Biden’s nightmare exit from Kabul exploded today with two horrific suicide bombings outside the Abbey Gate of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai Airport, killing at least 11 marines and one Navy corpsman, with at least 15 more U.S. military injuries some serious. Suspected Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] from Afghanistan AKA ISIS-K detonated suicide belts in a crowd of over 5,000 aggregating near the airport hoping to board evacuation flights out of the country. Warnings from the U.S. embassy and Kabul came yesterday over a possible terrorist attack, happening today, as the stampede-and-frenzy to exit the Afghanistan intensified. President Joe Biden, 78, announced his exit plan April 17, over four months ago, yet didn’t start evacuating U.S. and Afghan citizens until 72-year-old former U.S.-backed Afghan President Ashar Ghani fled the country with oodles of cash Aug. 16.
Biden’s 11th hour exit plan caused the stampede that left hordes of people clamoring outside the airport, leaving a perfect target for today’s terrorist attack. “On behalf of the men and women of the Department of defense, I express deepest condolences to the loved ones and teammates of all those killed and wounded in Kabul today,” said 68-year-old Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Whatever the sympathies, the whole mess could have been avoided had Biden started his evacuation four months ago when he announced plans to leave Afghanistan. Instead the exit strategy started helter-skelter after Ghani fled the country, leaving massive crowds descending on the airport, a perfect target for a terrorist attack. Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Aug. 18 that there was nothing that could be done to stop the panic-and-chaos as everyone headed to the exits at the same time.
ISIS was handed a free Christmas gift to attack the hordes of people aggregated to get out of Afghanistan before the Aug. 31 deadline for the U.S. military to leave the country. So far, Biden has not extended the exit date fearing that more terrorist attacks would endanger U.S. troops trying to leave Afghanistan. While there are 5,200 U.S. troops trying to execute an orderly exit from Afghanistan, there’s no crowd control, with ISIS zeroing in on crowds in excess of 5,000. No one knows how many ISIS terrorists are now intermingled in the massive crowds around the Hamid Karzai airport. No one is safe now that two suicide bombings killed at least 72, with many others in critical condition. “Taliban has essentially completely stopped letting Afghans through,” said an unnamed source, making getting to the airport for evacuation flights next to impossible for U.S. and Afghan citizens.
Pentagon reports that of the 104,000 evacuated from Kabul, only 5,000 or about 20% are U.S. citizens. As it stands now, it looks like military evacuations are coming to an end due to the added risk of terrorist attacks, leaving thousands of Americans stranded in Afghanistan. ”Military continues to retrograde and depart airport. Almost a certainty that Americans will be left behind,” said an unnamed official. “The will have to be extracted after-the-fact through either Taliban negotiation or controversial means,” showing that since today’s terrorist attack the military. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) urged Biden to staff and reopen Bagram Air Force Base, continuing to evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghans from there, not Hamid Karai airport. With ISIS roving the area, there’s too much risk around the Karzai airport to continue evacuations without the risk for more ISIS attacks.
Whatever cover Biden gets from Democrats and the U.S. press, his exit strategy is now responsible for the deaths of at least 12 U.S. military, all because he failed to start an orderly evacuation from Afghanistan four months ago. There’s just no excuse for the chaos-and-panic seen around Kabul, all because of abysmal planning. Leaving mass crowds outside the Karzai airport was like sitting ducks for ISIS terrorists. Despite State Department warns of a possible terrorist attack, the military did nothing to disperse massive crowds outside the Abbey Gate. “I urge the Biden administration to reestablish our presence in Bagram as an alternative to the Kabul airport so that we do not leave our fellow citizens and thousands of Afghan allies behind,” Graham said. “It’s not a capability problem but a problems of will,” serving notice that Biden will be held accountable at least by Republicans.
State Department officials now warn U.S. citizens to avoid the Hamid Karzai airport after today’s terror attacks. “U.S. citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid airport gates at this time,” the State Department warned. “U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, North Gate now should leave immediately,” telling U.S. citizens that they have no exit plan out of Afghanistan. Today’s ISIS attack was inevitable as crowds continued to swell around the airport, presenting a perfect terrorist target. Unable to get more Americans or Afghans to the airport, the military has changed its mission after losing 12 soldiers today, all because Biden failed to leave Afghanistan in an orderly wary. Whatever today’s briefing to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the failed exit plan has now cost U.S. lives. Biden needs to come up with Plan B quickly before more U.S. citizens die.
