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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Foreign Affairs Open Thread: Our Failed Major Media’s Splendid Little War

Foreign Affairs Open Thread: Our Failed Major Media’s Splendid Little War

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The world will little note nor long remember, but it irks me personally that President Biden doesn’t get credit for making the best of TFG’s bad bargain with the Taliban. From the Guardian, “US review finds August 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul airport was unpreventable”:

The suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed US troops and Afghans in August 2021 was not preventable, and a “bald man in black” spotted by US service members on the morning of the attack was not the bomber, according to a new review by US Central Command.

The findings, released on Monday, refute assertions by some service members who believed they had a chance to take out the would-be bomber but did not get approval. And, for the first time, the USmilitary confirmed that the bomber was Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State militant who had been in an Afghan prison but was released by the Taliban as the group took control of the country that summer.

The Abbey Gate bombing during the final chaotic days of the Afghanistan withdrawal killed 13 US service members and 170 Afghans, and wounded scores more. It triggered widespread debate and congressional criticism, fueled by emotional testimony from a Marine injured in the blast, who said snipers believed they saw the possible bomber but could not get approval to take him out.

In a detailed briefing to a small number of reporters, members of the team that carried out the review released photos of the bald man identified by military snipers as a potential threat and compared them with photos of al-Logari. The team members described facial recognition and other analysis they used confirmed those were not the same man.

“For the past two years, some service members have claimed that they had the bomber in their sights and they could have prevented the attack. We now know that is not correct,” said a team member…

Critics have slammed the Biden administration for the catastrophic evacuation, and they have complained that no one was held accountable for it. And while the US was able to get more than 130,000 civilians out of the country during the panic after the Taliban took control of the government, there were horrifying images of desperate Afghans clinging to military aircraft as they lifted off.

 
Per NBC, “Kabul airport bomber was an ISIS operative freed from prison by the Taliban”:

The man who detonated a bomb outside the Kabul airport in August 2021, killing 170 Afghans and 13 American service members, was an Islamic State operative who had been held in a coalition detention facility in Afghanistan but was freed by the Taliban, according to a new U.S. military review that has identified him for the first time…

An initial Pentagon review released in February 2022 found that the attack was carried out by a lone suicide bomber and that it was not preventable. Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, ordered the supplemental review last year after witnesses of the attack came forward with new information and allegations that they could have stopped it but were denied the chance to do so.

One of the most vocal witnesses was retired Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who lost an arm and a leg in the attack, and suffered damage to internal organs that resulted in roughly 50 surgeries.

In testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in March 2023, Vargas-Andrews said the Marines and others involved in the evacuation were given descriptions of men believed to be plotting an attack. Vargas-Andrews said he and others spotted a man who fit the description — a person who came to be known as “bald man in black.”

But the review — which included interviews with more than 50 service members directly involved in the evacuation, including a dozen who had not previously been interviewed — found that this man had no connection to the attack…

The actual bomber was Abdul Rahman al-Logari, according to the U.S. military. A facial comparison analysis determined that al-Logari and the bald man in black could not be the same person, the review found.

The team of military investigators reviewed photos and video taken of the scene before the attack and found no footage of al-Logari. He was determined to have arrived immediately before the blast and blended in with the massive crowd gathered outside the airport.

Reader Interactions

70Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Pleasantly surprised at that Loomis tweet. I haven’t followed the LGM crowd in a while.

  2. 2.

    sab

    Soldiers’ families noticed when he ended that war their loved ones kept getting deployed to for no obvious purpose.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    If Biden wins in November, the media will still be pushing inflation, the border. And Afghanistan.

  4. 4.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Baud: If Biden wins in November, it means the media, in spite of their best efforts, couldn’t get their boy in the White House. Their moaning will be a symphony to my ears.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Yes it will be.  I think it’ll top 2012, which was a bigger joy for me than 2008.

    But if Biden wins, the next four years the media will do nothing for tall about Kamala and who will challenge her in 2028. But maybe we’ll actually be done with Trump for good, except for his trials.

  7. 7.

    Geoduck

    @Baud: If the Shiatgibbon loses, he’ll be the GOP candidate again in 2028. It won’t matter if he’s in jail or a total vegetable. Only his death will allow the GOP to move on. And man, will it be a bloody free-for-all when he finally does croak.

  8. 8.

    brantl

    “Trump’s bad bargain with the Taliban” my fine white ass; he sold us and the Afghanis, out.

  9. 9.

    Craig

    @Baud: the only way we’re done with Trump for good is when he takes a dirt nap. His acolytes are so deep into the cult that he will continue to be The Father of the Party and no other Republican will be able to outshine him in their broken brains.

    ETA: and the same journo jerks that are complaining about Biden being too old will never mention Trump’s age, or insanity.

  11. 11.

    karen marie

    @Craig:  I’ve felt like I’ve been on a Trump Death Watch since 2016.  When he does croak, there will be a shitshow of epic proportions, because his supporters – including those holding office – will claim he was murdered.

  15. 15.

    Tony G

    My personal ass was probably saved when the U.S. finally pulled out of Vietnam when I was 17 years old in 1973.  The results were not pretty, but the war had to finally end, and it was good that it finally ended.  But, as a result, the popular-culture machine spent the next couple of decades feeding a fantasy about the evil Vietnamese who still had POWs and MIAs in their nefarious grasp, and a lot of the public lapped it up.  Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris made careers out of this fantasy.  The corallary to this fantasy was the idea that the U.S. cudda and shudda won in Vietnam if only … something.  Maybe if only we had dropped even more napalm.  My point is that, way back then, and still now, most of the public has childish view of war.  The media and politicians serve the public what it wants.

  16. 16.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @SpaceUnit:

     

    @Craig: My father in-law, four years dead, almost five, got tons of mail from at least a half-dozen “Trump” grifter groups in 2020. I expect more this year. I send it all back, as they paid the postage, with notes like “He’s dead, find another tool.” or “Piss off, you senile idiot !” Then I get mean. Mail from Beavis and Butthead Trump get no mercy. No one may read them, but it’s good for me.

  20. 20.

    Mart

    Biden had all that transition assistance from Trump and Pompeo to help execute their surrender plan to the Taliban… What a great show of Biden’x middle finger to the forever war press and military brass. Given the time frame and scope of evacuation pretty remarkable what they get done in a month.

  21. 21.

    Jackie

    If Biden wins,🤞🏻, TIFG’s trials will continue AND hopefully found guilty in at least one. If he wants to run for election for ‘28 while behind bars or confined by house arrest to whichever property he owns, let him try. His MAGA base will move on to someone else.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    ARIZONAArizona Governor vetoes anti-trans, Ten Commandments bills

    In a statement, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, accused Hobbs of “abandoning God” with her veto

     

  23. 23.

    patrick II

    I was amazed me that Biden got over 120,000 people out in two weeks. I think it was a case of remarkable logistics. They were in a war zone and just one bomber got through. He should get the credit he deserves.

  24. 24.

    Mick McDick

    No one but the “professional left” and Ivory Tower media cares about the Afghanistan pullout chaos. Not one sentient being gives a BB sized pellet–including me.

  25. 25.

    Harrison Wesley

    @Baud: What is it with these Democrats?  Abandon Afghanistan?  Abandon God?  Good thing that the Republicans are the party of Personal Responsibility.

  28. 28.

    Splitting Image

    @Craig:

    the only way we’re done with Drumpf for good is when he takes a dirt nap. His acolytes are so deep into the cult that he will continue to be The Father of the Party and no other Republican will be able to outshine him in their broken brains.

    They won’t even be done with him then. The cultists already believe that JFK Jr. faked his death and has been secretly working with his dad (also still alive at 107) behind the scenes to restore Trump to his throne.

    Whoever wins the next GOP nomination will be steward of the party on behalf of Trump until he makes his triumphant return, not the actual leader.

  29. 29.

    Harrison Wesley

    @TBone: Bibi can’t afford to dick around if he wants to get Rafah levelled any time soon.  Get the Persians to respond bigly, get Uncle Sam to take care of them (and Hezbollah and the Houthis and the Iraqi militias), and get that extermination thang back on track.

  30. 30.

    Tony G

    @patrick II: That’s right.  From my point of view, the ugly result of the pullout — the horrific Taliban being back in power now — was probably inevitable since 2001.  The U.S. military officers spent almost 20 years telling their superiors the lie that they wanted to hear — that the puppet government in Kabul had the support of the people and were capable of defeating the Taliban guerrillas.  It was all a lie, a lie that was repeated for two decades.  What happened in 2021 would have happened if the pullout had been in 2006 or 2011 — or in 2041.  The military officers who lied mostly were promoted, or retired with a nice pension.  Only the grunts — and the Afghan people — paid a price.

  31. 31.

    Starfish

    @Mick McDick: When you talk about Afghanistan there is a lot of fail to discuss.

    They put in place the girls’ education ban beyond sixth grade shortly after we left.

    How much money did we spend on trying to set up an equitable society for the Taliban to bring back stoning?

    Also, there was no movement on the paper work for a lot of people in Afghanistan who applied for resettlement. A bunch of money poured into doing the paperwork, but hardly anyone got out.

    I mean, I am glad we are not pouring money into a black hole anymore, but so many lives were wasted.

  32. 32.

    Brachiator

    @Tony G:

    The corallary to this fantasy was the idea that the U.S. cudda and shudda won in Vietnam if only … something.

    Well said. There are people who believe that the US are never supposed to lose. Heck, I know people who believe that the US won the War of 1812.

    But the hasty helicopter evacuation from Afghanistan brings back memories of the hasty helicopter evacuation from Vietnam. These situations are difficult and it is not helpful to simplistically look for someone to blame.

    From my point of view, the ugly result of the pullout — the horrific Taliban being back in power now — was probably inevitable since 2001.

    The US could never have succeeded in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

  33. 33.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Starfish: And we have the Rethuglican party to thank for this mess.  Although Obama should have gotten us the fuck out immediately upon his inauguration.

  34. 34.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Brachiator: In the case of Vietnam, you can blame Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson.

    In the case of Afghanistan you can blame the deserting coward, Obama, and TFG.

  37. 37.

    SpaceUnit

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Not sure that would have been politically feasible in 2009.

     

    The GOP and village media would have wailed in unison, rent their garments, and rubbed ashes in their hair.  I doubt Obama would have survived it.

  39. 39.

    Soprano2

    I am so freaked out right now. My oldest niece’s husband died earlier today, they don’t know from what. He and my niece went on a trip to Africa last year; he had a seizure at the beginning of the trip, again they didn’t know why because he had no history of that. My niece found him unresponsive in the shower. My SIL told me he had been texting his doctor for a refill of the seizure medication but hadn’t gotten it yet, she thinks that might be what caused his death.  We just saw them Saturday night, they went to the same ballgame we did. He was 39. My poor niece….😢😭 I cannot imagine being a widow at 39.

    Sorry to be a downer, I’m just so sad. I didn’t know him that well but he was a nice guy. What a tragedy, and stupid TFG is still breathing. Why……??

  42. 42.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Baud: ​

    It’s basically a stopped clock is right twice a day. You miss nothing not following the likes of Gloomis and Lemeow and the rest of the neoliberal, Reaganomic assholes at LGM/

  44. 44.

    Melancholy Jaques

    @Tony G:

    Despite the fact that one Republican president negotiated the deal to end the war in Vietnam and another Republican president was in charge for the Fall of Saigon, we Democrats got the blame for the American Dolchstosslegende of robbing our brave troops of victory.

    ETA – I turned 18 in 1973 and was damned glad the draft was over.

  48. 48.

    Tenar Arha

    @Soprano2: So sorry for your loss & for your niece. It’s seems so little after such a shock, but may his memory be a blessing when she’s ready for that.

  56. 56.

    Chris

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    There’s really not much neoliberal or Reaganomic going on at LGM. Honestly, it’s hard to even pin down any ideological tendency there that’s really any bad on the merits. It’s just… full of fucking assholes. Loomis is probably the ur-example, in a “fish rots from the head” kind of way: you can read a lot or genuinely good stuff from the “American Grave” and “This Day In Labor History” series, but he’s still got the combination of shock jock nihilism and incredibly thin skin of an Elon Musk or a Glenn Greenwald.

  57. 57.

    Chet Murthy

    @Shalimar: From what I read, she’s amassing a following among the sort of disenchanted Tories who think Rish! is …. too much of a lefty.  So …. worrisome for those who care about The Special Relationship and one of our two longest-standing allies.

  60. 60.

    sdhays

    @TBone: Well, fuck. Netanyahu has decided war with Iran is his only path to remaining in power, I guess.

    What’s with that article? They don’t reference Israel’s missile attack which assassinated one of their generals that precipitated the Iranian missile attack. (rhetorical question)

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    @Villago Delenda Est:

     In the case of Vietnam, you can blame Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson.

    And Nixon. And the Cold War mentality.

    In the case of Afghanistan you can blame the deserting coward, Obama, and TFG.

    And the idiotic diversion into Iraq.

  66. 66.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Brachiator:

    The US could never have succeeded in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

    This. And the same for Vietnam.  When we get involved in places like these that have totally different languages, cultures, religions from us and we’re never going to be able to tell the good guys (or those who we insist on designating as the good guys) from the bad guys (ditto) and are just mapping our assumptions onto them, it’s just a recipe for failure from the get-go.

  67. 67.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Soprano2: Oh my – I can’t imagine what your niece must be going through right now.  My condolences and prayers for her and her family.

  68. 68.

    grubert

    @Chris: wow, that’s pretty harsh. I mean, not disagreeing really, but if one can stomach all the excess clever and pointless bickering there are frequent nuggets of insight.

    Campos pretty much called Fani Willis a liar.. that pissed me off

    But your comment is helpful, in an Overton window way..

  70. 70.

    Jinchi

    once again we see that getting out of Afghanistan, which was/is *way* more consequential than anything he’s done or hasn’t since 10/7, did him literally no good at all

    That’s a nonsense take. The payoff for leaving Afghanistan is that we didn’t have to live through the consequences of staying.

    The news would have been filled with reports of the “quagmire”, or regular suicide attacks on American soldiers or full or street battles.

    And Ukraine would probably be in far worse staights.

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