Washington Examiner: D efense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken set off on separate overseas trips starting in the Persian Gulf to thank allies for assistance in Afghanistan withdrawal efforts after a chaotic and deadly several weeks. Blinken landed in Doha, Qatar, on Monday, where several diplomatic exchanges with the Taliban have taken place in recent years and where diplomatic operations serving Afghanistan have been based since the United States closed its embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. ... On Friday, Blinken will travel to Germany, where the U.S. Ramstein Air Base is the site of a major pit stop for evacuees from Afghanistan making their way to the U.S. In addition to meeting with foreign officials, Blinken will visit State Department employees working on evacuation efforts. Austin is also scheduled to visit Qatar, as well as Bahrain and Kuwait, sites of additional evacuee holding and processing operations, and Saudi Arabia. The relation...