kabul with no resistance, triggering the departure of Afghanistan’s president and the collapse of his government. Afghan security forces in the districts ringing Kabul and in the city itself simply melted away. By nightfall, police checkpoints were left abandoned and the militants roamed the streets freely.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/15/afghanistan-military-collapse-taliban/

[Roland99]

6. trumpian plan knowing the collapse would look poorly on Biden?

But if he’d won the election, he’d have known ahead of time, since the incoming admin was kept in the dark

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. There wasn't anything from Whitlock saying "Kabul will fall within X days"

The last from the Washington Post before it did seems to have been:

According to U.S. intelligence assessments, the rapid disintegration of the Afghan security forces means a possible Taliban capture of Kabul itself could be a matter of months, perhaps even weeks

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/12/afghanistan-taliban-biden-moment/

Which looks like it was written on the Thursday, and published on the Friday,

[magicarpet]

4. Like hiring evangelicals to man the US military who's mission is to preserve democracy and,..

.... at all costs stamp down the idea of a theocracy.

That idea, mission, objective would fold up like a tissue paper tent set up in the middle of a torrential rain storm. It would collapse even before you finished setting it up.

[Treefrog]

5. She's a brave woman.

I’d not heard of her before, but damn, she’s persistent as hell. Strong woman.

[lagomorph777]

8. You should look at her reporting over the last several years.

It's amazing she's still alive.