The speed at which the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021 caught the US State Department by surprise, an internal report, released on Friday, showed.
“The sudden departure of President [Ashraf] Ghani from Kabul and the fall of the city to the Taliban happened with a speed that caught almost all close observers by surprise,” the After Action Review on Afghanistan stated.
The review found that the State Department had failed to adequately plan for a worst-case scenario and was caught flat-footed when the Taliban rolled into Kabul on August 15 with almost zero resistance, triggering a massive US-led evacuation.
In the weeks after the fall of Kabul, the US evacuated an estimated 124,000 people, but the process was chaotic and hindered due to a lack of staffing, the report found.
“The timing of the crisis during the height of summer turnover season thus made everything more difficult for those involved,” the report states.
As the situation deteriorated on the ground, the report found that State Department officials became inundated by calls from “government agencies, Congress and the public inquiring about individual cases mostly with regard to at-risk Afghans” – something the report called “challenging”.
Among the many recommendations was a need for the department to better plan for “worst-case scenarios” and to improve “crisis management capabilities”.
The review levelled blame at both the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations.
“The AAR team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow,” the report said.
The Biden administration has been roundly criticised for its handing of the withdrawal. Thirteen US troops were killed in a suicide attack outside Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26, along with 170 Afghans, the final tragedy in America's two-decade war in the country.
Republicans have repeatedly attacked the administration over the withdrawal, though Mr Biden has defended his actions.
Kabul airport blast during US military withdrawal from Afghanistan – video
the pledge
I pledge to uphold the duty of tolerance
I pledge to take a first stand against hate and injustice
I pledge to respect and accept people whose abilities, beliefs and culture are different from my own
I pledge to wish for others what I wish for myself
I pledge to live in harmony with my community
I pledge to always be open to dialogue and forgiveness
I pledge to do my part to create peace for all
I pledge to exercise benevolence and choose kindness in all my dealings with my community
I pledge to always stand up for these values: Zayed's values for tolerance and human fraternity
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The fake news generation
288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year
11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general
31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate
63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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