THREAD: From National Security Correspondent @JenGriffinFNC, via a well-placed source who spoke to Afghans at Presidential palace after Kabul fell to Taliban. Her source tells her:
1) “This happened so fast. None of us factored in the moral blow the US withdrawal would have on the Afghan National Army.”
@JenGriffinFNC
2) The fall of the district capitals had a “domino effect.” People started cutting local deals with the Taliban.
“The Taliban had planned this really well. Not a force coming through the country that could be stopped. They were already there” in the provinces.
@JenGriffinFNC
3) “They had financial support coming from Pakistan,” this source said.
@JenGriffinFNC
4) There were divisions in the palace the night that Ghani decided to leave. Some were negotiating with the Taliban in Qatar. They were trying to prevent bloodshed, to negotiate a deal and safe passage to avoid bloodshed in the streets. @JenGriffinFNC
5) The goal was to negotiate a semi inclusive gov't & allow for a peaceful take over.

Then Taliban were in the city and panic began to spread through Kabul.
The US did not help with evacuation of President Ghani.
Decision was made in a matter of minutes to leave. @JenGriffinFNC
6) “There should have been a plan for evacuations. No one expected things to move this fast, even the Taliban.”
“It could have gone a lot worse. No bloodbath in Kabul. Would have been fighting in the streets (if Ghani had stayed.”
@JenGriffinFNC
7) Dr Abdullah Abdullah (opposition leader) and former President Karzai went to Qatar to meet with the Taliban.
Taliban encouraging people to go back to work. They have to run the government.

“Taliban are not ready to govern. Will need help.”
@JenGriffinFNC
8) They will behave well when the cameras are on them. When no one watching they will begin retribution, this source predicted.

Outside the airport, things are eery and calm, according to witnesses. @JenGriffinFNC
9) Mullah Baradar will likely be the Taliban Emir.

Feeling of betrayal amongst Afghans.
The Biden statement in April that the US would withdraw by Sept 11 was a huge morale blow. “We weren’t ready for that,” the source said. @JenGriffinFNC
10) “When they cut the contractors, troops were not fed for days, created a logistical issue for the Afghan Army and morale blow.”
“It wasn’t a responsible withdrawal process.”
“The decisions about Afghanistan were made on the US political cycle every 4 years.” @JenGriffinFNC
11) “Sympathetic for US military leadership and Gen Miller.” Unanimous criticism of US envoy Zalmai Khalilzad by Afghans. “He really sold us out. Didn’t include the Afghans (in talks w/ the Taliban). He tried to be the dealmaker. No one listened to Afghans.”
@JenGriffinFNC
12) “Afghans feel incredibly betrayed. Americans sold us out to the Taliban.” @JenGriffinFNC

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More from @JacquiHeinrich

15 Sep
🚨NEW, THREAD with reporting from me and @JenGriffinFNC : Gen. Austin Miller, former Commander of US forces-Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a classified hearing yesterday he advised against the Afghanistan withdrawal, two sources confirm to me.
According to two members present for the hearing, Gen Miller passed his recommendations through the chain of command -- that the US should keep a level of troops on the ground (2500 was the number at the time) in order to maintain stability given the Taliban threat assessment.
Miller's view was troops should maintain holding pattern – potentially supplemented by add'l forces from allied nations – given the threat. Miller shared no recommendation on how long forces should have stayed, making clear he didn’t know what the end timeline would be.
Read 11 tweets
21 Aug
🚨BREAKING, thread:

The State Department has been hit by a cyber attack, and notifications of a possible serious breach were made by the Department of Defense Cyber Command.
It is unclear when the breach was discovered, but it is believed to have happened a couple weeks ago.

A source familiar tells Fox the State Department’s ongoing mission to evacuate Americans and allied refugees in Afghanistan “have not been affected”.
The extent of the breach, investigation into the suspected entity behind it, efforts taken to mitigate it, and any ongoing risk to operations remains unclear.

A DoS spox tells me:
Read 6 tweets
19 Aug
🚨NEW, thread: my colleague @RichEdsonDC confirms WSJ reporting, that about two dozen State Dept officials in Kabul sent a memo to Blinken, other top officials July 13th, warning of potential Kabul collapse soon after withdrawal deadline, offering recs on mitigation & speedy evac
The confidential cable constitutes the clearest proof the Biden administration had been warned by its officials the Afghan military may not be able to hold off Taliban takeover - casting questions on POTUS claim
President Biden said to ABC in his ONLY q&a since the Taliban took the country, "The intelligence community did not say back in June or July that this is gonna collapse like it did."
Read 6 tweets
19 Aug
New, THREAD from @RichEdsonDC, via 2 sources:

- 6,741 evacuated since Sat. Although John Kirby said he did not have a breakdown, officials say 1792 are American citizens or legal permanent residents.
-There is major crowding at the north and east gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA). As of this morning, the north gate was temporarily shut. The administration is finally acknowledging the problem is getting people to the airport. @RichEdsonDC
-John Bass, the former US ambassador to Afghanistan, is trying to negotiate with the Taliban to facilitate safe passage to the airport. He’s also going to negotiate to get any Americans who may be outside of Kabul to HKIA for flights out of the country. @RichEdsonDC
Read 4 tweets
16 Aug
THREAD: Fox confirms @SpeakerPelosi has circulated White House talking points on Afghanistan. Some highlights:
- “Many have asked why we did not evacuate more Afghan civilians sooner. Part of this answer is that many did not want to leave earlier. Many Afghans to whom we gave visas to come to the US chose to stay in their country, still hopeful"
-"When Trump made the Doha agreement, there were 13,000 US troops in Afghanistan. When POTUS took office, Trump had drawn down troops to 2500. It's clear from the past few weeks that would have been necessary [to send more troops] ."
Read 5 tweets
16 Aug
🚨NEW, thread: Pentagon confirms to me the Department of Defense is preparing to house thousands of Afghan refugees on American military installations, immediately including Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and Fort Bliss in Texas.
Documents obtained from a source show DoD planning to potentially relocate up to 30,000 Afghan SIV applicants into the United States in the immediate future.
“The situation in Afghanistan may lead to DoS [Department of State] allowing Afghan SIV applicants to be moved to temporary housing locations while still being vetted for parolee status,” the document reads.
Read 13 tweets

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