{"id":10554,"date":"2021-09-11T21:16:15","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T04:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/?p=10554"},"modified":"2024-08-27T19:24:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T02:24:43","slug":"afghanistan-apocalypse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/afghanistan-apocalypse.html","title":{"rendered":"Afghanistan Apocalypse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"An
An unidentified artist in Kabul burns her paintings before the Taliban discovers her studio. Photo: Omaid Sharifi 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Imagine being an artist in a country that banned art. Furthermore, to save yourself and your family, you had to burn all of your paintings before the theocratic zealots of the unelected \u201cgovernment\u201d could discover them.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart shatters to see and talk to Afghan artists who have started destroying their own art out of fear. Afghanistan is becoming black and white again. It’s losing its beauty, diversity and colors. I am afraid the world will let this happen again!\u201d<\/p>\n

So said Omaid Sharifi, Afghan artist, curator, co-founder & president of ArtLords<\/a>. That Kabul based grassroots organization of artists and volunteers tried to heal their war ravaged nation with \u201cthe soft power of art and culture.\u201d The first group in Afghanistan to paint public art murals on the streets was ArtLords… they might be the last, now that the Taliban have seized control.<\/p>\n

Sharifi and fellow artists were painting a mural in Kabul<\/a> on Aug. 15, 2021, when Taliban terrorists began swarming into the city. Ironically, the previous day Sharifi uploaded a video to twitter showing his group working on the new mural, he wrote: \u201cWe are painting a mural today-now. It reminded me of the famous scene from Titanic Movie, where musicians play until the ship sinks.\u201d As the Taliban took over Sharifi went underground. Thankfully he and his family escaped, and resettled in a refugee camp in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

\"Afghan
Afghan artist Omaid Sharifi, painting a mural on the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan with fellow members of ArtLords. Photo: Omaid Sharifi, 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In truth this essay is not about artists resisting dystopia. Rather, it is about liberty, human dignity, and the fate of nations. The tale could begin in 1839, when soldiers of the British Empire marched into Kabul to conquer the Emirate of Afghanistan. In 1892 Rudyard Kipling poetically conveyed how well that exploit went:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains, and the women come out to cut up what remains, jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains, an’ go to your Gawd like a soldier.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, my telling of inauspicious events actually starts in the late 20th century, when, as a 25-year-old artist living in Los Angeles, I first payed attention to politics in \u00a0Afghanistan. It was April 28, 1978, when news reports told of a coup d’\u00e9tat in Kabul. The communist People\u2019s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) had assassinated President Mohammed Daoud Khan and his family at the presidential palace, beginning in essence the conflict still faced today.<\/p>\n

In 1978 Afghanistan was unimportant news to most Americans, struggling as we were against recession and gas lines. For those of us not old enough to remember, President Carter gave his infamous \u201cmalaise speech<\/a>\u201d in 1979. The Afghan coup in \u201978 led me to study that landlocked nation, its history, culture, and politics, and I have been contemplating that country ever since. In the month of August, 2021, a new entry was placed in the Afghanistan Apocalypse Almanac, it was listed under \u201cBiden Withdrawal.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was 21-years-old in April 29, 1975 when the last US helicopter took off from the US Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam. The communists seized the country so quickly it took the US by surprise; a hasty retreat was organized. Be that as it may, just days earlier on April 17, 1975, the genocidal Khmer Rouge<\/a> marched into Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia\u2014when it comes to fanaticism the Taliban are evocative of the Khmer Rouge. Even after four decades I have been unable to forget the 10,000 or more Vietnamese at US Embassy gates, pleading to be airlifted out of \u2018Nam. That reoccurring whirring chopper blade nightmare has now come home to roost in Kabul.<\/p>\n

\"Left:
Left: US helicopter evacuates US Embassy as communists capture Saigon, Vietnam, 1975. Right: US helicopter evacuates US Embassy as Taliban capture Kabul, Afghanistan, 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On April 14, 2021, Joe Biden declared<\/a> he would conduct a \u201csafe, deliberate and responsible\u201d withdrawal of U.S. soldiers in \u201cfull coordination with its partners and allies in Afghanistan.\u201d He carelessly stated the withdrawal of 2,500 U.S. troops would be completed on… September 11th.<\/p>\n

Of course, that was the date Islamic fanatics from al-Qaeda crashed civilian airliners into the Twin Towers of New York City and the Pentagon in Virginia, killing 2,977 and wounding more than 6,000. Moreover, the Taliban had hosted al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, where the 9\/11 plot was hatched. I am certain the Taliban were pleased with the symbolic date, though it roiled Americans. Later in July, Biden quietly and without fanfare, changed the end date of the withdrawal mission to August 31.<\/p>\n

I felt in my bones Biden\u2019s withdrawal plan would be disastrous. Once he announced the evacuation, the Taliban rapidly began to seize provinces; they were surrounding the capital of Kabul. On May 8, 2021, the Taliban used three truck bombs to attack the Syed Al-Shahda girls\u2019s school<\/a> in Kabul. The blasts killed at least 90 and wounded some 100; most victims were teenage girls. The Taliban denied responsibility for the massacre, all while forbidding education to girls and women. The inhuman act was a glimpse into the future of women in today\u2019s Taliban occupied Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

I was shocked when US forces completely vacated Bagram Air Base<\/a> under cover of darkness on July 1, 2021. It was done without informing the new Afghan base commander<\/a> or the Afghan National Army, and it was ordered by Joe Biden. After the base lights were turned off, hordes of looters<\/a> swept into the compound to steal everything not nailed down. This was the US evacuation and how it proceeded in \u201cfull coordination with its partners and allies in Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bagram Air Base should have been used in the withdrawal. It was the largest airfield in Afghanistan with two runways, multiple hangars, 100 parking bays for planes, a 50-bed hospital, and housing for 100,000. It has a defensible perimeter with fences, blast walls, and gun towers. There are no elevated positions nearby allowing enemies to shoot down into the base, nor urban areas to shelter guerilla attackers. One runway at Bagram could have handled incoming and outgoing flights, while the second launched helicopters for search and rescue missions of stranded Americans. Instead Biden chose Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul with its single runway, it has none of the attributes mentioned above.<\/p>\n

Because of Biden\u2019s withdrawal, 16,000 US military vets who worked as private contractors, were pulled out of the country<\/a>. They had provided vital maintenance to aircraft of the Afghan Air Force; suddenly there was no one to keep Afghan planes and helicopters running. With Bagram Air Base closed and maintenance crews evacuated, Biden effectively grounded the Afghan Air Force. The Afghan National Army was also crippled by this; it had been trained by the US to rely on air intelligence and support during combat missions. When troops are pinned down with heavy fire or outnumbered by enemies, air-strikes are called in. But what happens when there are no planes?<\/p>\n

On July 8, 2021, President Biden told the press<\/a>: \u201cThe Taliban is not the North Vietnamese Army, they’re not… they’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance for you to see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.” He went on to say: \u201cThe likelihood there\u2019s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.\u201d When a reporter asked, \u201cIs a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?\u201d Biden replied, \u201cNo, it is not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Late
Late 2020 in Herat Province Afghanistan, a girl accused of \u201cimmoral relations\u201d for talking to a man on the phone, receives 40 lashes from the Taliban.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Taliban are certainly not the former North Vietnamese Army, they are Sunni fanatics who fight to impose sharia law on humanity.<\/p>\n

Their base is the majority ethnic population of Afghanistan, the Pashtun. In the Pashto language Talib means \u201cstudent\u201d (plural, \u201cTaliban\u201d), one who studies Islamic fundamentalism in a Sunni religious school (madrassah). When they first ruled from 1996 to 2001, they banned western dress, music, art, and rights for women as \u201cun-Islamic.\u201d Violators of sharia law were shot, beheaded<\/a>, or stoned to death<\/a> in brutal public executions.<\/p>\n

When overthrown in 2001, their cruelty continued in provinces they controlled. Now they are back in power, and there is no reason to believe they will be any less barbaric<\/a>. No matter how we arrived at this cursed terminus, it is sobering to consider the victory of the Taliban; they won their war to establish a Sunni theocratic state. Like the Khmer Rouge of a ghost Cambodia, they want to go back, and the Talibs will go back to when there was nothing but Islam.<\/p>\n

I never supported the US occupation of Afghanistan, or the idea of transforming the country through \u201cnation building.\u201d I opposed the war and occupation as administered by Republican and Democrat presidents. In point of fact I favored withdrawing US combat troops from Afghanistan in late 2001, when they smashed the al-Qaeda network with ground operations and a massive aerial bombing campaign. Once US soldiers denied bases to Osama bin Laden\u2019s al-Qaeda terrorists by overthrowing the Taliban, it was time to get out of Dodge.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 31, 2021, an anonymous source leaked an audio recording and transcript to Reuters. The materials documented a July 23, 2021 phone call Biden made to Ashraf Ghani, then president of Afghanistan. During the 14-minute call, Biden made clear that he knew catastrophe was unfolding, he told Ghani: \u201cI need not tell you the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban. And there is a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ghani responded with: \u201cWe are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this.\u201d Knowing he had leverage, Biden retorted: \u201cYou clearly have the best military, you have 300,000 well-armed forces versus 70-80,000 and they\u2019re clearly capable of fighting well, we will continue to provide close air support, if we know what the plan is and what we are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden was well aware the Taliban could win, and lied when he told the American people the Taliban taking the \u201cwhole country is highly unlikely.\u201d Biden wanted Ghani to lie as well, pressuring him to do so with the threat of withholding US air support. Can you say \u201cQuid pro quo\u201d? Democrats tried to impeach<\/a> President Trump, accusing him of withholding military aid to Ukraine in the hope of forcing Ukraine President Zelensky to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. According to that logic, when Biden threatened to stop military aid to Afghan allies because he wanted them to \u201cproject a different picture,\u201d that was cause for impeachment.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cBagram
\u201cBagram Prison, Afghanistan.\u201d Oil on linen. Mark Vallen. 2009.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On August 15, 2021 the Taliban seized Bagram Air Base and Bagram Prison, where al-Qaeda, Taliban, and Islamic State Khorason<\/a> (IS-K) terrorists were held. All 5,000 were released. That same day the Taliban seized Pul-d-Charkhi prison in Kabul, all of its 5,000 al-Qaeda, Taliban, and IS-K prisoners were released. On Aug. 27, 2021, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby confirmed thousands of IS-K prisoners<\/a> were freed.<\/p>\n

The Afghan affiliate of ISIS is named after the Khorasan province of Afghanistan were IS-K has operated since its 2015 founding. (The acronym for the group also appears as ISIS-K and ISKP). Why did Biden not transfer dangerous terrorist leaders in Bagram and Pul-d-Charkhi prisons to detention facilities outside of Afghanistan before initiating his withdrawal?<\/p>\n

President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on August 15, 2021, and the Afghan government fell. Thousands of Taliban gunmen swept into Kabul. Government soldiers threw down their arms and surrendered. Heavily armed Taliban fighters escorted their leaders into the presidential palace, and the white and black flag of the Taliban was once again hoisted above the presidential palace.<\/p>\n

The Washington Post published a startling fact<\/a> in their story on Afghanistan\u2019s fall to the Taliban. When Ghani fled and the government collapsed, a meeting was arranged between US General Kenneth McKenzie\u2014head of Central Command, and Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder of the Taliban. At the parley in Qatar the Taliban leader told McKenzie: \u201cWe have a problem. We have two options to deal with it: you, the United States military, take responsibility for securing Kabul or you have to allow us to do it.\u201d The Taliban were offering the US the option of controlling the capital city.<\/strong> Knowing Biden wanted withdrawal, a deal was struck, the US could have the airport until Biden\u2019s Aug. 31 deadline, and the Taliban would take everything else. McKenzie deliberately turned Kabul over to the Taliban<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Taliban
Taliban gunman holding AK-47 rifle (left), holds Afghanis captive. They stand by wall art promoting UN \u201cSustainable Development Goals.\u201d Points four and five are \u201cQuality Education\u201d and \u201cGender Equality.\u201d Photographer unknown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is horrifying to realize the magnitude of that agreement. The pact gave the Taliban, with their history of suicide bombing attacks<\/a> against innocent civilians, total control of security outside the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport. The Taliban appointed Khalil Haqqani as \u201csecurity chief\u201d of Kabul. Khalil is a leader of the Haqqani Network, which President Obama officially designated a terrorist group<\/a> in 2012, placing it on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list of the US State Department. It was all leading to a cataclysmic bloodbath.<\/p>\n

Also on August 15, 2021, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich<\/a>: \u201cAmerican citizens will not be given priority evacuation over Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants. Once we get more airlift out of Kabul, we\u2019re going to put as many people on those planes as we can. There will be a mix, not just American citizens, but perhaps some Afghan SIV applicants as well. We\u2019re going to focus on getting people out of the country, then sorting it out at the next stop. It\u2019s not going to be just Americans first, then SIV applicants.” Again, I almost fell out of my chair when I read those words.<\/p>\n

On August 16, 2021, as the Taliban overwhelmed Kabul, Biden said: \u201cAmerican troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.\u201d Biden insulted the 69,000 Afghan soldiers who died fighting the Taliban since 2001, his shameful remark aggrieved the family members of the slain Afghan troops. No one would dare say anything as loathsome about the 58,220 US soldiers who perished in the Vietnam war\u2014but Biden\u2019s slander of Afghan allies who gave their lives for a semblance of liberty, well… his remarks about them did not go unnoticed by others who have considered America a friend. People of Ukraine and Taiwan, you are next in line.<\/p>\n

As the Afghan government crumbled, US helicopters airlifted hundreds of US Embassy personnel to Kabul\u2019s Hamid Karzai International Airport. Desperate to escape, thousands of Afghanis and much smaller numbers of Americans and other foreign nationals, gathered outside the airport\u2019s entry gates. The Taliban were there as well, making it nearly impossible to enter the installation. They pushed frantic crowds back with whips and sharp sticks<\/a>, using gunfire for crowd control. Remember, the Biden administration tasked the Taliban with \u201csecuring\u201d Kabul. Frenzied mothers passed their babies over barbed wire barriers to US Marines… praying the toddlers would be airlifted. Hundreds climbed airport walls to storm the tarmac while trying to get onboard planes. This was the \u201csafe, deliberate and responsible\u201d withdrawal Biden promised.<\/p>\n

\""A
“A heartrending video destined to be part of Biden\u2019s legacy.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a heartrending video destined to be part of Biden\u2019s legacy, hundreds of Afghans are seen running alongside a US Air Force C-17 cargo plane on Aug. 16, 2021. A handful of young men climbed onto the wheel well containing the plane\u2019s landing gear; they clung to the plane as it taxied down the tarmac gaining speed.<\/p>\n

Once the plane took off and was hundreds of feet in the air, the men lost their grip and fell to their death<\/a>. Horrified people on the airstrip filmed the shocking spectacle with their cell phones; the appalling sight is a visual summation of the withdrawal. Two days later Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed there were \u201cat least several fatalities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pilots could not fully retract the C-17\u2019s landing gear, so they made an emergency landing in a nearby country. They found that an Afghan man wanting to fly out of the country, had attempted to stow away by climbing up the plane\u2019s landing gear.<\/p>\n

When the plane was airborne, the landing gear retracted and crushed the poor soul<\/a>. From inside the plane, someone on the flight crew filmed the maimed body stuck in the gears, the broken limbs violently flapping in the jet engine blast.<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s blundering withdrawal left behind $85 billion in US weaponry. As the Taliban seized depots, warehouses, and hangars formally under control of the Afghan army, they found huge amounts of weaponry, ammunition, and spare parts. Current video shows the Taliban mostly ditching their old Soviet made AK-47s for new American made M4 carbines equipped with Advanced Combat Optical Gun sights (ACOG<\/a>). The Taliban now wear Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniforms<\/a>, Modular Tactical Vests<\/a>, and Advanced Combat Helmets<\/a>. After Biden\u2019s withdrawal the Taliban formed the \u201cVictorious Force\u201d unit to patrol Hamid Karzai International Airport; the unit is completely equipped with top-of-the-line US gear, including Humvees<\/a> armed with M2 .50 Caliber Machine Guns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Taliban
Taliban soldiers in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 2021. Fully equipped with American gear, and riding one of the 42,000 pick-up trucks and SUVs left behind courtesy of Joe Biden. Twitter photo: @AsaadHannaa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With billions of dollars worth of small arms courtesy of Biden, the Taliban are now the most well equipped terrorist army the world has ever seen. Here is just a tiny fraction of the Taliban\u2019s small arms inventory.<\/p>\n

More than 600,000 automatic rifles\u2014various platforms M16A2<\/a>, M4 carbine<\/a>, M249 SAW<\/a>, M24 Sniper Weapon System<\/a>, over 20 million rounds of 7.62mm, 9 million .50 caliber rounds<\/a>, 1,394 M203 Grenade launchers<\/a> with 61,000 40mm rounds. That\u2019s just the small stuff.<\/p>\n

The Taliban now have around 208 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, including Super Tucano<\/a> light attack aircraft, and UH-60 Black Hawk<\/a> helicopters. For Pete\u2019s sake they even have four C-130 Hercules<\/a> cargo planes.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 31, 2021 the Taliban flew a Black Hawk over Kandahar\u2014birthplace of the Taliban. They also flew one at Kandahar\u2019s Sept. 1, 2021 Victory Parade<\/a>. Dozens of MaxxPro MRAP<\/a> (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles were in the parade, along with heavy US military trucks carrying M119 howitzers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With all that, the Afghan 6th Century warlords have been transmogrified into futuristic jihadists armed with computerized weaponry. The Taliban now have PSQ-20 Enhanced Night Vision Goggles<\/a>, 16,035 of them\u2014allowing them to fight at night.<\/p>\n

They have dozens of Boeing ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles<\/a> (UAVs), used for surveillance and tracking enemy positions. Another waking nightmare is the Talibs seizing over 100 FGM-48 JAVELIN<\/a> missile systems. The JAVELIN is a \u201cmanportable\u201d anti-armor weapon designed to \u201ckill\u201d tanks, however, it can also destroy fortifications.<\/p>\n

Just as worrisome, the Taliban seized Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment<\/a> (HIIDE). Those devices hold identifying biometric data like iris scans, fingerprints, and biographical info on millions of Afghanis. HIIDE devices can plug into Afghan governmental databases, which of course will reveal to the Taliban who worked for the Afghan government, army or police. There are reports the Taliban have already armed a special unit with HIIDE<\/a>; their mission is to use biometric data in the hunt for Afghans who helped US and allied forces.<\/p>\n

If the Taliban cannot operate or maintain their newly acquired weaponry, friends in China, Russia, and Pakistan can assist. China uses its own biometric devices to control their Uighur population. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency of Pakistan has a close relationship with the Taliban, and they have the know-how to run HIIDE devices. There are already reports of US military armored vehicles being transported to the Islamic Republic of Iran<\/a>. It is easy to imagine the Taliban selling or supplying military equipment and supplies to terrorists everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"Afghan
Afghan folk singer Fawad Andrabi, 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As US forces in Kabul prepared for withdrawal, the Taliban murdered an elder folk singer in the remote Andarab District of Baghlan Provice.<\/p>\n

I was interested in \u201cworld music\u201d as a pre-teen and developed a taste for ethnic folk music, so I was familiar with the instrument the slain folk singer played. His name was Fawad Andrabi, and he took his name from the land he loved. He played the Ghaychak, the traditional and ancient bowed lute common to Afghanistan, but with origins in ancient Persia.<\/p>\n

Fawad would spread out a blanket in a beautiful gorge, sit down, and entertain friends and strangers with his renditions of traditional songs<\/a>. On Aug. 28, 2021 the Taliban visited Fawad at his home, his son said they drank tea with him. Afterwards they dragged him from his house and shot him in the head because the Taliban believe music is sinful and un-Islamic. It goes without saying that the killing of the gentle folk singer is the fate of art and culture under the medievalist Taliban. Fawad\u2019s story was not news in America, I mention it here, both to honor his spirit, and curse the devils who took his life.<\/p>\n

Consider the music of a very different performer and composer, Ustad Zahir Bakhtari. Though entirely unknown in the West, Bakhtari is a consummate professional musician and singer. He plays evocative classical Afghan music<\/a> on sitar, but is also superb within the Afghan pop music millieu, as evidenced by his recent song Hawa Jam Ast<\/a><\/em>. How will Bakhtari and the many musicians like him, survive a regime that considers music \u201cun-Islamic\u201d and punishable by death?<\/p>\n

\"Tweet.
Tweet. Nov. 24, 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Remember when Joe Biden said \u201cWe will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again,\u201d and “It’s overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America to have a great relationship with NATO and with the EU. I have a very different view than my predecessor did.” Look at how that worked out.<\/p>\n

After the fall of Kabul, the conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, tried to reach Biden by phone to coordinate a response. His calls were not returned; it took Biden a full 36 hours to respond to Johnson. On Aug. 18, 2021, the British Parliament held an emergency debate on Afghanistan. That received scant attention in US media, but the debate illustrated how badly Biden had ruptured the \u201cspecial relationship\u201d between the US and the UK.<\/p>\n

From across the political divide, Members of Parliament excoriated Biden for his \u201cshameful\u201d and \u201ccatastrophic\u201d withdrawal. British MP Tom Tugendhat of the Conservative Party, served in Afghanistan. He delivered a compelling speech<\/a> that brought an emotional quiet to the House of Commons as MPs contemplated its truths.<\/p>\n

MP Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrat party, said: \u201cThe American decision to withdraw was not just a mistake, it was an avoidable mistake.\u201d MP Khalid Mahmood of the socialist Labour Party said: \u201cThe Biden government have just come in and, without looking at what is happening on the ground, have taken a unilateral decision, throwing us and everybody else to the fire.\u201d Ultimately, the debate ended with Parliament holding Joe Biden in contempt for his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Think about that for a moment. British Parliamentarians losing all respect for an American president because of a massive foreign policy catastrophe. Here is something else to contemplate… ABC, CBS, MSNBC, and CNN did not even cover the story<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Tweet.
Tweet. March 6, 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

US allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), also criticized Biden. Armin Laschet of Germany\u2019s Christian Democratic Union\/Christian Social Union (CDU-CSU) coalition party, said of Biden\u2019s withdrawal: \u201cIt is the biggest debacle that NATO has suffered since its founding, and we\u2019re standing before an epochal change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laschet will likely replace Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also had harsh words for Biden, Merkel said<\/a>: \u201cThis is an extremely bitter development. Bitter, dramatic and terrifying. It is a terrible development for the millions of Afghans who want a more liberal society. I am thinking of the pain of families of soldiers who lost their lives fighting there. Now everything seems so hopeless.\u201d Merkel went on to say the withdrawal was carried out for \u201cdomestic political reasons.”<\/p>\n

Germany\u2019s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticized Biden\u2019s withdrawal<\/a>: \u201cThe images of desperation at Kabul airport are shameful for the political West. We are experiencing a human tragedy for which we share responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron had a telephone conversation with Joe Biden where he emphasized \u201cour collective moral responsibility<\/a> toward the Afghan men and women who need our protection and who share our values. We cannot abandon them.\u201d In the Biden White House readout<\/a> of the call, the words \u201cour collective moral responsibility\u201d and \u201cwe cannot abandon them\u201d were left out<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I fully expected jihadis would mount an attack on retreating US forces.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 26, 2021 that moment of dread was realized; terrorists struck the \u201cAbbey Gate\u201d of Hamid Karzai International Airport with a suicide bomb attack. Close to the gate a huge crowd of Afghan men, women, and children hoping to be evacuated, stood near or in, a deep concrete ditch filled with sewage water. As they waved travel papers and pleaded for entry, US soldiers plucked a lucky few from the morass. Wearing an explosive vest the terrorist waded into the crowd and detonated his bomb. The explosion ripped through the mass of people. Heaps of mutilated, limbless bodies covered the sidewalk and filled the ditch, its waters turned blood red.<\/p>\n

\"Marine
Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23. The service member from Sacramento, California was one of 13 US soldiers killed in a terrorist suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021. Photographer unknown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The blast took the lives of 13 American soldiers<\/a> guarding the airport, 11 Marines, a Navy corpsman, and an Army Staff Sgt. 18 US soldiers were wounded. 170 Afghanis were killed in the massacre, with 150 wounded.<\/p>\n

Islamic State Khorason (IS-K) took credit for the bombing. Did the Taliban allow the terrorists to pass through their \u201csecurity\u201d check points to carry out the attack?<\/p>\n

Two weeks before the bombing CNN\u2019s Clarissa Ward interviewed an IS-K leader<\/a> in Kabul. He said IS-K fighters had no problem entering the capital or passing through Taliban checkpoints. Ward fled Afghanistan on Aug. 20 due to Taliban threats on her life.<\/p>\n

Unbelievably, just hours after IS-K carried out their suicide bomb massacre at the airport, US General McKenzie<\/a> said during a press conference that the US will continue to rely on the \u201cTaliban as a tool to protect us as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the airport bombing aftermath, Biden said on Aug. 27, 2021: “There is no evidence thus far that I’ve been given as a consequence by any of the commanders in the field that there has been collusion between the Taliban and ISIS in carrying out what happened today.” Those are nothing but weasel words. The extremist Haqqani Network is considered to be the deadliest Islamist terror group in Afghanistan. Infamous for conducting suicide bomb attacks and their affiliation with al-Qaeda, they pledged allegiance to the Taliban<\/a> in 1995. Leaders of the Haqqani Network and the Taliban have said they are one and the same organizationally.<\/p>\n

More to the point, a May 2020 UN Security Council report<\/a> stated that Islamic State Khorason \u201coperations resulting in civilian casualties allow Taliban deniability whereas ISIS-K is willing to claim responsibility to demonstrate capability and relevance.\u201d The report said \u201crelevance\u201d to IS-K meant proving they are \u201cthe only defiant terror group in an effort to gain recruitment from potentially dissident Taliban or Al-Qaida members who oppose any agreement with the United States.\u201d The United Nations report also dropped this bombshell:<\/p>\n

\u201cMost attacks claimed by ISIS-K demonstrated some degree of \u2018involvement, facilitation, or the provision of technical assistance\u2019 by the Haqqani Network. Furthermore, member states have stated that ISIS-K \u2018lacked the capability to launch complex attacks in Kabul on its own\u2019 while taking responsibility for operations that had, in all likelihood, been carried out by the Haqqani Network.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The bodies of 13 US service members killed in terrorist suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, return home on Aug. 28, 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Americans were already numb with shock over the news of 13 US soldiers massacred by an Islamic State suicide bomber, when Biden gave them more unwelcome news.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 30, 2021 a press briefing<\/a> was held with John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary, and General McKenzie, head of US Central Command.<\/p>\n

A reporter asked McKenzie: \u201cDo you have a message to Americans and allies that were left behind?\u201d McKenzie responded with: \u201cWe think the citizens that were not brought out, number in the low, very low hundreds.\u201d<\/p>\n

… American citizens left behind in Afghanistan by the Biden administration… only numbered in… the low… very low… hundreds. Nothing to be upset about, just US nationals left to the tender mercies of the Taliban, al-Qaeda, Haqqani Network, and Islamic State Khorason, but only in the low… very low… hundreds.<\/p>\n

As an American, perhaps the most shocking thing about Biden\u2019s disorderly withdrawal was that he deliberately left hundreds of Americans in Afghanistan\u2014he abandoned them to a fate dealt by terrorists. In an Aug. 18, 2021 interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos, Biden said US troops would stay beyond the Aug. 31 deadline if necessary to get Americans out. He said: \u201cIf there\u2019s American citizens left, we\u2019re gonna stay to get them out.\u201d Liar<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 31, 2021, after the final American C-17 transport plane flew out of Hamid Karzai International Airport the day before with the last US soldiers on board, Biden spoke from the State Dining Room of the White House. He praised his withdrawal as an \u201cextraordinary success,\u201d saying it was \u201cthe largest airlift in US history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States.\u201d But he did not evacuate 120,000 Americans, he pulled out 5,400 US citizens and left 100s behind. As for the Afghan allies that fought by our side, untold thousands were left to the Taliban.<\/p>\n

Biden continued: \u201cTo those asking for a third decade of war in Afghanistan I ask, \u2018What is the vital national interest?\u2019 I simply do not believe that the safety and security of America is enhanced by continuing to deploy thousands of American troops and spending billions of dollars in Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Families
Families of US soldiers killed in Kabul terror bombing, criticized Biden for checking his watch at Dover Air Base, while receiving remains of deceased. This anonymous meme captured the moment as a mock TIME magazine cover.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is the vital national interest? Remember that Green New Deal everyone is squawking about?<\/p>\n

Lithium is a vital ingredient in making batteries for electric cars and buses\u2014it\u2019s also key in manufacturing batteries for laptops and cellphones.<\/p>\n

A team of Pentagon officials and US geologists in 2010 discovered Afghanistan has the largest deposits of lithium in the world<\/a>; the Pentagon referred to Afghanistan as the \u201cSaudi Arabia of lithium.\u201d Afghanistan also has huge deposits of rare earth elements, used as essential components in all types of high-tech products.<\/p>\n

By 2018 Communist China produced 80% of the world\u2019s rare earth elements. To be blunt, Biden just handed the Saudi Arabia of lithium over to Communist China. On Sept. 2, 2021, Taliban spokesman Zabihulla Mujahid, praised China as its closest ally<\/a>; saying \u201cChina is our principal partner and for us represents a fundamental and extraordinary opportunity because it\u2019s ready to invest in and reconstruct our country. China represents our passport towards the markets of the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, what is the vital national interest?<\/p>\n

The cruelest joke of all is contained in Biden\u2019s \u201cextraordinary success\u201d speech, his taking credit for ending America\u2019s \u201cforever war.<\/a>\u201d I hate to say this but, the war did not end, it simply opened a new chapter. What is the vital national interest? Let me put it this way, now that Biden pulled out of Afghanistan, why not withdraw the 28,000 US soldiers deployed in South Korea? After all, they have been in that \u201cforever war\u201d for 70 years. I am certain North Korea\u2019s \u201cDear Respected Leader\u201d Kim Jong Un and his overlords in Communist China would never ever invade the south. I have come to view Biden\u2019s Afghan withdrawal as no less preposterous.<\/p>\n

At a Sept. 7, 2021 press conference in Kabul, the unelected Taliban ruling clique was announced\u2014a formal celebration of the junta has been scheduled for a future date. Here are a few names from the terrorist pecking order of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund will be Afghanistan’s acting \u201cPrime Minister.\u201d He is on an active UN sanctions list from Jan. 25, 2001 \u201cregarding acts and activities of the Taliban authorities.\u201d Akhund was previously \u201cForeign Minister\u201d in the original Taliban 1996 regime overthrown by the US in 2001.<\/p>\n

\"Taliban
Taliban terrorists on the streets of Kabul, completely outfitted in US gear. Aug. 29, 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sirajuddin Haqqani will head the Ministry of Interior, responsible for policing and national security. Sirajuddin is a member of the terrorist Haqqani Network, a group placed on the US State Department\u2019s Foreign Terrorist Organization list. He is wanted by the FBI<\/a> for a 2008 armed attack on a Kabul hotel that killed six people, including an American. He is also wanted for plotting to assassinate former Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2008. The FBI are offering a $10 million reward for information leading to Sirajuddin\u2019s arrest. The FBI describe him as \u201carmed and dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pssst, hey FBI guys, he\u2019s in the Ministry of Interior building, Airport Road, opposite Aria City, Kabul. Can I get my reward now?<\/p>\n

At the press conference the Taliban\u2019s \u201cSupreme Leader\u201d and \u201cCommander of the Faithful,\u201d Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzadeh, told the world: \u201cI assure all citizens that the rulers will do everything in their power to uphold Islamic law in the country.” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen stressed the Taliban government will not recognize nor establish relations with Israel, which will no doubt thrill the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) crowd, along with a certain “squad” of US Congressional Reps.<\/p>\n

There are 5 members of the new Talib regime that you should know about. They were in the first Taliban reign of terror of 1996 to 2001. When the US toppled the Taliban, the 5 were captured and charged with a variety of offenses; two were wanted for the mass murder of Shiite Muslims. The 5 were sent to Guantanamo Bay detention camp (Gitmo), where they became known as the Gitmo 5 or Taliban 5<\/a>. On May 31, 2014, Pres. Barack Obama had them traded for US deserter Bowe Bergdahl, who abandoned his post and surrendered to the Taliban in 2009. The Haqqani network held Bergdahl prisoner. The US had stipulations for the release; the 5 had to stay in Qatar and not engage in the politics of Afghanistan. Imagine Obama\u2019s surprise when the 5 broke their promise!<\/p>\n

The 5 took part in the 2021 insurgency, and were given appointments in the new Taliban \u201cgovernment.\u201d Their names and positions follow: Mullah Norullah Nori (Border and Tribal Affairs Minister), Abdul Haq Wasiq (Intelligence Director), Mulla Mohammad Fazl (Deputy Defense Minister), Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa (Information and Culture Minister), and Mohammad Nabi Omari. While not given a post in the central government, Omari was appointed governor of Khost Province.<\/p>\n

On Sept 10, 2021, Taliban spokesman Sayed Zekrullah Hashimi, told the press<\/a>: \u201cA woman can’t be a minister, it is like you put something on her neck that she can’t carry. It is not necessary for women to be in the cabinet, they should give birth.” It is so nice that an official in Biden’s National Security Council called the Taliban \u201ccooperative, flexible, businesslike, and professional.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

I’m publishing this essay on Sept. 11, 2021, the 20th anniversary of 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacking four commercial airliners, and flying them with passengers and crew into American targets. Two planes hit the Twin Towers in New York City, one struck the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C. The 3 terrorists on Flight 93 intended to crash into the United States Capital, but some passengers had another idea, they would fight the hijackers. Todd Beamer<\/a> gave the signal\u2014\u201cLet\u2019s roll<\/em>,\u201d and the heroes jumped the knife wielding al-Qaeda fiends, preventing Flight 93 from hitting the Capital. It crashed into a Pennsylvania field instead.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cFail.\u201d
\u201cFail.\u201d Credit: POTUS 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 20th anniversary observance will be more somber than those of previous years. We fought the Taliban and al-Qaeda for twenty-years, we poured $2 Trillion into the war, more than 2,300 US soldiers were killed. The people of Afghanistan suffered greatly, 64,100 of their soldiers died at our side fighting the Taliban and 111,000 Afghan civilians perished in the warfare.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s commemoration will be more than tragic because the reprehensible Taliban are back in power and sitting on a mountain of sophisticated US arms. The wretched al-Qaeda, rapidly growing in Afghanistan, will celebrate America\u2019s Sept. 11 losses past and present, and plot new attacks against us. And Joe<\/a> Biden, the president who greatly weakened and humiliated America on the world stage, will continue to shamble on, mumbling as he manages America\u2019s decline.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________<\/p>\n

UPDATES:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Aug. 26, 2024: <\/strong>This day marked the 3rd Anniversary of the ISIS-K terrorist bombing that killed 13 US service members at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan. A commemorative ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. to honor those soldiers.<\/p>\n

At the request of the Gold Star Families who lost loved ones in the Afghanistan withdrawal, wreath laying ceremonies were planned at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, also known as The Old Guard, the regiment that conducts honorary duties and ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery. Wreaths would be presented for Sgt. Nicole Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin Hoover and Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss. A wreath would also be laid for all the Abbey Gate 13 soldiers.<\/p>\n

Arlington National Cemetery invited President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her vice presidential candidate Tim Walz to the ceremonies. The Gold Star Families extended an invitation to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. As it turned out Biden, Harris, and Walz chose not to attend. Only Donald Trump accepted the invitation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aug. 26, Biden was on vacation at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, no doubt recovering from his just completed vacation in the wine country of Santa Ynez Valley, California, where he enjoyed the $37M ranch of billionaire Democrat mega-donor Joe Kiani<\/a>. That’s why Biden wasn’t at Arlington with the Abbey Gate 13. As for Kamala, she was campaigning to become Commander in Chief.<\/p>\n

April 25, 2021:<\/strong> In an interview with CNN, Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed she had played a “key role” in Joe Biden’s Afghan withdrawal strategy<\/a>, and that she was the deciding vote in favor of the withdrawal plan.<\/p>\n

October 21, 2021: <\/strong>The Biden White House admits it is \u201cin touch with\u201d 363 American citizens left behind in Afghanistan, and that 176 want to leave the country<\/a>. However, in August Biden said \u201conly 100 Americans\u201d were left behind and wanted to leave. Nevertheless, Biden did not rescue them, volunteer private flights were organized by US citizens and Vets<\/a> to rescue 100s of Americans, and those efforts were blocked by the Biden State Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

BOMBSHELL: Sept. 28, 2021:<\/strong> Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, and head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, testified before the US Senate Armed Services Committee<\/a>. All three stated they advised Biden to keep 2,500 US troops in Afghanistan, saying the rapid and complete withdrawal of US forces would lead to the collapse of the Afghan military. Biden disregarded his general\u2019s recommendations, but lied to the American people by saying no top military leader<\/em> had advised him about leaving a small US troop presence in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Aug. 18, 2021:<\/strong> In an interview with Biden<\/a>, ABC News\u2019 George Stephanopoulos said, \u201cyour top military advisors warned against withdrawing on this timeline, they wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops.\u201d Biden replied, \u201cNo, they didn\u2019t, That wasn\u2019t true.\u201d Biden want on to say, \u201cNo one said that to me that I can recall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sept. 17, 2021: <\/strong>The BBC reports the Taliban shut down the Women\u2019s Affairs Ministry, and replaced it with the \u201cMinistry of Vice and Virture<\/a>,\u201d which will enforce strict religious doctrine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sept. 17, 2021:<\/strong> The US Department of Defense admits killing an innocent man<\/a> working with a US aid group in Afghanistan. US forces carried out a drone strike on Aug. 29, 2021, thinking the aid worker was an ISIS-K suicide bomber readying an attack on Kabul airport. After the strike the Pentagon claimed to have killed 2 \u201chigh-profile\u201d terrorists. Instead, they killed aid worker Zemari Ahmadi and 9 members of his family, 7 were children. General McKenzie stated: \u201cIt was a mistake and I offer my sincere apologies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine being an artist in a country that banned art. Furthermore, to save yourself and your family, you had to burn all of your paintings before the theocratic zealots of the unelected \u201cgovernment\u201d could discover them. \u201cMy heart shatters to see and talk to Afghan artists who have started destroying their own art out of fear. Afghanistan is becoming black…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-of-war","category-artists-and-the-afghan-war"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10554\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}