Twelve years later, the Obama Administration released Khairkhwa and four other top Taliban leaders (together known as the "Taliban 5") in exchange for the Taliban releasing US Army Sgt. Robert “Bowe” Bergdahl, who was captured after deserting his post in Afghanistan. Khairkhwa and his fellow parolees, who were immediately flown to Qatar, were the only “forever prisoners” released without being cleared by the Gitmo parole board. Western intelligence reported that the Taliban 5 formed a Taliban government in exile in Qatar, where they received support, and planned the Taliban offensive that the world saw.
Earlier this year, Khairkhwa assured the Biden Administration that the Taliban would not launch a spring military offensive if Biden committed to removing all remaining American troops. He also promised not to retaliate against any Afghans who worked with the US military or the US-backed government in Kabul. But Khairkhwa showed no signs of remorse or rehabilitation inside Gitmo — if anything, he’s probably more embittered toward the United States. Why would they believe him? Reports coming out of Kandahar and Kabul indicate the extremists have already broken their word. Taliban thugs have started a reign of terror against people who cooperated with Westerners. Guided by a “kill list,” they are going door to door to punish their enemies.
The release of was not the only high profile Gitmo prisoner paroled. On 19 July 2021, the Biden Administration released Abdul Latif Nasir to the Kingdom of Morocco. Nasir was reportedly fighting with al-Qai'da against American forces in Tora Bora, Afghanistan in late 2001 then captured by Pakistani agents and transferred to US Custody. According to US Intelligence Nasir (aka Nasser) was a member of the al Qai'da military committee of the al Qaida Shura Council and directly associated with Osama Bin Laden. Nasir also reportedly trained AQ fighters how to use explosives and poisons.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has published many articles on how the Qatari royal family has supported not only the Taliban but other radical Islamic movements for years even as it simultaneously hosts the U.S. American CENTCOM base, Al Udeid Air Base, located southwest of Doha, Qatar. Qatar has played this stealth role (supporting the Taliban) while masquerading over the past two years as a mediator between the democratically elected government of Afghanistan and the Taliban. Qatar money pays the Taliban fighters and at a level better than what the U.S.-supported Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). In fact, some of the rapid failure and deconstruction of the ANDSF was undoubtedly due to low and unreliable payroll.
- The fall of Afghanistan and what is seen worldwide as foreign policy humiliation for the U.S. has emboldened our enemies:
- Iraq based Shia militias now using man modes of social media to threatening U.S. forces that are in Iraq in an advisory role, as well as Iraqi contactors working with U.S. military and diplomatic bodies.
- In Syria, the Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) launched a recruitment campaign urging Syrians to copy the Taliban's example if they wish to experience the victory attained by the Taliban.
Iran's renewed promise to help the Palestinians in their fight against Israel shows that the mullahs in Tehran feel emboldened by the perceived weakness of the Biden administration and other Western powers, from the debacle in Afghanistan and in dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat and sanctions. Recently Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) visited Iran, to attend the inauguration of President Ebrahim Raisi, and received promises of continued financial and military aid. In fact, there is reporting that the Iranian regime now believes is the time for an all-out joint attack on Israel by Hezbollah and the Palestinians terrorist groups.
The Daily Mail (United Kingdom) is reporting that an additional 300 British troops, likely SAS and Marine Commandos, deployed to Kabul specifically to extract trapped British nationals earlier in the week. Within hours of touching down in Kabul, the British troops retrieved some 200 British nationals from around Kabul, the Telegraph (United Kingdom) reported. Prompting the mission were reports of Taliban hunting down former Afghan government officials, along with Britons stuck behind a web of Taliban checkpoints lining the route to the airport. Additionally, France 24 reports that the French military has been conducting similar operations since Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron thanked French security forces on Twitter for executing a ‘sensitive operation’ which evacuated more than 200 French and Afghans.
Thousands of Americans, as many as 15,000, are reportedly trapped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan with no indication that the Biden administration is going to go and get them out. US DoD (Secretary Austin) and Chief of Staff General Milley have admitted that they (DoD) do not know how many, nor the locations of these Americans. The U.S. State Department has informed Americans trapped that they cannot ensure safe passage to the Kabul airport where they can be exfiled. What is complicating U.S. efforts by the State Department is the June 2021 abolishment of the Trump Administration's Crisis Response Bureau within the State Department who was established to rescue Americans who became trapped overseas. The Washington Free Beacon is reporting that a memorandum signed by Deputy Secretary Brian McKeon, approved the “discontinuation of the establishment, and termination of, the Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau (CCR).” The CCR bureau was established late last year by then-secretary of state Mike Pompeo. In a notification sent to Congress in October and also obtained by the Free Beacon, the Trump administration said the new bureau would provide “aviation, logistics, and medical support capabilities for the Department’s operational bureaus, thereby enhancing the secretary’s ability to protect American citizens overseas in connection with overseas evacuations in the aftermath of a natural or man-made disaster.”
The Norwegian Centre for Global Analyses, a a nonprofit intelligence and information analysis firm that undertakes analytical, assessment, training, and other forms of support for the U.N., stated that despite the Taliban's announcement and promise of “complete amnesty” for Afghanis, the terrorist group is carrying out a highly organized door-to-door manhunt for people on their wanted list, “they have lists of individuals and even within the very first hours of moving into Kabul they began a search of former government employees—especially in intelligence services and the special forces units.”
The Hill has reported, based on a 2017 Government Accountability Office report, that between 2002 and 2016, the U.S. gave Afghan government forces 75,898 vehicles, 599,690 weapons, 162,643 pieces of communications equipment, 208 aircraft, and 16,191 pieces of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. And with the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government, hundreds of thousands of weapons, tens of thousands of ground vehicles, and hundreds of aircraft have been left up for grabs and the Taliban have taken control of much of it. Furthermore, a 2020 report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that between 2017 and 2019, the U.S. gave Afghan forces an additional 7,035 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 bombs and 1,394 grenade launchers, along with other equipment.
Additional likely consequences of the Afghanistan debacle and the perceived or real American political and military disarray in the withdrawal of troops and AMCITS is the Chinese live fire naval drills near Taiwan. Chinese fighter jets, anti-submarine aircraft and combat ships conducted assault drills near Taiwan on Tuesday 17 August 2021, with the People’s Liberation Army saying the exercise was necessary to safeguard China’s sovereignty. China has stepped up military exercises around self-ruled Taiwan, which it considers its own territory as the PRC believes recent U.S., Taiwan and other Nations' provocations have severely violated Chinese sovereignty. These provocations are mainly political warnings (from the U.S. and Japan mainly) to China about ideas on invading Taiwan, who the PRC considers a province of China, and the sale of military equipment and other military defense measures taken by Taiwan in lieu of the PRC posturing and likely rehearsing OPLANS for an invasion of Taiwan. The latest enhancement of Taiwan defense was the announcement of plans by the U.S. to sell 40 self-propelled howitzers to Taiwan in a deal valued at $750 million that drew strong condemnation from Beijing.
The American Thinker is reporting a story that not only British 22 SAS and 2 Para and French launching missions outside of Kabul airport into Kabul to rescue their citizen and Afghans that have served their respective countries, but that the German's are also involved in operations in Kabul rescuing German nationals and those who served German's diplomatic mission. Additionally, the American Thinker is reporting that the American Ground Commander, 82nd Airborne Division Commander, Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, has told his British Army counterpart, a high-ranking field-grade officer of the British army's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment, that British operations were embarrassing the United States military in the absence of similar U.S. military operations. Apparently the Brits rejected that request.
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