Headline Roundup • August 18th, 2021
US Intelligence Reportedly Warned of Possible Taliban Takeover
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Multiple outlets reported Tuesday that generals, diplomats and the U.S. intelligence community increasingly warned of a possible Taliban takeover in Afghanistan over the summer, even as President Joe Biden said publicly that such an outcome was unlikely to happen soon. The New York Times cited “current and former American government officials,” The Wall Street Journal cited “several administration and defense officials,” ABC News quoted “numerous U.S. officials,” NBC News quoted “U.S. officials,” The Washington Post quoted a “senior intelligence official,” and the Washington Examiner quoted Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas). On Wednesday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said in a press briefing that “the timeframe of a potential collapse was widely estimated, it ranged from weeks to months, even years following our departure,” and that “there was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days.”
Original reporting on the intelligence community’s findings came mostly from left- and center-rated outlets. Coverage on Wednesday primarily focused on Gen. Milley’s remarks.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Wall Street Journal (News)
In his Monday speech defending America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Biden said he would not shrink from his share of responsibility.
That would include his decision to bring home U.S. troops, which was made against the recommendations of his top military generals and many diplomats, who warned that a hasty withdrawal would undermine security in Afghanistan, several administration and defense officials said.
The president’s top generals, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley, urged Mr. Biden to keep a force of about 2,500 troops, the size...
New York Times (News)
Classified assessments by American spy agencies over the summer painted an increasingly grim picture of the prospect of a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and warned of the rapid collapse of the Afghan military, even as President Biden and his advisers said publicly that was unlikely to happen as quickly, according to current and former American government officials.
By July, many intelligence reports grew more pessimistic, questioning whether any Afghan security forces would muster serious resistance and whether the government could hold on in Kabul, the capital. President Biden said on July 8 that the...
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Washington Examiner
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee pointed to the “rosy picture” the State Department had painted about Afghanistan as opposed to the increasingly “grim” intelligence community assessments in explaining why he believed the Biden administration miscalculated the Taliban takeover so badly.
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas told the Washington Examiner the Biden administration ignored the bleak assessments from the Pentagon and the intelligence community, and he critiqued the U.S. Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who had negotiated the February 2020 deal in Doha, Qatar, with the Taliban...
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