Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Stand up, dammit!

I really should read my own blog.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

The world has changed, and neither one recognizes it.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / President Biden Update on the Evacuation in Afghanistan (LIVE)

President Biden Update on the Evacuation in Afghanistan (LIVE)

by | 46 Comments

This post is in: 

Biden was originally scheduled to speak at noon.  Now we seem to be on again for 4:30 pm.

The President met virtually with G7 leaders to discuss continuing our close coordination on Afghanistan policy, humanitarian assistance, and evacuating our citizens, the brave Afghans who stood with us over the last two decades, and other vulnerable Afghans

In the meantime, while we wait, take 150 seconds and watch this from Biden’s Principal Deputy National Security Advisor.  You won’t regret it.

Afghanistan.  In a nutshell.  Definitely worth 150 seconds.

Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    At noon or so, the House starts debate on two bill big bills.

    Bringing this forward from Another Scott earlier today.

    The House is close to coming to an arrangement for how to proceed on the “bipartisan” $1.xT infrastructure bill and the $3.5T reconciliation bill.  Apparently they’ll be back in session around noon to start the debates.  It could be a very interesting day in the House.

    c-span.org/

  3. 3.

    john b

    Washington Post is saying that Taliban will not allow Afghans to go to Kabul airport anymore as they need to “help to repair the country”. Suuure. Doesn’t sound great.

    The Taliban was still allowing foreign nationals to leave, but Mujahid said that the group was stopping Afghan nationals from reaching the airport as it was dangerous and their skills were needed to rebuild the country. “We are asking the American please change your policy and don’t encourage Afghans to leave,” he said.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    @john b: Yeah, not good at all.  Hopefully this Taliban flexing is for show, but not at all confident of that.  We just have to keep getting everyone out until we can’t anymore.

  7. 7.

    Lyrebird

    @john b: “suure” yes who knows what that means, and yes it could mean reeducation camps or worse.  The only thing I am sure about is that whenever the last flight leaves, whether it’s this week, next week, or next month, there will be tragic loss.

    We have safely evacuated more people than has ever been done before.  It doesn’t take away the loss for whoever is left on the rooftop, but it shouldn’t be forgotten.

    FWIW, looking at all these possible awful outcomes, I am glad every day that I don’t have Joe Biden’s job and that he does.

  8. 8.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: Thanks.

    Since as rikyrah says above, Nancy and Team D know how to count, and they know what they’re doing, one-minute speeches are underway and presumably the votes are there to pass the rules and move the process forward.

    C-Span.org.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  9. 9.

    Robert Sneddon

    @WaterGirl: ​
      Someone I knew slightly spent time in Afghanistan back in the 1970s. He was invited to travel to Peshawar by a local patriarch he had got to know. They drank tea, ate biscuits, exchanged pictures of their kids then went shopping in the weapons bazaars of the city. The patriarch was looking for a four-inch mortar to use on the neighbours in the next valley over. There was a dispute about the ownership of some “stray” goats that had been meandering on for a decade or more and he had decided it was time to take some more forthright action. Politely, of course.

  10. 10.

    Ken

    @Another Scott: Nancy and Team D know how to count, and they know what they’re doing,

    Ah, such fond memories of the times Team R showed they didn’t know either.  True, they sometimes got their bill through anyway, but it usually involved keeping everyone in the chambers until four in the morning.

  11. 11.

    Raoul Paste

    That video clip by the White House advisor shows that Biden has whip smart people working for him

    Also, the Taliban want to stop a brain drain from the country, but they don’t want that enough to create a place  that people want to live in

  15. 15.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Raoul Paste:

    That video clip by the White House advisor shows that Biden has whip smart people working for him 

    Yup.  What’s up with this competent administration?  Is it even real presidenting?

  16. 16.

    Ken

    @Major Major Major Major: Rhett Butler leading that buggy through the flaming streets of Atlanta?

    The Scarlet Pimpernel rescuing aristos during the French Revolution?

    The Berlin Airlift but in reverse and with people instead of supplies?

    Help me out here, I’ve put on my “network correspondent thinking cap” and it’s not working. Or maybe it’s working too well.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    I just clicked to check in on the speeches in the House and I was surprised to see the headline that they are also talking about the Voting Rights Act in the House today.

    Link

  21. 21.

    Kattails

    I called my senators and congresswoman today to just state that I completely support President Biden in his dealing with Afghanistan, that all Democrats need to stand strongly behind him and push back vigorously at the right’s framing of this. I also noted that the voting rights act should be treated with extreme urgency.

  22. 22.

    Ruckus

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Do the best you can.

    It’s a simple concept which is why it is not very often thought of in government as desire usually rules over possibilities. I don’t believe that President Biden has ideals of desires over possibilities. He knows what is possible, so he doesn’t ask for the dreams or desires, he asks for the possible. In this instance he knows he can not evacuate the entire population that might want to leave, it’s why he is going as fast as physically possible, doing everything he can because we have been doing the desire of not leaving, of kicking the can down the road. Twenty years of can kicking, of people on both sides dying, of what we went there for having been done long ago, of constant warfare, at some point enough is enough. Osama Bin Laden has been dead for 10 yrs and that’s what we supposedly went there for. How many more people have to die in his name? How much more do we spend on the military industrial complex with no goals in mind? How many people in our country are hungry or in need of medical services? How much more chest beating in the name of bullshit do we need? When is enough, enough? When did we decide that we are the guiding light of humanity and what in the hell gives us that right?

    Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

  25. 25.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, …

    Huge fuckup by government leads to mistrial in Michael Avenatti's California federal case.

    Follow @meghanncuniff for details and because she's great at her job.t.co/ka5EbZpz9D

    — UtterDebacleHat (@Popehat) August 24, 2021

    Competent people having responsibility must do their job competently. Too often they don’t. It’s good of the judge to demand high standards.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  26. 26.

    Kelly

    Called my Congressman Schrader, left a message. Haven’t got thru to a person in a couple weeks. Reiterated my support for Biden and Pelosi’s policies and tactics. Reiterated he should get with the Democratic team.

  30. 30.

    nasruddin

    @Raoul Paste:

    Taliban want to stop a brain drain from the country, but they don’t want that enough

    It occurred to me that with 10k+ non military Americans alone in the country … even with the significant draw down of the past few years … there still had to have been a huge amount of money flowing thru Afghanistan, even if it mostly ended up in the hands of local crooks like Ghani or contractor companies back home.

    Rent, food, keeping the lights on, drivers, cleaning crews … all of them putting money back locally.  Local experts funded by NGOs.   Doctors funded by NGOs or UN.

    Where’s that going to come from now?  What have they got right now  that anybody wants?  Opium?   Cannon fodder?  They are not going to be capable of importing much without real currency if they don’t have something to sell.  I don’t think they currently have anything.

    I think Afghanistan stands a pretty good chance of being destitute, hungry, & desperate this winter.  Brains still have to have something to work with.

  31. 31.

    Another Scott

    @nasruddin:

    VOA News (from December):

    ISLAMABAD – UNICEF has struck a rare agreement with the Taliban in war-ravaged Afghanistan to establish thousands of informal schools in areas controlled by the Islamist insurgent group.

    The program will reach up to 140,000 Afghan boys and girls, said Sam Mort, the agency’s chief of communications, advocacy and civic engagement in the South Asian nation, where an estimated 3.7 million children are out of school.

    “Through this agreement, UNICEF will support the establishment of 4,000 community-based education classes across Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Faryab,” Mort told VOA, naming the four Afghan provinces where the Taliban controls or influences swaths of territory.

    The UNICEF official said that currently there are 680 such informal classes already taking place across these provinces. The agreement will scale those up to 4,000, she added.

    Mort said that each class could accommodate up to 35 students, and classes are expected to start in March, when the new school year begins in Afghanistan.

    She said the plan aims to ensure that every child, especially girls, in remote areas, can go to school safely and securely.

    […]

    There was an interview with an ex-UN bigwig who runs an education NGO on one of the NPR shows a few days ago. He said that the Taliban came to them, said they know they are there, and that they don’t want them to leave. The ex-UN guy said they were trying to get assurances for their Afghan workers, etc.

    Every western NGO, charity, etc., isn’t trying to leave Kabul now. How many will ultimately leave is unknown at this point, of course. I assume there are many Americans who are doing various debates in their heads.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  33. 33.

    Gary K

    An Italian friend wrote to me last week:

    May I say you that Biden disappointed me, and I cannot see USA as defenders of human rights anymore? There will be a big humanitary disaster, in Afghanistan. What do you think?

    I’m preparing a response to him — any thoughts from Jackals about what points would be most convincing? In the US, by the way, he would be well to the left of the political spectrum. This may be the first occasion on which we haven’t seen eye-to-eye.

  35. 35.

    Another Scott

    @Gary K: Biden has said it best – you could point him to some of the transcripts at WH.gov

    Good luck.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  36. 36.

    Steeplejack

    @Gary K:

    “A bad thing is happening. I do not like this bad thing happening. I must blame somebody.”

    Read the thread upstairs for some good ideas, and also maybe point out to your friend that Biden “owns” exactly seven months of this 20-year shitshow. Also check Silverman’s most recent post.

  37. 37.

    Geminid

    @Gary K: I would suggest that your friend rally other Italians to help the Afghan people. There are NGOs sill operating in the country to support. He and his friends can also pressure their government to give aid to the Afghans, and to try and persuade tbe new Afghan government to respect human rights. This is a responsibility for Italy as much as it is for the U.S.

  40. 40.

    Another Scott

    @SiubhanDuinne:  This may be why it hasn’t happened yet.  From al Jazeera:

    2 hours ago (17:04 GMT)

    Biden to stick to August 31 Afghanistan pullout deadline: US media

    US President Joe Biden has decided to stick to his August 31 deadline to pull American forces out of Afghanistan, US media reported Tuesday.

    Biden made the decision after talks with G7 counterparts and a demand by the Taliban that the United States not extend its stay past the end of this month, CNN, Fox News and other media reported, citing senior US officials.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  42. 42.

    Another Scott

    nycsouthpaw has a Tweet that Biden’s remarks will now start at 4:30 PM ET.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  43. 43.

    Jay C

    @Gary K:

    A couple of suggested talking points:

    First, we are talking about Afghanistan, a country where the prevailing cultural/sociopolitical notions of “human rights” are likely to be quite different from those of the US (or Italy).

    Second: it’s probable that the “human rights” situation in Afghanistan was somewhat better in areas where the (former) Government had to at least pretend to take the issue seriously to placate its American sponsors.

    Third: point 2 highlights the main issue: that if human-rights issues can only be enforced by  foreign occupation – at gunpoint – then it falls right back on the terrible dichotomy Pres. Biden has already outlined many times: either a withdrawal, or a forever war/permanent occupation.

    Fourth: Yes, Afghanistan may very well be -r become –  a humanitarian disaster: but the new Government (The Taliban) have some responsibility for this as well….

  44. 44.

    Dan B

    I’m with Biden with few exceptions.

    I believe the communication with the American people, Afghans, and the world could have been more clear in advance.  Setting a date of August 31st was fine but it would have been better to state that anything could happen and it is likely that August 31st may not be the last day.  This would have laid the stage for the chaos that ensued.

    Second, and more personally, women are likely to be abused.  LGBTQ people will be tortured and executed.  A Taliban judge has already proclaimed that stoning or being crushed by a tall wall pushed by a tank are the necessary punishments.  This “Islam” comes from the Saudi’s.  It is Wahhabi Islam enabled by theur, and our, oil money.

    The Taliban does not want Afghans to leave.  There are many LGBTQ people who are hiding in fear of a knock on the door.

    We think of this when we put gas in our pickup, even though it is rarely used these days.  The connections to Saudi and Middle eastern oil encircle the globe.

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