“The Economy Will Implode” – Chi-Coms Threaten Taiwan Following Collapse of Afghanistan — Steven Bannon Warns of Magnitude to US Economy

Over the weekend the Afghanistan government collapsed, the Taliban took control of Kabul and the president fled with his riches to a neighboring regime.

This all happened while Joe Biden took vacation. The US president has yet to respond to this international disaster of his making.

The Communist Chinese were watching this disaster of epic proportions unfold over the weekend. Already they have threatened Taiwan. They know Biden is a paper tiger.

Steve Bannon: The major message with all of the disasters is Silicon Valley West. And if you think we don’t have a moral obligation for Taiwan leave that aside for a minute. The practical considerations. Silicon Valley West, the entire American economy cetners around the chips, and in particular the advanced chips designed, made and manufactured in Taiwan. It is something we have to hold. If we don’t hold it we don’t have an economy. The economy will implode.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/08/economy-will-implode-chi-coms-threaten-taiwan-following-collapse-afghanistan-steven-bannon-warns-magnitude-us-economy-video/

President Biden Orders 7,000 US Troops To Protect Kabul Airport After Horrific Scenes

update(1200ET): With President Biden scrambling back to the White House to contain the unmitigated disaster that is the American pullout from Afghanistan, the Administration has decided to pull a complete 180, and send thousands of troops back to Afghanistan. Fox News' Pentagon correspondent Lucas Tomlinson reported that Biden (commander-in-chief of the American military) has ordered another 1,000 paratroopers fro the 82nd Airborne to Kabul. That will bring the total number of ground troops to 7,000.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/multiple-dead-desperate-afghans-mob-airport-tarmac-cling-departing-planes

Meanwhile In Iraq… Islamic State Attacks Kirkuk Oil Field

An attack with an explosive device on an oil field in the northern Iraqi region of Kirkuk was blamed on Islamic State militants, according to an unnamed source who spoke to Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

No damage was done to the field, Bai Hassan, according to the source.

Earlier this year, suspected Islamic State militants blew up two oil wells at the Bai Hassan field, killing at least one security officer and setting the oil wells ablaze.

The Bai Hassan field that can produce around 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil has more than 120 oil wells. Based on these reports, it is an attractive target for the Islamic State, which despite international efforts, is alive and well in Iraq and Syria.

A recent report by VOA News cited intelligence agencies as saying that the terrorist group remained resilient and ready to spring back out when the U.S. implemented its plans to "recede deep into the background."

"The group has evolved into an entrenched insurgency, exploiting weaknesses in local security to find safe havens and targeting forces engaged in counter-ISIL operations," a report by the UN sanctions monitoring team said.

"Attacks in Baghdad in January and April 2021 underscore the group's resilience despite heavy counter-terrorism pressure from Iraqi authorities," the report also said. Islamic State "is likely to continue attacking civilians and other soft targets in the capital whenever possible to garner media attention and embarrass the Government of Iraq."

Based on what we are currently witnessing happening in Afghanistan, the deeper in the background the U.S. recedes, the more emboldened IS will become, which could mean more attacks on oil fields in the oil-rich Kirkuk region. This would interfere with OPEC's second-largest exporter of crude with plans to boost its production considerably once the OPEC+ agreement expires.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/meanwhile-iraq-islamic-state-attacks-kirkuk-oil-field

‘US SecDef has no plan to resign’: Pentagon finally reacts to ‘troubling’ Kabul airport scenes, vows to continue HALTED evacuation

Describing scenes from the Kabul airport as “extraordinary and troubling,” the Pentagon spokesman on Monday said US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, does not intend to resign over the handling of the pullout from Afghanistan.

The US forces are working with “Turkish and other international troops” to clear the airport, Admiral John Kirby told reporters on Monday, in first official remarks after the shocking scenes of Afghans clinging to airplanes and seemingly falling to their deaths made rounds on social media.

Austin has authorized the deployment of another battalion to Kabul, which would bring the total number of US troops holding the airport to 6,000. However, all inbound and outbound flights have been halted “out of abundance of caution.”

Kirby described the video of Afghans running alongside one US plane on the tarmac as “troubling.” He did not comment on the subsequent video that allegedly showed someone falling off the plane to their death.

“Several hundred” people have been flown out of Kabul before the flights were halted, he told reporters.

The Pentagon said two armed men were killed by US troops at Hamid Karzai airport, but there was "no indication" that they were Taliban fighters.

President Joe Biden had ordered all US forces to leave Afghanistan by August 31, but explicitly told reporters that the US-backed Afghan government was capable of holding out on its own and that the withdrawal would not turn into “another Saigon” – referring to the 1975 collapse of the US-backed South Vietnam. By Sunday, however, the Taliban had control of pretty much the entire country, save the Kabul airport. Government forces largely surrendered without firing a shot, while President Ashraf Ghani resigned and went into exile.

Asked about the possible threat of terrorism from Afghanistan in the future – the reason Washington cited to stay in the country long after ending the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, blamed for the 9/11 attacks – Kirby said it was “too early to assess.”

https://www.rt.com/usa/532218-pentagon-defense-resign-kabul-airport/

Biden's Abysmal Day Just Got Worse: OPEC+ Snubs Plea For More Oil, Says "No Need" To Pump More

A day that was already the worst in Biden long political career, just got worse when moments ago Reuters reported that just days after the US president showed just how dependent on foreign oil the formerly energy independent US has become, when on Aug 11 he begged OPEC+ to pump more in order to lower the price of gas at the pump, OPEC+ responded that it sees no need to release more oil into the market at present, despite US calls. As a reminder, OPEC+ is currently planning to raise output by 400k BPD a month beginning in August until all the current reductions of 5.8mln BPD are removed, and will not accelerate its schedule despite Biden's pleading.

In response oil, which had tumbled today after the latest dismal Chinese economic data, managed to modest rebound as OPEC+ clearly refuses to cooperate with the Biden admin.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/bidens-abysmal-day-just-got-worse-opec-snubs-plea-more-oil-says-wont-pump-more

Pentagon to relocate up to 30,000 Afghan refugees who worked for American government into the US

The Pentagon reportedly plans to immediately relocate tens of thousands of Afghan refugees into the U.S. in response to the Taliban's sweeping takeover of the country.

The plans were first reported by Fox News on Sunday after the news outlet obtained Department of Defense documents describing the relocation effort.

According to the documents, up to 30,000 Afghan refugees are slated to be transported to the U.S. and housed at military bases under the Special Immigrant Visa program, which grants asylum to foreign individuals who have worked for the U.S. government in some capacity.

"The situation in Afghanistan may lead to DoS [Department of State] allowing Afghan SIV applicants to be moved to temporary housing locations while still being vetted for parolee status," the document reportedly said.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirmed the plans to Fox News on Sunday, adding that Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and Fort Bliss in Texas are in line to receive refugees.

"We want to have the capacity to get up to several thousand immediately, and want to be prepared for the potential of tens of thousands," Kirby said. "Bliss and McCoy have the capability right now — and what's advantageous is with a little bit of work, they could increase their capacity in very short order."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/us-relocate-30000-afghanistan-refugees

Is Biden trying to bring in a terrorist army?

Facebook, Google build undersea internet cables for users in Asia and Africa

Facebook and Google are building undersea internet cables around the world — and are betting that the investments will bring in millions of new customers.

Facebook revealed Sunday that it is helping build a 7,500-mile cable connecting countries including Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan. The cable, called Project Apricot, is expected to launch in 2024 and will help deliver better 4G, 5G and broadband internet to the region, according to Facebook.

That project compliments another undersea cable connecting Singapore, Indonesia and North America that Facebook and Google first unveiled together this March in collaboration with several Asian telecom companies.

The tech giants have not disclosed how much money they are spending on such projects — which provide the crucial and under-appreciated backbone of the internet — but the cables have the potential to bring internet access to millions of new customers.

In Indonesia, some 27 percent of the country’s population — or about 73 million people — have no internet access, and most Indonesians who do go online do so through spotty mobile connections, the Jakarta Post reported last year.

More than three-quarters of Indonesians who have internet access use Facebook, according to social media analytics company NapoleonCat, meaning that bringing the rest of the country online would presumably net Mark Zuckerberg’s company tens of millions of new users.

Facebook also said Monday it is expanding an already announced 23,000-mile undersea cable project circling the entire continent of Africa and connecting to Europe.

The cable, called 2Africa, was designed to link 26 countries including Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bloomberg reported Monday that Facebook has added Angola and the Indian Ocean island countries of Seychelles and Comoros to the project.

https://nypost.com/2021/08/16/facebook-google-build-undersea-internet-cables-for-asia-and-africa/

Donald Trump: Who Will Joe Biden Surrender to Next?

Former President Donald Trump released more statements on Monday criticizing President Joe Biden’s handling of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

Trump noted Biden had first “surrendered” to the coronavirus pandemic before surrendering to the Taliban, allowing them to overrun Afghanistan over the weekend.

“Who or what will Joe Biden surrender to next?” Trump asked. “Someone should ask him, if they can find him.”

Biden remains on vacation at the presidential retreat at Camp David and has not spoken about Afghanistan publicly on camera since last Tuesday.

The Biden White House issued a statement on Biden’s behalf on Saturday, blaming Trump for negotiating with the Taliban in the first place.

But Trump indicated he would have done a better job with the withdrawal of troops.

“The outcome in Afghanistan, including the withdrawal, would have been totally different if the Trump Administration had been in charge,” he said.

Trump expressed frustration in a second that Biden was leaving military equipment behind for the Taliban to use and not prioritizing Americans for evacuation.

“Who can believe such incompetence?” he asked. “Under my Administration, all civilians and equipment would have been removed.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/16/donald-trump-who-will-joe-biden-surrender-to-next/

CNN’s Ward: Taliban ‘Chanting ‘Death to America’ but They Seem Friendly at the Same Time’

Monday on CNN’s “New Day,” network chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward delivered a report from the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, after Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani reportedly fled the country upon the arrival of Taliban forces.

Ward said it is “clear” the Taliban is now back in “charge” of Afghanistan.

“As soon as we leave our compound, it’s clear who is now in charge,” Ward stated in a report. “Taliban fighters have flooded the capital. Smiling and victorious, they took this city of 6 million people in a matter of hours — barely firing a shot. This is a sight I honestly thought I would never see: scores of Taliban fighters, and just behind us, the U.S. embassy compound. Some carry American weapons. They tell us they’re here to maintain law and order.”

Ward then translated an interview with a commander of the Taliban who told her that “everything is under control and that America needs to “leave” Afghanistan.

“‘Everything is under control. Everything will be fine,’ the commander says. ‘Nobody should worry,'” she reported.

“What’s your message to America right now?” Ward asked the commander.

“‘America already spent enough time in Afghanistan,'” she quoted him as saying. “‘They need to leave,’ he tells us. ‘They already lost lots of lives and lots of money.'”

CNN showed a clip of members of the Taliban holding guns up in the air and chanting.

“They’re just chanting, ‘Death to America,’ but they seem friendly at the same time,” Ward advised. “It’s utterly bizarre.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/08/16/cnns-ward-taliban-chanting-death-to-america-but-they-seem-friendly-at-the-same-time/

UK Talking to Taliban, Blames Trump, Not Biden, for Afghanistan Chaos

The UK government has been talking to the Taliban through an intermediary and a pathway for the hardline Islamist terror group to be recognised as the government of Afghanistan exists, the defence secretary has said, as he defended President Joe Biden’s handling of the withdrawal.

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace spoke to several UK broadcast networks on Monday morning amid emerging scenes of chaos and violence in Afghanistan and Britain’s re-committal to a group of Air Assault Brigade troops to the country to protect efforts to expatriate both UK passport holders and Afghan interpreters coming to Britain.

Wallace recognised that after 20 years of Western nation-building, the Taliban now controlled Afghanistan, and also revealed that the United Kingdom was already entering into discussions with the jihadist organisation to negotiate for the safety of British citizens in the country.

Speaking to Sky News, Wallace remarked: “I acknowledge that the Taliban are in control of the country, you don’t have to be a political scientist to spot that’s where we’re at. I have engaged through a third country yesterday to make sure we seek assurances from the Taliban to protect our people and indeed the people we’re trying to work to get out.”

Wallace said the intermediary was a Middle Eastern country that was speaking to the military leadership of the Taliban on his behalf. He again made the point when speaking to the BBC later in the morning, when he confirmed not only that the UK was negotiating with the Taliban, but that the terror group had offered assurances to London.

He said: “I sought through a third country, a Middle East country yesterday, assurances from the Taliban military leadership that they would respect the airport, their statements are that they would.”

Beyond granting the Taliban the legitimacy of not just seeing them as the de facto rulers of Afghanistan and negotiating to protect Britons in country with them through an intermediary, Wallace tacitly expressed that there was a route for the Taliban to be recognised as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, too. Asked on Sky News whether the UK would recognise the Taliban as the Afghan government, Wallace said that decision had not yet been made and suggested the answer would depend on how the fighters treated the country once in power.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/08/16/uk-talking-to-taliban-blames-trump-not-biden-for-afghanistan-chaos/

FLASHBACK: Biden Said Timeline And Manner Of The Withdrawal From Afghanistan Was His Decision

https://youtu.be/1c_DyVreU6g

The U.S. Government Lied For Two Decades About Afghanistan

Using the same deceitful tactics they pioneered in Vietnam, U.S. political and military officials repeatedly misled the country about the prospects for success in Afghanistan.

“The Taliban regime is coming to an end,” announced President George W. Bush at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on December 12, 2001 — almost twenty years ago today. Five months later, Bush vowed: “In the United States of America, the terrorists have chosen a foe unlike they have faced before. . . . We will stay until the mission is done.” Four years after that, in August of 2006, Bush announced: “Al Qaeda and the Taliban lost a coveted base in Afghanistan and they know they will never reclaim it when democracy succeeds. . . . The days of the Taliban are over. The future of Afghanistan belongs to the people of Afghanistan.”

For two decades, the message Americans heard from their political and military leaders about the country’s longest war was the same. America is winning. The Taliban is on the verge of permanent obliteration. The U.S. is fortifying the Afghan security forces, which are close to being able to stand on their own and defend the government and the country.

Just five weeks ago, on July 8, President Biden stood in the East Room of the White House and insisted that a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was not inevitable because, while their willingness to do so might be in doubt, “the Afghan government and leadership . . . clearly have the capacity to sustain the government in place.” Biden then vehemently denied the accuracy of a reporter’s assertion that “your own intelligence community has assessed that the Afghan government will likely collapse.” Biden snapped: “That is not true. They did not — they didn’t — did not reach that conclusion.”

Biden continued his assurances by insisting that “the likelihood there’s going to be one unified government in Afghanistan controlling the whole country is highly unlikely.” He went further: “the likelihood that there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.” And then, in an exchange that will likely assume historic importance in terms of its sheer falsity from a presidential podium, Biden issued this decree:

Q. Mr. President, some Vietnamese veterans see echoes of their experience in this withdrawal in Afghanistan. Do you see any parallels between this withdrawal and what happened in Vietnam, with some people feeling —

THE PRESIDENT: None whatsoever. Zero. What you had is — you had entire brigades breaking through the gates of our embassy — six, if I’m not mistaken.

The Taliban is not the south — the North Vietnamese army. They’re not — they’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.

When asked about the Taliban being stronger than ever after twenty years of U.S. warfare there, Biden claimed: “Relative to the training and capacity of the [Afghan National Security Forces} and the training of the federal police, they’re not even close in terms of their capacity.” On July 21 — just three weeks ago — Gen. Mark Milley, Biden’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded that “there’s a possibility of a complete Taliban takeover, or the possibility of any number of other scenario,” yet insisted: “the Afghan Security Forces have the capacity to sufficiently fight and defend their country.”

More

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-us-government-lied-for-two-decades

160 Minnesota school principals sign woke 'de-centering whiteness' pledge: Demand end to 'racist' standardized testing that is an 'Americanized caste system'

Over 160 Minnesotan principals and assistant principals have signed a pledge to 'de-center whiteness' in education.

The group of 162 branded themselves the 'Good Trouble Principals' - citing a quote from the late Georgia congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis.

In the pledge they said they are 'a loose collection of local principals bound together by a commitment to changing our nation’s future by engaging in better, more equitable education practices'.

The coalition vowed to '[dismantle] the practices that reinforce white academic superiority' - including standardized testing and what they called an 'Americanized version of the caste system in our schools'.

'The fight for educational equality rages on and so does our counter,' reads the pledge.

'We will not be moved. We write to say it is our role as school principals to be the faces and names of this fight; to be in the forefront and not the shadows.'

'We will not pledge loyalty to an institution over loyalty to the purity of children.'

The group's name was inspired by the following John Lewis quote: 'Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.'

More

http://www.domigood.com/2021/08/160-minnesota-school-principals-sign.html

Australia’s Biggest City Toughens Harsh Stay-at-Home Lockdown Orders… Fines Increased To $3,700… First Advanced Country To Actually Copy China’s Policy Of Locking People Into Their Buildings

Australia’s Biggest City Toughens Harsh Stay-at-Home Lockdown Orders

(AFP) — Australia’s biggest city announced tighter Covid restrictions including heavier fines and tighter policing on Saturday as authorities battled to contain a Delta outbreak and said they were seeing the “most concerning day of the pandemic” so far.

After months of pursuing a “Covid Zero” strategy, Australia has been struggling to bring a resurgence of coronavirus cases under control, with more than 10 million people under lockdown in its two largest cities and the capital Canberra.

Residents of Sydney, going into an eighth week under stay-at-home orders, will now face heftier fines for flouting rules or lying to contact tracers, with current restrictions proving insufficient to stop the spread.

Lockdown restrictions were also extended across the entire state of New South Wales for the first time this year, coming into force on Saturday afternoon for at least seven days.

Sydney lockdown fines increased to $3,700, stay-at-home extended

Residents of Sydney and its home state of New South Wales will now face fines of up to $3,700 for violating coronavirus stay-at-home orders, which were extended Saturday following a record number of daily COVID-19 infections in the area.

Australia becomes the first advanced country to actually copy China’s policy of locking people into their buildings

69 People Fined $5500 Each For Holding An Engagement Party in Melbourne During Lockdown

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/australias-biggest-city-toughens-harsh-stay-at-home-lockdown-orders-fines-increased-to-3700-first-advanced-country-to-actually-copy-chinas-policy-of-locking-people-into-their-buildi/

Republicans say page praising Trump for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and his 'historic Taliban peace deal' was taken down during maintenance and has nothing to do with the chaos

The page was titled 'President Trump Is Bringing Peace In The Middle East' and described how he 'continued to take the lead in peace talks'

Also accused Biden of taking 'the lead and pushing for endless wars'

Users were met with a 404 error page on the site on Sunday night

A source told DailyMail.com on Monday the page was taken down during maintenance and is nothing to do with the Taliban takeover

They said no pages on the site are older than January 1, 2021

Trump made a conditional peace deal in 2020 with the Taliban saying they would reduce Afghan troops if they didn't support terrorists

Trump also called on Biden to 'resign in disgrace' on Sunday night over the disastrous Afghan troop withdrawal

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9897939/Republicans-remove-page-praising-Donald-Trumps-historic-Taliban-peace-deal.html?ito=push-notification&ci=cP576JHFxN&si=489689&ai=9897939

Israel requests international aid amid largest fire since Carmel blaze

Emergency services have evacuated thousands of residents from a number of towns as the fires continue to spread.

Israel is requesting international aid to combat a massive wildfire which continued to spread on multiple fronts west of Jerusalem for a second day on Monday, forcing hundreds of local residents to evacuate their homes.

Fire Chief Insp.-Gen. Dedi Simchi stressed in a statement to the press on Monday evening that the fire, which has burned nearly 20,000 dunams of land so far, is on the scale of the Carmel Fire which burned large swaths of land in northern Israel in 2010, killing 44 people.

Firefighters have operated at 100 hotspots so far, according to Simchi, who stressed that it was a "great achievement" that only a few houses have burned and no one has been killed.

Some 10 firefighting aircraft and large numbers of firefighters are working to stop the flames.

As the large blazes began rapidly spreading towards nearby towns on Monday afternoon, emergency forces began evacuating hundreds of residents from Sho'eva, Givat Ye'arim, Kibbutz Tsuba, Ein Rafa and Ein Naqquba. So far, about 2,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes.

Israel asked several countries on the Mediterranean Sea to help fight the fires raging outside of Jerusalem on Monday.

The Foreign Ministry, in conjunction with the Public Security Ministry, sent requests to Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France and others.

Simchi emphasized to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid that firefighting planes are needed as soon as possible.

Lapid also spoke with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias, who said Greece will help however it can. Israel sent firefighters, planes and other aid to Greece when it battled wildfires earlier this month.

The foreign minister also spoke to his counterpart in Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, who agreed to send planes and firefighters.

Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett instructed the National Security Council to consider asking for international aid.

Likud criticized Bennett, saying he should have asked earlier.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/jerusalem-area-blaze-continues-for-second-day-residents-evacuated-676852

The Lucrative Business of Woke Education

Bureaucrats who dictate school standards are also paid to implement them

A top diversity consultancy has ties to every level of the private school accreditation process, a Washington Free Beacon analysis found, creating a lucrative diet of contracts and jobs for its employees.

The Glasgow Group, whose founder Rodney Glasgow recently likened critics of "diversity work" to the Capitol rioters, consists entirely of consultants with posts at the National Association of Independent Schools and its "approved accreditors." The association requires those accreditors to enforce social justice ideology in private schools, where members of the Glasgow Group double as full-time employees, giving the 12-person firm a say in the education of hundreds of thousands of students. As their education has been shaped by the Glasgow Group's consultants, diversity professionals have procured more and more power—and more and more money.

Much of that money comes from the "equity audits" that schools purchase to demonstrate their compliance with accreditation standards. The audits ask schools how they are promoting social justice in the classroom and encourage them to build out their "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI) bureaucracy, no matter how large it may already be. Los Angeles's prestigious Harvard-Westlake school, for example, employed five diversity administrators as of this January, when it brought in the Glasgow Group for an audit. Following its completion, the school hired a sixth.

The growth of DEI bureaucracy has alienated parents, who say their kids' schools have become obsessed with racial identity. That pushback has made headlines—the New York Times covered uproars at Brearley, Dalton, and Grace Episcopal—but relatively little headway. The nation's top private schools have all gone "woke" simultaneously, transformed by a race-conscious pedagogy. Families who seek an escape hatch often can't find one, several parents told the Free Beacon last month, because all the best schools are beholden to the same accreditors and use the same consultants.

In some cases, they even employ the same administrators. The Glasgow Group's consultants tend to cycle through a small set of schools in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, funneling their colleagues into whatever post they just left. At St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Maryland, for example, the past two directors of diversity were both members of the Glasgow Group. Having molded an entire school system in their image, DEI practitioners can move freely within it, profiting at every step of the journey.

The Glasgow Group, which did not respond to a request for comment, shows just how powerful this nepotism can be.

https://freebeacon.com/culture/the-lucrative-business-of-woke-education/

Pentagon leaders repeatedly praised Afghan army that collapsed in days

For years, US military leaders praised the improvement of the Afghan forces

The Afghan military caved to Taliban pressure, losing control of the country in a swift and devastating fashion that undermined the praise American military leaders have heaped on them over the years.

For years, American generals have claimed that Afghan forces were improving and developing their ability to handle themselves against the Taliban.

"The Afghan army is increasingly effective," Gen. James Mattis told Congress in July 2010 at his confirmation hearing when he was nominated for commander of U.S. Central Command. He added that the Afghan military – alongside U.S. forces – were "the worst nightmare for the Taliban."

In December of that year, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters that Afghan troops were "responsible for security in Kabul," "performing well" and would "continue to improve."

Cut to 2012, and Gen. John Allen, then the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, told the House Armed Services Committee, "We remain on track to ensure that Afghanistan will no longer be a safe haven for Al Qaida and will no longer be terrorized by the Taliban."

Allen went on to say that "as the potential unifying influence in Afghanistan, the Afghan forces are better than we thought they were, and they're better than they thought they were when tried in combat."

In November 2014, Gen. John Campbell told NPR, when asked if Afghan forces could fight with assistance, that "whenever the [Afghan security forces] get involved with the Taliban, the Taliban cannot hold ground, they can't hold terrain."

"I'm telling you what I've seen," Campbell continued, "the change from a couple of years ago to today. They do have the capability to protect themselves. They are the strongest institution in Afghanistan."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-leaders-praised-afghan-army-collapse