Reuters: At least 12 US soldiers KIA at Kabul Airport.

[WarGamer]

https://www.reuters.com/world/least-10-us-troops-believed-killed-kabul-blasts-official-2021-08-26/

The count of U.S. troops believed to have been killed in Thursday's Kabul blasts has increased to 12, according to U.S. officials citing initial information that can change.

Other sources I follow confirm 13 dead, 20 injured including 10 in Critical Condition... A very sad day.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Terrorist attacks, which the Taliban pledged to stop in that country

And we're not even gone yet.

There's going to be pressure on Biden to retaliate at minimum, and maybe to escalate.

for the lost and their families and loved ones

[WarGamer]

2. This is going to get unbelievably ugly.

What happens when the 100, 400, 1000? US citizens in the country if they get captured and tortured/killed???

This is a major, major catastrophe... and I hope Joe passes out pink slips like a 11 year old boy on Valentines Day at school passing out V-Day cards.

How about the 24 schoolkids from San Diego?

[W_HAMILTON]

30. They were told to evacuate weeks, if not months, ago.

It's a shame that Americans died today because some other Americans were selfish and did not heed the call when our country told them to leave immediately weeks ago.

After today's attack, I am more likely to support ending the evacuation process on 8/31 and getting out of that hell hole. There are no good options and there has not been ever since Bush failed to execute the mission in that country and instead dragged us into Iraq. This was inevitable, unless we stayed there permanently, for decades more into the future, which was even a worse solution than what we are seeing unfold.

[WarGamer]

32. You're right... factually correct.

But the public WILL NOT stand for victim blaming and it's a political loser.

One more time. I hear ya... you're right. But it's a political LOSER to repeat it.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Maybe that is what someone wants. For Biden to escalate.

[WarGamer]

6. You got that right!!

the RIGHT is already calling on Biden to send troops in

[Irish_Dem]

11. I seriously doubt Biden is going to fall for a set up.

I think he is going to stick to his guns.

He is doing the right thing and he is not going to be tricked into a reversal of his decision.

[WarGamer]

13. He CAN NOT go back in

Just keep getting people out and hope for no more terrorist attacks

[Irish_Dem]

16. Yep, I agree. And I think Joe does too!

[WarGamer]

20. I wouldn't mind the occasional Hellfire missile dropping into a bad guys window...

But NO boots on the ground.

ZERO.

[Irish_Dem]

39. I don't know what Joe is going to do. He has some tough decisions now.

He knows the Joint Chiefs have lied bold face to him. Maybe he can trust Burns the CIA director he appointed to lay out the
military options.

I guess we are going to have to trust Joe on this one.

[WarGamer]

40. I trust him 100%... way more than the clowns at DoD and State.

A bunch of people need to be FIRED for this fuck-up.

[Irish_Dem]

42. Yep, agreed. I trust Biden more than any of the others.

Some heads should roll when this is all over.

[EndlessWire]

38. I think he should turn some troops around.

He still has to evacuate the troops protecting the rear. The Taliban failed to stop ISIS. The killing of innocent, unarmed civilians is horrific enough, but killing our soldiers is intolerable. Of course he is doing the right thing. We will be better off without deployment to Afghanistan. But, getting the last of the transports off is of great importance. It's not been perfect, but we are doing well. We might need extra troops there, though. And, then we are gone. Long time coming.

[Irish_Dem]

41. We shall see what Joe is going to do. I am sending him prayers right now.

He has some decisions to make.

[ShazzieB]

45. No, Joe will not be tricked!

He is too experienced and seasoned to fall for something like this. He's already shown us that he's capable of making the hard decisions and taking the resulting heat. He'll stand strong.

[leftstreet]

7. That means the Taliban isn't in charge either

The media breathlessly told us the US withdrawal saw the Taliban moving in, taking control, etc like it was done deal.

Civil war looks imminent

[Irish_Dem]

14. Yes that is what I think it means too.

Unless the Taliban can get control of the country and do it fast, there could be civil war yes.

[leftstreet]

18. This is bizarre

Civil war implications for surrounding countries OMG

Yet, for the US to stay they'd essentially be working to support the....Taliban

My mind goes fuzzy at this point

[WarGamer]

15. Taliban, IS, AQ... all brothers from a different mother!

[leftstreet]

24. Not really

Taliban hate ISIS

[WarGamer]

25. Wink wink...

Just like Sunni hate Shiites

UNTIL the common enemy, the US comes into the picture when all of a sudden they can work together... against US.

They're all varying levels of Religious fanatics.

[SoCalDavidS]

35. CNN Was Discussing This

They said that bizarre as it may seem, the U.S. and Taliban might work together against ISIS, because they both despise ISIS, and the Taliban want to get control, and the U.S. doesn’t want ISIS to gain a foothold there.

[WarGamer]

37. I'll believe that when I see it.

I think the average Taliban soldier is just fine with the average IS-K soldier.

Maybe the Taliban LEADERS just want to consolidate POWER and thus, hate the IS-K and AQ. And the international pressure is on them to say precisely that.

[Hortensis]

43. I don't see that Afghanistan's own Sunni Muslim Taliban itself is really hurt

by an outside end times cult like ISIS blowing up some departing American soldiers. ?? And promising more mayhem. Apparently the Taliban has always sold itself as provider of "law and order" (read safety and security).

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. I have been keeping my counsel to myself.

I will say besides the human catastrophe a political one is occurring too.

[WarGamer]

31. I don't want to sound like a fear monger or "concern troll"

But I'm terrified what happens if 3 or 20 or 100 Americans wind up in IS-K hands and are seen on Social Media or Al Jazeera suffering... it could set off an enormous rightward movement in this nation.

And sorry for sounding like a fear monger

[wryter2000]

4. I wonder

If the Taliban doesn't like these guys if they'd let us do some kind of surgical strike against them.

[inwiththenew]

5. 12 dead makes today the deadliest day for US troops in over 10 years

I went back and looked and you'd have to go back to August of 2011 when helicopter was shot down and killed 30.

[hlthe2b]

10. Wrenching.

May there be no more...

[ColinC]

9. RIP patriots

[LymphocyteLover]

12. Awful... but that seems hard to believe honestly

[WarGamer]

17. Hard to believe or not, it's true...

I agree... the gravity of this thing hasn't even hit us yet...

[LymphocyteLover]

19. OK, WaPo is reporting it now

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/26/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-live-updates/

[WarGamer]

21. Reuters and AP reported it before WaPo

[LymphocyteLover]

22. still unsure about how 12 armored soldiers were taken out by one bomber particularly after

the warnings

[WarGamer]

29. you're right, 100%

We were warned in the last 24 hours, clear and convincing warnings... of an impending IS attack.

And re: body armor... it doesn't help against an explosive force.

The shock wave of an explosion literally breaks bones and bursts organs from 10 feet to 40 feet away depending on the bomb. It's not just pieces of fragmentation that does the killing.

Sorry for the graphic details.

[LymphocyteLover]

33. Yes, just operationally it seems like that many soldiers shouldn't have been close enough

together to be taken out by one (or two) blasts.

[WarGamer]

34. Again... 100% agree

I don't know HOW they got within range of so many troops.

With ample warning... how were we screening evacuees and manning the gates?

I want MASS firings.

I do NOT want Biden playing the "buck stops with me" bullshit...

Biden didn't fuck this up. He doesn't deserve the blame. He needs to start firing fools.

[LymphocyteLover]

36. Agreed-- I hope we can get some details on this tragedy

It's such an awful event.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

44. With the caveat that initial reports often turn out to be false...

The AP reports there were two bombers as well as gunmen. So it may not have been one bomb.

This is just so sad all around.

[WarGamer]

26. Yes, we actually know who is responsible for losing Bagram.

It's some General, they talked about him on CNN a couple nights ago... he should be first to get a pink slip.

[rockfordfile]

27. what needs to happen is some of that Taliban money goes to those soldiers' families

[SYFROYH]

28. Send in the drones!