Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
December 13, 2021

The Fall Of Kabul Story Misses Some Damning Details

On August 26, during the chaotic U.S. evacuation from the airport in Kabul, a suicide bomber blew himself up at an entrance to the airport. As I wrote at that time:

Thursday's suicide bombing in Kabul and the following panic killed more than 150 civilians (some 30 of whom were British-Afghan), 28 Taliban fighters and 13 U.S. troops.

The U.S. military at that time falsely claimed that additional shooting from outside of the airport had killed some of the people. That however did not explain the death of the Taliban guards who where outside trying to control the masses.

A BBC correspondent in Kabul interviewed several witnesses of the incident who said that, after the suicide bomb went off, massive gunfire had come from the towers and walls around the airport. These were guarded by Afghan men who had worked in the CIA death squads (NDS 01, 02, ...) and who were later flown out of the country.

In the following days more witnesses confirmed that account:

Most of the casualties of the attack were not caused by the suicide bomber but by guards on the wall and in the guard towers surrounding the airport.  "Most victims" had gun wounds to their upper bodies and the bullets had come from above. This has now been confirmed by multiple sources:

Sangar | سنګر پیکار @paykhar - 1:02 PM · Aug 28, 2021

"Most victims of #KabulAirportBlast were not killed by the blast but by bullets fired at them by the Americans."
Faisal of Kabul Lovers channel interviewed aid workers at Emergency Hospital in #Kabul and this is what they have to say:
Embedded video

U.S. media try to ignore those reports. Only deep down in a long New York Times piece one will find these lines:

For the first time, Pentagon officials publicly acknowledged the possibility that some people killed outside the airport on Thursday might have been shot by American service members after the suicide bombing.

Investigators are looking into whether the gunfire came from Americans at the gate, or from the Islamic State.

It were neither the Americans at the gate nor the Islamic State but most likely the CIA's Afghan death squads in the guard towers who caused the massacre.

On Friday the New York Times published a 20,000 words long piece from Inside the Fall of Kabul.


bigger

It was written by Matthieu Aikins who has been independently reporting from Afghanistan since 2008. I have found his previous writings mostly trustworthy, detailed and free of the usual mainstream spin. I therefore wondered how he would describe the suicide bomb incident.

Aikins himself was involved in the evacuation when he one night accompanied a bus convoy of civilians to the airport:

A group of my friends connected to Sayara, a research-and-communications company that contracted with the U.S. government, had gotten together to try to evacuate Sayara’s local staff and others at risk. The list grew as they found donors who were willing to help get more people out — journalists, women’s rights activists and even members of the girls’ robotics team, whose faces had been painted on the wall outside the U.S. Embassy.

Soon they had raised more than a million dollars from places like the Rockefeller Foundation, enough to fly their own charter plane in. They got permission from the Ugandan government to bring people there while they waited for resettlement.
...
They needed someone on the ground in Kabul to get a convoy to the airport. They’d been in touch with me, asking for information; I’d been getting around through the crowds on my motorcycle and had a sense of what was going on there. Now one of my friends called and asked if I’d be willing to lead the buses in.

The convoy was supposed to enter a certain gate late at night. He had checked out the airport the day before and had noticed the CIA death squad units:

I’d ridden around the airport that afternoon to get a sense of the layout. On the north side, there was a road that ran along a wide sewage canal. Across the water, Hesco barriers and concrete walls were topped with guard towers, and on one I saw something I hadn’t seen in days: the tricolor of the republic, fluttering in the breeze.

While the army and police had surrendered and deserted en masse around the country, the Zero Units had remained mostly intact.
...
One was the Orgun Strike Force from the southeastern border, which had participated in some of the United States’ most secret missions, including covert operations inside Pakistan’s tribal areas across the border. They were led by a longhaired, mustachioed commander whose operations that summer I’d been following on an Afghan government Facebook page. (A U.S. official requested that he not be identified by name, to protect his family.) The Orgun commander and his unit were given the ugly job of crowd control on the perimeter.

Coming around the north side of the airport, still a long way from the main military gate, I hit a traffic jam, and as I threaded the bike through I saw the reason. The Zero troopers, in their desert tiger camo, had taken over the road. They stood in front of a narrow passage formed by concrete blast walls. This new entrance, which some dubbed Glory Gate, was supposed to be a low-profile one for U.S. citizens and other priority cases, but large crowds were gathering there. When people pushed too close, the troopers fired shots in the air or brandished steel cables.

It is a gate similar to one where several days later the suicide bomber would attack.

Here is Aikins describing that incident:

On Aug. 26, an ISIS suicide bomber made his way through the crowd to the Marines at Abbey Gate and detonated his vest, killing 13 American troops. Jim and I went down to the site and then to the emergency hospital, where they were bringing in bodies on stretchers. Almost 200 people were killed; it seemed like too many for a single bomber. Some might have been trampled or drowned in the sewage ditch; according to several witnesses I spoke to, the Marines, who must have feared another bomber, also fired on those who panicked and tried to climb the walls. A doctor at a government hospital said that many of the casualties he saw had bullet wounds. (A spokesman said there was no evidence the Marines shot anyone during the evacuation.)

That is all.

This feels weird. The whole long piece is filled with detailed observations but the incident which killed so many is not worth more than that short paragraph?

How could the witnesses have distinguished Marines at the gate from the CIA death squad soldiers, clad in similar uniforms, that were up in the towers and on the walls? Those were the ones who had fired.

The spokesman's non-denial is awfully specific. When there is 'no evidence the Marines shot' it does not mean that other units under U.S. command did not shoot either.

Why aren't the CIA units, which Aikins had previously described as guarding the place, not mentioned in this?

I find this very unusual compared to Aikins' typical reporting style. 

My hunch is that the NYT editors, or Aikins on 'friendly advice' from someone, took out a more detailed description of the incident before the piece was published.

I had looked out for a more detailed reporting of the incident but there seems to be some kind of omerta in the media that prevents the publishing of any reporting on it.

Meanwhile the CIA's trigger happy Afghan baby killers have all been evacuated to the United States. They will of course happily integrate into the U.S. society and will have no trouble to adopt to their new circumstances. No one shall ever question that.

Matthieu Aikins will hopefully write a book about the fall of Kabul and expand a bit on the mass shooting of Afghan civilians by soldiers under U.S. command. I for one would certainly pay for it.

Posted by b on December 13, 2021 at 16:06 UTC | Permalink

Comments

"Meanwhile the CIA's trigger happy Afghan baby killers have all been evacuated to the United States." such wonderful news. "Rome is the sewer polluting the whole empire..." and all rivers flow to one sea.

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Dec 13 2021 16:36 utc | 1

It is said that history is written by the winners but it is too soon for history of that event to be written and you are correct to question any NYT story about it.

Your postings have had much better detail.

What happened in Kabul during the "fall" was made worse on purpose by poor losers.

We are going to see the same poor loser situation play out in Iraq/Syria as the 2500 remaining US troop in Iraq have been renamed to advisor/trainers but have not left the country as demanded by Iraq by the end of this year. Those troops are supporting the holding of oil fields in Syria which is also illegal.

What sort of ugly exit is planned for this eventual ousting? Two-weeks until the end of the year...how will Iraq respond to the remaining US troops?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Dec 13 2021 16:50 utc | 2


Not only they have been evacuated to the United States, they also get more than $3k/month for their expenses while waiting to be housed and settled.

Posted by: nme | Dec 13 2021 16:55 utc | 3

Scott Ritter at the time made a detailed analysis of the incident in an interview and also pointed out the bulk of casualties had to have come from the afghan death squads. He also concluded the Taliban warriors were likely killed by american troops. I posted that here. will try to find it

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Dec 13 2021 17:03 utc | 4

Here , quoting my post from september 2

In this video at about 2h:13min Scott Ritter explains what may have happened in the event of the explosion in Kabul and how so many people got hit by bullets : https://youtu.be/7rB4t8WqLKU?t=8002
He does not assume any premeditation but things getting out of hand with quite a few parties with guns who all have their own logic of handling things: marines, Taliban, Turks, Afghan commandos, British . Several marines have been shot .

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Dec 13 2021 17:29 utc | 5

The Fall Of Kabul Story Misses Some Damning Details

When I first saw the title of this blog entry
I imagined it would details about how the CIA/Pentagon
intentionally
sabotaged the exit from Afghanistan.

Posted by: librul | Dec 13 2021 17:35 utc | 6

Welcome back. At last we can find some actual random news again. Researched, sourced and well written. Your work is appreciated.

Posted by: c | Dec 13 2021 18:16 utc | 7

Good to see you back B.! Gute Besserung!

Posted by: DontBelieveEitherPr. | Dec 13 2021 18:32 utc | 8

Meanwhile the CIA's trigger happy Afghan baby killers have all been evacuated to the United States. They will of course happily integrate into the U.S. society and will have no trouble to adopt to their new circumstances. No one shall ever question that.

And what could possibly go wrong with PTSD-addled 'veterans' (or just psychotic killers) are 'integrated' or 'assimilated' into the USA pro-buy-as-many-guns-and-ammo-as-you-can-afford and violence-solves-all-problems culture? Add that to the already extant (incl. incel) population that's stockpiling ammo and 'trained' on first person shooters and, well....

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Dec 13 2021 18:35 utc | 9

Posted by: nme | Dec 13 2021 16:55 utc | 3

If so, and definitely O/T, they've still got nothing on the Cuban "refugee" community. I've had many an enlightening (for them) discussion with Cuban descendant anti-immigration types over the years. Seems they all have a 'my father arrived with nothing and pulled himself up by his bootstraps' story.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Dec 13 2021 18:37 utc | 10

"They will of course happily integrate into the U.S. society and will have no trouble to adopt to their new circumstances. No one shall ever question that."

Refugees welcome!

[Only fascists disagree.]

Posted by: m | Dec 13 2021 18:40 utc | 11

thanks b. glad to see you back.

the US has not really tried to leave Afghanistan, as they contorted themselves to invite Pakistan to the democracy summit, in the hopes of convincing them to allow a staging ground for over the horizon strikes, and avail porous borders with afghanistan. the central asian countries have already rejected their overtures. looking more desperate now .

the narrative of leaving Afghanistan to focus on china makes zero sense as Afghanistan borders Xinjiang, and will be a crucial node in BRI. everything passes thru central Asia at the world continent. the US has simply changed modes: it's easier to destroy states when your not busy keeping one afloat.

we all know that the NYTimes is trash but it still riles me up when I see their headlines about starvation and economic collapse in Afghanistan while conveniently failing to mention that the US has stolen their sovereign funds.



Posted by: mastameta | Dec 13 2021 18:48 utc | 12

undoubtedly the nyt edited the section on the massacre.

Posted by: annie | Dec 13 2021 19:19 utc | 13

@9 - newcomer Tom_Q_Collins - My mother,RIP, was from Havana. She left Cuba a few years after the revolution. She had nothing but bad things to say about either Batista or Castro. She did say that the poor in Cuba were better off under Castro. Please don't speak for other people. I would never try to do so myself.

I am a proud first generation US citizen. I fully embrace this country for all its good and bad. And I fully embrace our 2nd amendment.

Posted by: lex talionis | Dec 13 2021 19:43 utc | 14

Tell me more of the theft of Afghanistan`s sovereign funds by the USA

Posted by: norman | Dec 13 2021 19:52 utc | 15

People whining about admitting qualified immigrants to the U$, but meanwhile, under the radar, we, with open arms, admit hired killers, who do our bidding for money.

So, what else is new?

Thanks b!!

Posted by: vetinLA | Dec 13 2021 19:54 utc | 16

The NYT story is more a personal journey through the last days of US occupied Kabul than how/why Kabul fell.

The NYT editors-headline writers lied about the nature of the reporting.

Posted by: Jay | Dec 13 2021 19:55 utc | 17

b,

Have you considered writing to Matthieu Aikins and asking him about
the editing on that massacre paragraph?

Subject: Who massacred the massacre paragraph?

Posted by: librul | Dec 13 2021 20:43 utc | 18

Welcome back b but don't wear yourself down.

Posted by: jo6pac | Dec 13 2021 20:55 utc | 19

Meanwhile the CIA's trigger happy Afghan baby killers have all been evacuated to the United States. They will of course happily integrate into the U.S. society and will have no trouble to adopt to their new circumstances. No one shall ever question that.

While it must have been a little cathartic to write this, the truth is likely much darker: future "Free Afghan" forces will be comprised from these, while their more eloquent representatives will be the future Chalabis.

Posted by: c1ue | Dec 13 2021 21:15 utc | 20

15 Norman

"Tell me more of the theft of Afghanistan`s sovereign funds by the USA"

To the victor goes the spoils, even though we were the losers.

Just like with the other countries we plunder.

Posted by: Bart Hansen | Dec 13 2021 23:23 utc | 21

The NYT Matthieu Aikins story also was a bit light on the details of the Afghan Prez leaving in helicopters. Stories at the time said he took so much loot they left piles of it on the tarmac along with stray underlings.

The Education minister had many interviews on NPR saying she would stay, no follow up in the US media when she ran.

And the Sayara group that Aikins "helped" is in Columbia consulting for "Venezuela" so we know who they are and who Aikins is: a CIA media agent.

Posted by: Take the Money | Dec 14 2021 3:17 utc | 22

Posted by: m | Dec 13 2021 18:40 utc | 11
They will of course happily integrate into the U.S. society and will have no trouble to adopt to their new circumstances. No one shall ever question that."

Refugees welcome!

[Only fascists disagree.]
These are criminals and fascists, just like a Noe Nazi freak, this why they are welcomed, like Reinhard Gehlen, they even change and passed new legislation to make him a General in the USA army! you must cherish his legacy , you are becoming a resident ah on this site!, there lot of Neo Nazi sites, take your crap there, and enjoy the company!

Posted by: Grishka | Dec 14 2021 3:28 utc | 23

3 nme "they also get more than $3k/month for their expenses while waiting to be housed and settled"

Considering their very particular set of skills, they probably don't want them freelancing.

Posted by: Billb | Dec 14 2021 3:33 utc | 24

I have saved an archived tweet showing the US snipers in situ at Kabul airport.
I’ll retrieve the link.

Posted by: Melaleuca | Dec 14 2021 3:58 utc | 25

Well, well, well ... Matthieu Aikins has already written a book based on his experiences in Afghanistan but it is not the book that B anticipates reading. The book "The Naked Don't Fear The Water" follows Aikins's journey out of Afghanistan and into Europe on the refugee trail with Afghan driver / translator Omar. The physical book is due for release in February 2022.

I wonder how Aikins is able to move into and out of Afghanistan, apparently on foot and/or by car, through areas that are politically unstable and fairly treacherous for someone with Canadian or US citizenship. According to his Wikipedia entry, Aikins entered Afghanistan overland from Uzbekistan in 2008. How was he able to do that safely? As he acknowledges, his half-Japanese looks and ability to speak Persian mean he can appear as Hazara. But wouldn't appearing to be Hazara have put him in some danger? It would seem odd for a Hazara person to be entering Afghanistan rather than leaving the country as many Hazara people were doing at the time (and may still be doing).

Here is Aikins telling how he entered Afghanistan in 2008 and began his writing career:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131021073601/http://longforum.dreamhosters.com/?p=131">http://longforum.dreamhosters.com/?p=131">https://web.archive.org/web/20131021073601/http://longforum.dreamhosters.com/?p=131

... I was living in the Balkans in the summer of 2008 as an indigent backpacking freelancer. I was writing occasionally but not very successfully. More than anything I was just living the lifestyle of a vagabond. I met a Ukrainian girl. After a spending a period of time together, we decided to go our separate ways and meet up in Goa [India] for New Year’s Eve.

This was August, so I had a few months to kill. I decided to take the northern route overland – over the Caspian and Aral seas. From Central Europe you come down into Central Asia, through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan was right there. So I got my visa and hitchhiked across the border into Mazar-i-Sharif. I traveled in local buses, and learned the language and the culture of the place. December rolled around. I was supposed to go to India. But I wound up staying in Afghanistan for nine months ...

Posted by: Jen | Dec 14 2021 4:28 utc | 26

Glad you're back B,and with a new post. Got trapped for days in that crazy open thread you put up.

Posted by: Laura Roslin | Dec 14 2021 7:20 utc | 27

fascinating insights b, as per usual... welcome back! and thank you for sharing your insights...

Posted by: james | Dec 14 2021 7:49 utc | 28

@ 26 jen.... interesting insights as well... thanks! hopefully b sees your post..

Posted by: james | Dec 14 2021 7:51 utc | 29

Welcome back.

Posted by: Misotheist | Dec 14 2021 9:56 utc | 30

What I want to read is an account by an Afghan of the fall of Kabul. Not one of those who fled either, but one of those who stayed back. I would also dearly love a detailed account from a Taliban soldier; there must be at least a few who are articul enough to write one. The Badri 313 commander who was extensively interviewed in Kabul, fluently multilingual and obviously well educated, can't be unique.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Dec 14 2021 10:34 utc | 31

Wait, people actually trust Times reporting?
I mean, expecting a premier member of the Blob to allow honest reporting about a nation we've consistently fucked over since 1978? Seriously?

Posted by: Hart Liss | Dec 14 2021 11:25 utc | 32

In the twenty years living in this country i am happy to find a space like this, that give me hope that this country is blessed with a lot of people who think really heavy about internationals and nationals affairs and are well distant of the constant propagand that is the habitual sphere of the big mass of the population of this country.

I like to read blogs with commentaries. Most of what you find is very weak. No many coherents commentaries around.
Mostly expresion of feelings.
But, not effort whatsoever to be more clear and more detailed and go into deep thoughts.

That is the beauty of this Moon of Alabama.

It has a shine that could be linked to the real original light of the Hill.

The one that Musa went to inquire a direction to the people of the Flame.

B and his barflies really keep a space were sanity trump crazziness.

Here you find recipes for hope.

This blog is the kitchen of the fructiferus ideas of the country.

The very best.

Posted by: Pablo | Dec 14 2021 11:57 utc | 33

"Matthieu Aikins will hopefully write a book about the fall of Kabul and expand a bit on the mass shooting of Afghan civilians by soldiers under U.S. command." - B<>
But would one market a book about a U.S. defeat?

I recommend that he spins it by giving it a title like this ... 'Betrayal: U.S. serviceman, citizens, and Afghans surrendered to terrorists'
We only want to read books where we, in the U.S., are the good guys and every setback is because of a Neville Chamberlain (or worse).

-------------------------------------

Now here is a successful book. "Damascus Station"by David McCloskey (CIA Hero porn)
https://booktrib.com/2021/09/24/former-cia-analyst-integrates-espionage-love-and-betrayal-in-gripping-thriller-damascus-station/

I cannot get over how we reward books that feed our collective narcissism.
Sure the bad guys won in Syria BUT ... that was only because Obama did not listen to our brilliant field agents.

And why does the beautiful Syrian woman fall in love with our CIA agent, was it because of his charm and dashing, good looks? No. There are many Syrian men like that. It was because Syrian men are cruel and this was the first man she met who was also kind. Not every place is cruel and dark like Syria ... CLACK - CLACK - CLACK [old typewriter sound]

Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Dec 14 2021 12:23 utc | 34

@Jen 26
Aikins has the markers of a prototypical 'asset'.

Posted by: mastameta | Dec 14 2021 13:55 utc | 35

Billb,

Perhaps some of the relocated assets will find themselves re-activated in Xinjiang while their families remain behind as honored guests (in another time and/or place hostages).

Posted by: ISL | Dec 14 2021 15:06 utc | 36

@Christian J, easier to Cuck a Yank, than a Syrian.....plus if she ever needs a break, just hide the blue pills....Flollywood Fairie Tales indeed.

Cheers

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Dec 14 2021 15:17 utc | 37

Nothing to see here its all the suicide bombers fault is the usual speel from the MSM, its a similar story for the so called "missing" Chinese tennis player, if it fits the narrative its worth reporting if not sideline it a bit.

The drone bombing and killing of multiple members of one family including seven children in Afghanistan by a US drone, has resulted in no one being held accountable for it, its murder plan and simple.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Dec 14 2021 15:39 utc | 38

"Matthieu Aikins will hopefully write a book about the fall of Kabul and expand a bit on the mass shooting of Afghan civilians by soldiers under U.S. command. I for one would certainly pay for it."

Here are some suggested titles for this proposed book:

_Headchoppers and other American Freedom Fighters: a CIA Love Story_.

_Jihadists R US: America's noble but ultimately tragic crusade to bring freedom, democracy, and women's rights to Afghanistan_.

_Drone Bombings, Death Squads, and Bacha Bazi: a US Special Forces How-To Manual.

With a catchy title like this, Aikins is sure to make the best-seller list of his employer, the New York Times.

Posted by: ak74 | Dec 14 2021 16:51 utc | 39

Every time I hear or read news stories about so-called suicide bombings, I think one has to ask: Was this really a suicide bomber who exploded his or her own body in that blast? Or could it have been that the perpetrator(-s) for instance just let his or her mobile phone on and kept on communicate with that phone from another location. (Other tricks are also possible.) Or was the bomb-filled car possibly blown up due to getting fast shots from outside?
Always should be asked...

Posted by: Tollef Ås/秋涛乐/טלפ וש | Dec 14 2021 16:55 utc | 40

So I did the "international vagabond" gig for a while too. The thing is, even though I would do my vagabonding as cheap as possible I still spent much more time working to pay for my adventures than actually, you know, adventuring. Of course having graduate degrees and teaching experience in mathematics and linguistics allowed me to be an itinerant adjunct instructor in lots of places, but adjunct instructor pay tends to be too much to die on but not enough to live on, and saving for the next adventure was a challenge, even when I was already located and working in the destination adventuring country. International vagabonding always involved significant periods of grinding for cash, and jetting off to Goa for a relaxing change of pace was never an option.

So understand where I am coming from when I express suspicion of these full-time vagabonds who go years at a time without ever doing anything productive. When I see these types drifting from country to country with no visible means of support my very first question is who is paying their way? That is literally the first thing I wonder about with such individuals. Someone is supplying the cash and I am always curious as to why.

Yeah, I know. There is a reason the CIA needs to traffic heroin to pad their budget. I also know there is a reason why the US State Department funds so many "publishing companies" that never publish anything but do hand out book deals for books that never get written and "literary prizes" for people who cannot write. Maybe I am just bitter because I never got a piece of that action?

Posted by: William Gruff | Dec 14 2021 17:37 utc | 41

Every time I hear or read news stories about so-called suicide bombings, I think one has to ask: Was this really a suicide bomber who exploded his or her own body in that blast? Or could it have been...?

Posted by: Tollef Ås/秋涛乐/טלפ וש | Dec 14 2021 16:55 utc | 40

Me too. I followed AmeriKKKa's multiple atrocity campaign in Iraq from the moment they damaged everything around the Oil Ministry HQ but left the OM building unscathed. Then made it the centre of the Green Zone. I reckon 90% of the 'suicide bombings' in Iraq were remotely triggered by cell-phones - Yankee cellphones; especially the ones which blew up children, groups of unemployed Iraqis waiting for a few hours work, and mosques. It was, after all, a Fake War On Islam.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 14 2021 18:14 utc | 42

So understand where I am coming from when I express suspicion of these full-time vagabonds who go years at a time without ever doing anything productive. When I see these types drifting from country to country with no visible means of support my very first question is who is paying their way? That is literally the first thing I wonder about with such individuals. Someone is supplying the cash and I am always curious as to why.

Bill.... if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and flies like a duck..... it's a duck...

The guy is a NOK.... works for one of the 5 eyes outfits...

The story is pure bullshit...

INDY

Posted by: George W Oprisko | Dec 14 2021 18:47 utc | 43

Similar incidences of wild shootings occured when I travelled through both Herat and KabÛl in the second chalf of the nineteen-sevantees, but were all very hushed-downed in local news outlets. Likewise, see what the Swede Myrdal ((maibe Myhrdahl?) wrote of such US-infused terror groups in his book "Indre Asians portar" (The gates of (inner) Asia -- or something like that) . poblished 1960 plus or minus a few years and tears.

Posted by: Tollef Ås/秋涛乐/טלפ וש | Dec 14 2021 19:00 utc | 44

William Gruff @ 41:

What made me suspicious about Matthieu Aikins and his overland adventures through Central Asia is that he claims his Hazara-like looks gave him an advantage, during a period in which - I have to admit I am making some mighty big assumptions here, not knowing much about Central Asia or Afghanistan - most Hazara people who were moving about in that part of the world were leaving Afghanistan as refugees, emigrants or seasonal workers going to neighbouring countries. What time of the year Aikins arrived in Afghanistan in 2008 would be helpful to know, if it coincided with workers leaving for work in other countries or returning to be with their families during seasons when there is no work available in the countries where they go to work. I would think also that workers returning to Afghanistan from overseas work (with the intention of going back to that work in the next spring or summer or whenever) would do so in groups travelling by plane or bus, not on their own hitching rides.

It is my understanding that Hazara people in Afghanistan suffered from discrimination by other Afghans from the 1990s onwards, and many people if not most in the Afghan overseas diaspora are Afghan. A Hazara-looking guy coming into Afghanistan on his own, moreover speaking good English with a North American accent and Persian with a generic accent that local Afghans would not be able to place, must surely stick out like the proverbial sore thumb no matter how well he tries to blend in with the people.

And as you say, where is his money coming from? Who is this "Ukrainian girl he meets in the Balkans or wherever?

Posted by: Jen | Dec 14 2021 19:13 utc | 45

Sorry at my comment @ 45, I meant to say that many if not most people in the Afghan overseas diaspora are Hazara, not Afghan!

Posted by: Jen | Dec 14 2021 19:15 utc | 46

ABC.net.au Planet America's Sept 3 edition was the only Oz Media to cover the US non-withdrawal withdrawal from Afghanistan with anything resembling diligence. A link to the 55 minute archive is below. It begins with 12 minutes of coverage of the Withdrawal Clusterfuck, followed by a 9-minute video interview with Richard Haas (CFR), venting his spleen about AmeriKKKa's mishandling of Afghanistan and other incompetence.

There's a couple of points worth paying attention to.
1. During the first 12 minutes Plan Am reveals scuttlebutt that the Poms and the Assholes blamed each other for the suicide bombing and its outcome.
2. At circa 10 minutes Plan Am asserts that, during pre-Fall US-Taliban negotiations, the Taliban told the Yanks that if they don't step in to calm things down in Kabul, they will feel obliged to. The Yanks consulted with a senior US General and told the Taliban to go ahead and do it!? which, ahem, is not what the Yanks told you and me.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/programs/planet-america/2021-09-03/planet-america-3-september/13527184

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 14 2021 21:03 utc | 47

Special U.S. Strike Unit in Syria, Talon Anvil
https://archive.md/TqSu0#selection-279.0-279.51

For 3yrs, starting in 2016, this small unit of low level operatives expedited drone strikes in Syria as part of operation 'Inherent Resolve' against ISIS with no regard for civilians. They suppressed evidence with incomplete reports and intentionally sabotaging drone footage.

There is no number given for civilian casualties, given the circumstances, it must have been a lot.

Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Dec 14 2021 22:38 utc | 48

Following up from my promise/ comment. #25.
I did, I thought, have a safely stored link to US snipers T Kabul airport.
To, I am sure, the absolute surprise of no barfly, the link I saved, has been expunged.
But I had a screen cap on an old device. So after charging and much sifting, finally found this:

Tweet 1:
@Global_Mil_Info
Unconfirmed footage of 82nd Airborne arriving at Kabul International Airport.

https://archive.md/z8WkX


Snipers in a overwatch position at #Kabul International Airport.

https://archive.md/QojD4

Posted by: Melaleuca | Dec 15 2021 1:33 utc | 49

Sorry to be ot. But I recently encountered a strange thing trying to access moa directly through the browser. Usually I do through feedly, which is doing fine so far. But if I try to go directly from the browser, Google first would give me a stern warning. And then I will face a page from supposedly moa's web hosting service. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this normal? Thank you.

Posted by: cindy6 | Dec 15 2021 8:26 utc | 50

@cindy6 | Dec 15 2021 8:26 utc | 50

No, not normal. I use Brave browser, all is fine.

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 15 2021 11:02 utc | 51

RE: Posted by: cindy6 | Dec 15 2021 8:26 utc | 50

"Is this normal?"

If your notion of normal is a conflation of regular, then qualitatively it is regular veering to almost constant but quantitatively variable.

In "perception management" attempts at control are predicated on the perceptions of the other.

Consequently if many perceive that they are being watched then in context this can prove a useful dissuasion technique, and the algorithm adjusted to "remember" that for the particular USP/address that level of activity is sufficient to achieve "reasonable results" once the initial attempt at relying on "Google's attempts to protect you from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." are perceived as being no longer fit for purpose.

However in certain contexts including but not limited to, the interactions of Google's sense of challenge/threat with the other's facility, this can offer qualitative opportunities of transcendence to those with facility, which encourages iteration of the lateral process previously described.

To use a metaphor - think of the obstacles you faced as being akin to your credit score - but don't be afraid. Leave Google to be increasingly afraid to encourage qualitative change.

All datastreams have utility as illustrated below.

Once upon a time there were gluttons who wanted to eat all the sausages.

It started well – they restricted their consumption of sausages to particular flavours/types.
Initially it was mostly Bavarian White sausage with sauerkraut on the side, then Saxon sausage in breadrolls as Saxon sauage was thought to be more piquant.

However with exposure to greater piquancy their taste buds became less sensitive, leading them to put more balance in their sausage diet, but this didn't satisfy their nutritional “needs”.

They started to increase the quantity of sausages consumed, increasing their figures and cholestorol levels – they were so busy eating sausages they forgot to go the gym – perhaps you can imagine the next development ?

The gluttons had a heart attack in 1991 or 1992, I can't remember exactly there were other matters to attend to, but they died anyway, except Mr. Wolff who often displayed Lazarus tendencies throughout his career.

They were called the STASI.

Posted by: MagdaTam | Dec 15 2021 12:18 utc | 52

I don't share b's criticism of Aikins. Aikins report is primarily a report of what he experienced himself. And being busy with that Saraya evacuation he won't have had much opportunity at that time to go around and ask people for details about the bombing/shooting incident.

Posted by: Wim | Dec 15 2021 12:20 utc | 53

Probably soldiers became afraid of possible suicide bombers among desparate people who took wrong direction running towards the US force defence fences at airport. Terror attacks are evolved to the more sophisticated multistage form, unfortunately.

Posted by: Asa | Dec 17 2021 2:25 utc | 54

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