🚨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."
Per @RichEdsonDC: "The source defends the secretary’s actions saying it “was immediately brought to the Secretary’s attention, and he personally approved the response. We appreciated the thoughts of the drafters, which reflected much of the thinking at the Department...
and throughout the inter-agency. For example, cable coincided with our launch of Operation Allies Refuge, effort to bring to SIV applicants to the US. We have consistently encouraged constructive use of the channel, which this was, and we conveyed that sentiment in our response.”
.@RichEdsonDC adds, "Fox has repeatedly reported that the intelligence regarding the situation in Afghanistan was troubling and deteriorating throughout the summer."
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