Tweet

More from @NatashaBertrand

Natasha Bertrand

@NatashaBertrand

26 Aug

"We will hunt you down and make you pay," Biden says to perpetrators of the attack and those who wish to do harm to the U.S.

"I've also told my commanders to attack ISIS-K assets and we will respond with precision, at our time, at a place that we choose, and the moment of our choosing. Here's what you need to know. These ISIS terrorists will not win," Biden says.

"I've instructed the military, whatever they need, if they need additional force, I will grant it," Biden says. But he says his officials subscribe to the mission as designed.

Read 4 tweets

Natasha Bertrand

@NatashaBertrand

17 Aug

New: US personnel destroyed passports of some Afghans when they were getting rid of sensitive materials at the US embassy in Kabul in preparation for a full evacuation, according an update that Rep. Andy Kim’s office is sharing with people who request assistance w/evacuations.

Rep. Tom Malinowski said that the US will have to come up with ways to verify the identity of Afghans whose passports were burned. “We are going to have to take people without passports and vet them in other ways, like with their phone numbers for example. 1/

In many cases we know their contact information and their phone numbers and that is how we will have to identify them. Any Afghans braving the trip to the airport will not have wanted to go there with identifying documents, anyway,” Malinowski told CNN.

Read 4 tweets

Natasha Bertrand

@NatashaBertrand

17 Aug

NEW: DoD officials say they urged State for weeks to act faster. State officials say they were operating based on intel that suggested they had more time. Intel officials insist they long predicted possibility of rapid Taliban takeover. Blame game begins: cnn.com/2021/08/17/pol…

Also new: An intel assessment produced within the last month assessed that the Taliban were pursuing a total military victory in Afghanistan, despite ostensibly negotiating for peace in Doha and as the administration continued to express confidence in those talks.

In response to criticisms, a WH official said the NSC held 36 deputy and principal level meetings on Afghanistan between April 13 and last weekend that were focused on over-the-horizon counterterrorism planning, special immigrant visas for Afghans, and embassy security.

Read 5 tweets

Natasha Bertrand

@NatashaBertrand

2 Aug

NEW: Inside the State Department frustration is rising among rank-and-file staffers and diplomats over what multiple officials say has been a tepid response to Havana Syndrome incidents by the department. Blinken has not yet met with any victims. cnn.com/2021/08/02/pol…

Fear of the mysterious illness is impacting diplomats' career decisions, sources say, with some foreign service officers deciding against taking jobs that they worry could make them targets of the unexplained phenomenon that has already sickened hundreds of US officials.

The impact of the health incidents is not isolated to seasoned diplomats. Lindsay Bryda, who worked as an intern at the US consulate in Guangzhou in 2018, told CNN she had the first and only seizure of her life days after her internship there ended in July 2018.

Read 4 tweets

Natasha Bertrand

@NatashaBertrand

9 Jul

New: Friday's UN vote took some US officials by surprise given Russia's longtime opposition to the humanitarian corridor. Officials said it was evidence that the possibility of future US-Russia cooperation is better than was expected. cnn.com/2021/07/09/pol…

Biden administration officials, including on the NSC and at the UN, had been "fighting" with Russia to keep the crossing open for months, according to a US official. The Biden administration felt it was saddled with the "fiasco," as a result of misguided Trump-era policies.

As of earlier this week, there was still little indication of how Russia would vote—Russia skipped negotiations on Tuesday, and US and U.N. officials said this week they were bracing for a rebuke and weighing potential "Plan B's" to get aid into northwestern Syria.

Read 4 tweets

Natasha Bertrand

@NatashaBertrand

16 Jun

POTUS reiterates that there is no substitute for face-to-face meetings, and says he told Putin "my agenda is not against Russia," but "for the American people."

"I told him human rights is always going to be on the table," Biden says. "How could I be president of the United States of America and not speak out against the violation of human rights?"

"I made it clear to President Putin that we will continue to raise issues of fundamental human rights," Biden says. "I raised the case of 2 wrongfully imprisoned American citizens, I also raised the ability of RFE/RL to operate and the importance of free press"

Read 11 tweets

Share this page!

Natasha Bertrand

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

More from @NatashaBertrand

Natasha Bertrand

Natasha Bertrand

Natasha Bertrand

Natasha Bertrand

Natasha Bertrand

Natasha Bertrand

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Like this author's thread?