Biden administration accused of ignoring intelligence predicting debacle

 National Review:

U.S. intelligence agencies warned of the collapse of the Afghan military and government at the hands of a resurgent Taliban over the summer, as President Biden publicly downplayed the possibility of a government rout.

While Biden assured the American public on July 8 that the Afghan regime’s disintegration was far from inevitable, quieting fears of a “Saigon-like” foreign policy fiasco, previous intelligence reports indicated that Afghan security forces as well as the seat of government in Kabul were weakening and could falter, current and former American government officials told the New York Times.

When a reporter asked National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan during a press briefing Tuesday if the government disregarded information suggesting the Afghan regime would be overwhelmed amid the Taliban’s revival, he replied, “I’m not actually familiar with the intelligence assessments you’re describing.”

A specific July report affirmed the increasingly vulnerable position of the capital to attack as the Taliban advanced across the country, capturing a chain of major provincial cities and towns, a person familiar with the intelligence informed the Times.
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“The business of intelligence is not to say you know on Aug. 15 the Afghan government’s going to fall,” Timothy S. Bergreen, a former staff director for the House Intelligence Committee, told the publication. “But what everybody knew is that without the stiffening of the international forces and specifically our forces, the Afghans were incapable of defending or governing themselves.”

When the Taliban captured Kabul over the weekend, seizing the presidential palace that Afghanistan leader Ashraf Ghani had fled just hours earlier, people rushed to the local airport in droves, flooding the tarmac and clinging to plane tires, desperate to secure a spot on a departing U.S. jet. Due to the chaos, which resulted in multiple civilian casualties and even an exchange of gunfire, the U.S. temporarily halted all flights Tuesday, leading many lawmakers and pundits to question how the U.S. lost control of the airport perimeter and boarding zone so easily and so fast.
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Biden was told that there would be a collapse and ignored it hoping there would be a period of time before the collapse.  His reckless disregard for the intelligence has been exposed and by his own admission, it just happened quicker than he expected.  He appears to be cementing his reputation as one of the least intelligent people ever elected President.

See, also:

Afghanistan: We Never Learn 

As the Taliban waltzes into Kabul, the look of surprise on the faces of top officials should frighten us most of all