An Afghan widow, who lost her spouse from the fighting in Afghanistan, waits as food is distributed from the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), a confederation of 10 agencies that delivers relief assistance to people in need, January 23, 2002, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/via Getty Images)
President Biden will attend a virtual emergency meeting with the G-7 inter-governmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States this morning, where they will discuss the impending Aug. 31 deadline for complete troop withdrawal in Afghanistan. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 9:30 am/ET and a formal briefing from the president has been scheduled for noon.
The issue at question is whether or not the US can reasonably evacuate every person they need to this week, with enough time to allow the military to pack up and safely retreat. The latest numbers are hopeful: over 20,000 people have been evacuated in the past 24 hours, with a daily average of roughly 11,000 people per day. But so far, only American citizens have been given priority to depart or even enter the airport in Kabul, which means the real question is how many US allies in Afghanistan with Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) will be safely evacuated after twenty years of promises to do so.
The biggest obstacle facing President Biden now is the hard Aug. 31 deadline for the withdrawal of US troops. The evacuation of US nationals has been chaotic and dangerous so far, but the Taliban has been predominantly cooperating with the evacuation plan. After this deadline, there will not be this level of cooperation and the operation will become substantially more dangerous. Does Biden risk the lives of US troops to fulfill the twenty years of promises made to US allies by the military, or does he stick to the hard deadline to keep the Taliban as complacent as possible while getting as many SIV holders out as he can, with minimal casualties?
Afghan journalist Freshta Farhang, who writes profiles about women's issues for the online newspaper Khabarnama, sits at her desk in the newsroom of the media outlet on February 13, 2019, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Scott Peterson/via Getty Images)
If the US does not do everything possible to evacuate every ally that was legally promised immunity, then how can our country ever hope to get others to cooperate and help us in the future? Will there be a priority evacuation for female SIV holders, given the increased imminent risk to them and their families? How long can we reasonably extend our initial deadline to minimize the violence? What kind of retaliation can we reasonably expect from the Taliban after an initial delay?
I imagine that these are just some of the questions that are being asked daily and the questions that will be discussed in the G7 meeting this morning. Considering the complexity of the decision, I thought we should debate it amongst our own SHERO community before the decision is actually made. What do you see as the toughest problems we are facing here with an extension? How much longer would we need to extend without a definitive count or with an SIV program that is making constant additions? Should the US work on securing the airport entirely and making it a safety zone resembling an embassy, if this is even possible?
Let’s talk strategy, and give me some of your thoughts. What would you do if you were president?
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It seems arbitrary to begin with & if the objectives are not met before then, he's only going to give his critics something else to complain about. I can almost picture the likes of Rand Paul & Jim Jordan checking off the days on their calendar.
The Taliban has expressed opposition to any Afghans leaving, and they’re already making it very difficult - if not impossible - for visa holders to get to the airport. President Biden is in a very tough position here and I’m really glad I don’t have his job. I can barely decide what to eat for lunch these days. :p
As Heather Cox Richardson points out in her Substack letter today, the Taliban has problems of it's own that may preclude any cooperation with us past the 8-31 date. They cannot appear to be weak to their own militant factions in Afghanistan and they are flirting with that perception by even being in negotiations with us and the former government.
So the question is maybe *can* we extend the evacuation period not should we.
Guardian reports William Burns met Taliban. As things stand a deadline extension looks unlikely and if it should be negotiated high risk. The Taliban are not necessarily cohesive or trustworthy.
The deadline extension is nearly inevitable, at this point. We cannot get everyone out in the 7 days left. It will take at least a full day to get our troops out, once the evac has ended.
Taliban are growing more impatient every day, and they will not respond well to the extension. It will get ugly.
Biden's critics are going to criticize whatever decision made, no matter what is done, that won't change.
I support the extension, but understand it will not be pretty.
I'd rather negotiate with a grisly bear than the Taliban. I cheated. I read the Times today. There is a pushed to extend the deadline. This push comes from a bi-partisan Congress. It appears the G-7 go for extending the deadline. The CIA director and Abdul Baradar had secret talks. If I was president, I'd "stick" to my original 08/31 until I got the go ahead to extend the deadline based on my advisors recommendations. If the Taliban won't budge, then I would, with the backing of G-7, extend it anyway, well knowing that the Taliban want to be recognized by the world as legitimate. The US could easily lay that goal to rest.
He can't unless he's willing to start a shooting war with a lot civilians as targets, the Taliban keep remind everyone of that by get people killed daily even 2 year olds, the G-7 would need to put troop on the ground not just the UK and us. The Taliban wants to enter the trade world and if it gets nasty it will make harder but they still need to enforce international agreements...
Yes, the deadline should be extended.
It seems arbitrary to begin with & if the objectives are not met before then, he's only going to give his critics something else to complain about. I can almost picture the likes of Rand Paul & Jim Jordan checking off the days on their calendar.
The Taliban has expressed opposition to any Afghans leaving, and they’re already making it very difficult - if not impossible - for visa holders to get to the airport. President Biden is in a very tough position here and I’m really glad I don’t have his job. I can barely decide what to eat for lunch these days. :p
Biden needs to find as much leverage as he can to extend the deadline otherwise it will become a real s$!&tshow after that.
As Heather Cox Richardson points out in her Substack letter today, the Taliban has problems of it's own that may preclude any cooperation with us past the 8-31 date. They cannot appear to be weak to their own militant factions in Afghanistan and they are flirting with that perception by even being in negotiations with us and the former government.
So the question is maybe *can* we extend the evacuation period not should we.
Guardian reports William Burns met Taliban. As things stand a deadline extension looks unlikely and if it should be negotiated high risk. The Taliban are not necessarily cohesive or trustworthy.
The deadline extension is nearly inevitable, at this point. We cannot get everyone out in the 7 days left. It will take at least a full day to get our troops out, once the evac has ended.
Taliban are growing more impatient every day, and they will not respond well to the extension. It will get ugly.
Biden's critics are going to criticize whatever decision made, no matter what is done, that won't change.
I support the extension, but understand it will not be pretty.
I'd rather negotiate with a grisly bear than the Taliban. I cheated. I read the Times today. There is a pushed to extend the deadline. This push comes from a bi-partisan Congress. It appears the G-7 go for extending the deadline. The CIA director and Abdul Baradar had secret talks. If I was president, I'd "stick" to my original 08/31 until I got the go ahead to extend the deadline based on my advisors recommendations. If the Taliban won't budge, then I would, with the backing of G-7, extend it anyway, well knowing that the Taliban want to be recognized by the world as legitimate. The US could easily lay that goal to rest.
He can't unless he's willing to start a shooting war with a lot civilians as targets, the Taliban keep remind everyone of that by get people killed daily even 2 year olds, the G-7 would need to put troop on the ground not just the UK and us. The Taliban wants to enter the trade world and if it gets nasty it will make harder but they still need to enforce international agreements...