Defense officials warned Biden of Afghanistan chaos and future Al Qaeda attacks in the USA

On August 16th, 2021, Biden took a break from his vacation in Camp David long enough to grace the world with an eighteen minute address about the catastrophe in Afghanistan (with no opportunity for the press to ask questions).

However, in the months prior to the Afghanistan debacle, several reports were issued by such agencies as the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General to the United States Congress for review. These reports are vital to understanding what the Biden administration, Congress, et al really knew before the present disaster unfolded. More pertinently, they tell us what Americans can expect for the future (and spoiler alert: it’s not good).

While Biden has reassured the American people and their allies that an efficient evacuation is underway, in reality there is a very serious crisis at hand. The American embassy in Afghanistan has instructed all citizens to go to the airport in Kabul and wait there for evacuation while simultaneously admitting that “the United States government cannot guarantee your safety as you make this trip” through dangerous Taliban-controlled areas. Similarly, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki conceded that the Biden
The American embassy in Afghanistan told all citizens to go to the airport in Kabul and wait there for evacuation while simultaneously admitting that “the United States government cannot guarantee your safety as you make this trip” through dangerous Taliban-controlled areas.
administration would not commit to evacuating Americans from the clutches of the Taliban after August 31st – less than two weeks away.

It is unknown how many American citizens and vulnerable Afghan allies remain in Afghanistan. Jen Psaki stated it could be as many as 11,000 Americans and tens of thousands of Afghans; other estimates are much higher.

Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby announced that the US government hopes to begin evacuating American citizens and vulnerable Afghan allies at a rate of 5,000-9,000 per day. However, it is unclear if this ambitious goal is logistically feasible since far less than those numbers have been evacuated thus far.

With Taliban terrorists violently patrolling the streets and Biden’s deadline less than two weeks away, it is almost certain that the White House will fail in its objective to successfully evacuate all American and other vulnerable personnel. As many as tens of thousands of people are poised to fall into the hands of the Taliban forces to be murdered, raped, and/or held as hostages and prisoners.

During his address on August 16th, 2021, Biden declared emphatically:

“We went to Afghanistan… to make sure Al Qaeda could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack us again. We did that… I’m adamant we focus on the [other] threats we face today, in 2021, not yesterday’s threats… Our mission to degrade the terrorist threat of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan… was a success.”

While the Biden administration may want to claim that Al-Qaeda has been fully vanquished in Afghanistan, this statement is a direct contradiction of the reports of his own top military officials. The acting DoD Inspector General Sean W. O’Donnell warned in his report from the quarter of April to June, 2021 as follows:

“The DIA [Defense Intelligence Agency] reported that the Taliban maintains a relationship with Al-Qaeda, providing safe haven for the terrorist group while publicly denying its presence in Afghanistan… U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) Commander General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., said if ‘left unmolested [Al-Qaeda] are certainly going to rebuild, re-strengthen themselves, and we have no reason to doubt they…want to attack us in our homeland.'”

The most important aspect of the twenty-year War in Afghanistan was the permanent elimination of any and all future threats from Al-Qaeda and allied terrorists. Biden is assuring the American people that this objective has been accomplished – while his chief generals are reporting the exact opposite as the cold, grim reality. Biden’s disastrous surrender of Kabul and retreat from Afghanistan is predicted to allow Al-Qaeda the opportunity to rebuild themselves to attack and kill more Americans on the soil of the United States.

But with tens of thousands of Americans stranded helplessly in Afghanistan as the Biden administration fumbles through their evacuation efforts, the terrorist enemies of the US might not have to travel that far to murder exponentially more Americans than the total number that died in the heinous 9-11 attacks of September 11th, 2001. Tens of thousands of Americans are pending prisoners in the Taliban’s own back yard – and Biden cannot guarantee that he won’t abandon them to unspeakable horror in just two weeks time.

Sgt. Ben Kerido is an IDF Paratrooper and Special Forces reservist, former US Department of Defense contractor, defense magazine article contributor, and author of the blog series “Inside Stories of the Israel Defense Force”and “Ramblings of a Reservist” on Lehavdil.com.