Two days ago, a suicide bomber attacked a security checkpoint at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) in Kabul, Afghanistan. Before the U.S. military abides by the August 31 withdrawal deadline set by the Taliban for them, the airport is the main exit point for any tragic illusion seeking to leave a country.
Reread the last sentence several times to understand the scope of our country’s shame. 13 Americans were killed: 11 Marines, one Marine, and one Army Special Forces soldier. Another 20 Americans were injured and required medical evacuation. One of the dead was U.S. Marine Corps sergeant Nicole Gee, who appeared in these widely circulated photos:
#RIP U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Nicole Ji, 23 years old
“She is a Marine”https://t.co/XNaqfDVbq6 pic.twitter.com/R37vuZRzmn
— Mike Sacone (@mikesacconetv) August 28, 2021
Joe Biden vowed to take revenge with the all-metal CornPop:
“For those who carried out this attack, and anyone who wants the United States to be harmed, know: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay the price.”
Last night, the Central Command announced a strike; see Jennifer Oliver O’Connell’s Biden responds to threats: US air strikes target members of the Islamic State in retaliation for the Kabul bombing Details.
Central Command: “The U.S. military carried out an over-the-horizon counter-terrorism operation against an ISIS-K planner today. An unmanned air strike took place in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. The first signs were that we killed the target. We know that there are no civilians. casualties.” https://t.co/ceYlhT4O0e
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) August 28, 2021
After the Taliban took control of Nangarhar, the United States carried out its first air strike against ISIS#Kabul Airport pic.twitter.com/DkV132lHKs
— Sagar Abbas Mirza (@sagarmiza) August 28, 2021
Reduced to its basis; the United States carried out a drone attack on a so-called ISIS-K planner in Nangarhar Province…whatever that means… At the nearest place, Nangarhar is about 30 miles from Hong Kong International Airport. Since this “planner” is unlikely to be parallel to the provincial border, he is likely to be in or near a few towns in the province.
For retaliation to be effective, there must be three elements. It must be timely, visible, and at least commensurate (my prejudice is not commensurate).
This exercise failed in at least two ways. Follow up on an international attack, killing 33 soldiers in a remote attack that could kill one person, but don’t say “don’t do it again”. On the contrary, it is a signal that you are weak and that it is the season open to your employees, and there are no baggage restrictions and size restrictions.
As my colleague Bunch pointed out (see Makes me extremely suspicious of Joe Biden’s retaliatory strike against ISIS), which is eerie reminiscent of Bill Clinton’s retaliatory attack on the Al Qaeda truck bomb attack, which attacked our embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, killing more than 200 people. The attack was aimed at a Sudanese aspirin factory and successfully killed a night watchman. The slow response to the bombings in East Africa was one of the factors that convinced Osama bin Laden that he could attack American targets with relative impunity.
In addition to the fact that we cannot know who went on strike or who (if anyone) was targeted or killed, there is a bigger problem with this story. Sorry, the Biden White House has found nothing but suspicion.
Psaki was asked about the report about the first dog “Major” and his habit of biting agents:
“If we can’t get real information about the short story, why should we trust the government’s explanations for larger issues such as Afghanistan?” pic.twitter.com/AX5QuVBiSb
-Benny (@bennyjohnson) August 27, 2021
I’m not sure if many sane people believe ISIS-K can plan a suicide bombing conspiracy in Kabul and let the bomber go through one or more Taliban checkpoints to waltz without the taliban’s acquiescence (if not direct assistance) . The attack allowed the Taliban to draw blood and reasonably blame another entity. The United States must follow the fiction, otherwise the chaos in Kabul will turn into a very ugly scene involving the withdrawal of coalition forces from the United States and Hong Kong International Airport.
After all, this attack was nonsense. It has nothing to do with preventing further attacks, it has nothing to do with domestic public relations. It shows how weak our hands are in Kabul and highlights the absurd incompetence of Biden’s White House.
