EXCLUSIVE: ‘Blood Is On Their Hands’: Abbey Gate Survivor Describes Coming Face To Face With Joe Biden
EXCLUSIVE: 'Blood Is On Their Hands': Abbey Gate Survivor Describes Coming Face To Face With Joe Biden
Taliban celebrates 3rd anniversary of botched Biden-Harris withdrawal, parading around in American vehicles
The Taliban took to the streets of Kabul Wednesday to celebrate the third anniversary of the Biden-Harris administration's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Adding insult to injury, the Islamic extremists paraded around the former U.S. Bagram Air Base with the expensive U.S. weaponry and vehicles that were abandoned along with American citizens during the rushed exit — an exit Kamala Harris once boasted cosigning and President Joe Biden deemed an "extraordinary success."
Joined by Iranian and communist Chinese diplomats, Taliban officials who have yet to be recognized internationally gave speeches about the significance of their Aug. 15, 2021, reconquest of Kabul, bragging both about advancing Islamic law and about developing "peace and security" by means of a burgeoning military system, reported the Associated Press.
"The Islamic Emirate eliminated internal differences and expanded the scope of unity and cooperation in the country," said Mohammed Abdul Kabir, a senior Taliban military official now serving as the acting third deputy prime minister for political affairs. "No one will be allowed to interfere in internal affairs, and Afghan soil will not be used against any country."
Whereas the Islamic extremists suggested Afghanistan has thrived in recent years, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan noted Wednesday that religious minorities, women, journalists, former government security officials, and other groups have been subjected over these past three years to "serious and targeted human rights violations by the Taliban. These include arbitrary arrests and detentions, unlawful killings, acts tantamount to enforced disappearance, rape and other crimes of sexual violence, and torture and ill-treatment."
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) noted that footage of a Taliban military parade involving American equipment serves as a "stark reminder that the Biden-Harris Administration chose to arm the Taliban and leave behind American soldiers."
"We will never forget the devastating consequences of the White House's reckless withdrawal from Afghanistan," added Johnson.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote, "Infuriating. This was Kamala Harris's gift to the Taliban."
The Pentagon confirmed that over $7 billion worth of military equipment was effectively left behind for the Taliban.
'Kamala Harris was the last person in the room with Joe Biden when he made the disastrous decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.'
Blaze News previously reported that one intelligence assessment estimated that 2,000 armored vehicles and 40 aircraft including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones were left behind for the Taliban.
Last year, the House Budget Committee noted that an additional 181,640 air-to-ground munitions and 50,150 practice munitions were left behind along with 9,200 guidance, control, assemblies, fuses, or launchers; "'nearly all' night vision, surveillance, 'biometric and positioning equipment' totaling nearly 42,000 pieces of specialized equipment"; and "'nearly all' of the communications equipment, including base-station, mobile, man-portable and hand-held commercial and military radio systems, and associated transmitters and encryption devices."
These figures don't include all of the American weapons the Taliban inevitably lifted from those Afghan forces that were ultimately left at the mercy of the extremists.
The special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction revealed that from 2017 to 2019, the U.S. gave Afghan forces over 7,000 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 bombs, and 1,394 grenade launchers. Ahead of the withdrawal, the U.S. also supplied Afghan forces with 211 aircraft.
Far more was lost than weapons during the Biden-Harris withdrawal.
Amid the confusion, an Islamic terrorist — who reportedly had been released amid the chaos just days earlier from the Parwan prison at Bagram Air Base — detonated a suicide bomb on Aug. 26, 2021, at Abbey Gate, the last route open for Afghans into the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The ISIS-Khorasan suicide bombing killed 11 Marines, a solider, and a sailor: Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui; Marine Lance Cpl. David Lee Espinoza; Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee; Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover; Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss; Marine Cpl. Hunter Lopez; Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum; Marine Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola; Marine Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo; Marine Cpl. Humberto Sanchez; Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz; Navy Hospitalman Maxton Soviak; and Marine Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page.
The attack also left 45 other service members wounded and killed at least 170 Afghan civilians.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said in a Thursday statement, "Today marks three years since the Biden-Harris Administration's colossal failure in the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Americans must never forget the 13 service members who lost their lives and the Gold Star families they left behind in this completely preventable tragedy. We honor their lives and their sacrifices, and we must continue to demand answers, transparency, and accountability."
Stefanik noted further that "Kamala Harris was the last person in the room with Joe Biden when he made the disastrous decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. Kamala Harris owns this catastrophic withdrawal and proves just how incompetent, incapable, and dangerous she would be as our nation's commander in chief."
Harris confirmed to CNN in April 2021 that she was the last person in the room after Biden decided on his particular withdrawal scheme and noted she felt comfortable with the decision.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) tweeted Thursday, "Three years ago today, Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban. Kamala Harris needs to answer questions about her role in the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan."
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Rep. Hunt explains how Trump made an adversary think twice about messing with America
Republican Reps. Wesley Hunt (Texas) and Byron Donalds (Fla.) detailed some of President Joe Biden's domestic and international failings on the Tuesday episode of the "Sage Steele Podcast."
Donalds noted, for instance, that under Biden's watch, "we have had to evacuate seven United States embassies. That has never happened in American history. Never. That is how weak we are on the world stage. That's how bad it is."
According to the Daily Signal's accounting, the reality is far worse.
The Signal indicated that as of March, the Biden administration had overseen the evacuation of 11 embassies, more than any other administration to date. President Barack Obama reportedly presided over the second-most embassy evacuations with a total of eight.
The Biden State Department has, however, come up with a different set of numbers concerning ordered or authorized evacuations under both the current and previous administrations.
"When you're weak and our adversaries know you're weak, they push you," continued Donalds. "It's no different than the bully in the school yard. If you're timid and the bully knows he can get away with it, what happens? He comes for your lunch money every single week, every single day ... until you punch back."
After the congressmen emphasized that America's adversaries perceive the U.S. as weak under Biden, Rep. Hunt shared a tale illustrating a better way of doing things — a tale that has ostensibly morphed slightly with each retelling.
'If you harm a hair on a single American, I'm going to kill you.'
"I'm going to give you my favorite President Trump story," said Hunt. "It's my number one favorite of all time."
"When we were negotiating with the Taliban while President Trump was still the president, President Trump wanted to get out of Afghanistan but he wanted a conditions-based withdrawal meaning that you [the Taliban] do what we tell you to do and then we start pulling troops back slowly as long as you abide by our rules," said Hunt.
The congressman suggested that Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the Taliban leadership to discuss the withdrawal with a single translator in the room.
"President Trump looked at the Taliban leader and said this: 'I want to leave Afghanistan. But it's going to be a conditions-based withdrawal,' and the translator translated," said Hunt. "And [Trump] said, 'If you harm a hair on a single American, I'm going to kill you.'"
Hunt claimed that the translator sat back in silence, reluctant to communicate Trump's death threat.
"And Trump goes, 'Tell him. Tell him what I said.' [He] reached in his pocket, pulled out a satellite photo of the leader of the Taliban's home, and handed it to him," said Hunt.
Steele interjected with "shut up!"
"Got up and walked out the room," continued Hunt.
Trump told Fox News in 2022 that he had sent Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar a photo of his house, and said, "'If you do anything, we're going to hit you harder than any country has ever been hit.'"
A year earlier, Trump told talk radio host Hugh Hewitt that he had threatened Baradar along these lines:
If you do anything bad to the United States of America, if you do anything bad to any of our civilians, to any American citizen, or if you do anything out of the normal, you know, they’ve been fighting for a thousand years, but out of the normal, because you’ve had your wars, and if you do anything out of the normal, but anything bad to America or any American citizens, I will hit you harder than anybody has ever been hit in world history. You will be hit harder than any country and any person has ever been hit in world history. And we will start with the exact location and the exact town, and it’s right here. And I believe I repeated the name of his town. That will be the first place that we start.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reportedly noted in his book "The Chief's Chief" that Trump vowed in a phone call to flatten Baradar's village in early 2020 if the Islamist group threatened Americans or American interests.
According to Meadows, Trump said, "And your village, Mullah? We know where it is. We know it's the Weetmak village. If you dare lay hands on a single American, that will be the first thing that I destroy. I will not hesitate."
While Hunt's favorite Trump story appears to have morphed over time, the core suggestion that has gone unchanged is that Trump was willing to back American safety with the threat of American vengeance.
"That's the definition of strength," continued Hunt. "That's what I'm talking about. And so you can imagine that kind of sentiment being around the world. If we have an embassy in another country, no one's going to touch it because they're going to be fearful that they're going to get a MOAB on their head. That's how President Trump rolls."
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