At a certain point, one must ask whether what's happening in Afghanistan is the result of grotesque incompetence or if there is something more malevolent going on.  I've received myriad emails speculating that the military left all its materiel behind as a gift to the Chinese or the Taliban.  People think this because it's incomprehensible to them that a functional military, knowing in advance that it was withdrawing, would let its weapons, supplies, and information fall into enemy hands.  People are also beginning to wonder whether the Biden administration cares at all that American citizens are trapped in that benighted country.

As of Tuesday morning, the administration didn't even know how many Americans are stuck in Afghanistan:

On CNN, John Kirby asked how many Americans are still in Afghanistan: "We think there are certainly thousands of Americans, we don't have an exact count, I would say somewhere, best guess between 5,000-10,000 that are near Kabul."

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) August 17, 2021

Charlie Spiering did not make a transcribing error.  That's what Kirby really said:

Biden administration spokesman John Kirby admits they don’t know the number of Americans in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/6y3HoUyfJ0

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 17, 2021

Even at 10,000, Kirby may be lowballing it: "George W. Bush's former Assistant Secretary of State, Robert Charles, says there are between 15,000 and 40,000 'scattered' across all of Afghanistan."

But frankly, when it comes to trapped Americans, the Biden administration isn't really that into them, if you know what I mean.  As far as the government's concerned, they're on their own when it comes to escaping the Taliban:

The below note went out this afternoon to American citizens requesting to be evacuated from Afghanistan, @alanacbs reports. It instructs people to come to Hamid Karzai Intl Airport in Kabul, but says the US govt cannot guarantee their safety as they make the trip. @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/rgEyjGup4K

— Sara Cook (@saraecook) August 17, 2021

But all is not lost, because Jen Psaki did explain that the government does have plans for evacuating people — Afghan people:

Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki can’t offer any guarantee that all Americans will be evacuated from Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/0XKueyBXCg

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 17, 2021

Maybe I'm unduly obsessed with my own country, but shouldn't the administration's total focus be on rescuing Americans?  And believe me, they do need to be rescued.  After all, the Taliban now have a potential 5,000 to 40,000 Americans to hold as hostages.

Additionally, the Taliban are already back to their old tricks of torturing and murdering people.  The Daily Mail has a long, illustrated article (the illustrations are gory if you're squeamish) showing how the Taliban deal with crowd control, employees of the Afghan government, and women.  The Taliban lied when they said they wouldn't seek revenge.  Who's surprised?  Anyone?

Humanism and the milk of human kindness are sorely lacking in these soldiers of Allah.  They hew to Mohammed's principles of warfare: kill the enemy's men and enslave their women.  That these men and women are their own countrymen is irrelevant.

I'm terribly sorry for the Afghan people at the mercy of their more radical countrymen, but, as I explained in a prior post, that doesn't mean I want tens of thousands of them brought here.  These Afghans are not the same as the ones who immigrated to the West decades ago.  Too many of these people have contempt for the West and are part of the jihadist movement.

Here's Tucker's wrap-up along with an important anecdote from Sean Parnell:

Image: Chaos in Kabul.  YouTube screen grab.

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