Tweet

Ali Rogin

14 Sep, 9 tweets, 3 min read

@MittRomney

Q from @MittRomney: "has the Taliban abandoned their sympathy for al Qaeda, Haqqani network - or has that relationship been severed?"

@SecBlinken: the relationship has not been severed and it’s a very open question as to whether their views and the relationship has changed...

... in any kind of definitive way. I think it’s fair to say two things: one, whatever the Taliban’s views on al Qaeda, they do know that the last time they harbored al-Qaeda and engaged in an outwardly-directed attack on our homeland, certain things followed...

... which i believe they would have an interest in not seeing repeated. (didn't we just declare that we left because we were no longer interested in committing to being able to do those "certain things?")

@SecBlinken

More @SecBlinken: "Whatever [the Taliban's] views on al-Qaeda, there is a strong disincentive to allow it to engage in outwardly-directed attacks which it is the IC’s assessment that they are unable to do right now." (That's the shot.)

@MittRomney

.@MittRomney: You said you inherited a date - but in fact, you didn’t inherit the date… why didn’t you push it much later so we would be able to process the SIV applicants as well as help others? (this is a bit paraphrased, not exact verbatim)

@SecBlinken

.@SecBlinken: The military told us that in order to do its retrograde in a strong and orderly way, it needed 3-4 months. Our expectation was that beyond August 31, beyond a military drawdown, the government, the security forces, were going to remain in control of Kabul.

@SecBlinken

@SecBlinken .@senrobportman: "this was not a choice between a dangerous escalation of war or a precipitous, chaotic withdrawal that embarrassed us around the globe. To say that it was not a sign of weakness, the way we left? I don’t know who you’re talking to."

@senrobportman

.@senrobportman: "There was an alternative: Bagram air base. It was shut down in the middle of the night, without any notice to anybody. It was a surprise... Yes, the Afghan troops were a disappointment but that’s in part because they’re used to Americans...

providing that close air support… But we just left. Like, pulled out all the military underpinnings."

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @AliRogin

Ali Rogin

@AliRogin

13 Sep

@HouseForeign

The @HouseForeign hearing on Afghanistan, featuring @SecBlinken, is getting under way a few minutes late. Blinken joining virtually. I'll be trying to tweet notable moments/statements periodically, in this thread.

@RepGregoryMeeks

.@RepGregoryMeeks says that in the discourse over the Afghanistan withdrawal, "we are seeing domestic politics injected into foreign policy." But then issues a full-throated endorsement of the withdrawal, rather than laying out what issues the hearing seeks to examine.

@RepGregoryMeeks

@RepGregoryMeeks Blinken: "The military placed on standby by President Biden was able to secure the airport and begin evacuation." We've all seen the images of the airport. "Secure" is not one of the first words that come to mind - even if they were able to maintain operational control.

Read 12 tweets

Ali Rogin

@AliRogin

29 Oct 20

@nickschifrin

National Counterintelligence and Security Center director Bill Evanina tells @nickschifrin that recent Russian + Iranian cyberattacks on U.S. critical infrastructure may have only accessed voter information accidentally, but of course, it still has the same end result: discord.

Evanina says his concern is not that foreign actors will be able to manipulate votes. But "the concern we have is a potential ransomware attack where systems are shut down and we're unable to process votes in a timely fashion."

Evanina distances himself from DNI Ratcliffe's statement that Iran's recent misinformation campaigns were designed to hurt President Trump: "I can only comment to the actual effects and impact of last week with respect to what happened with Iran's intentions...

Read 6 tweets

Ali Rogin

@AliRogin

27 Oct 20

New head of the US Agency for Global Media (which heads VOA, RFE/RL and others) removes the editorial protection which one former VOA director calls "the one thing that makes VOA distinct from broadcasters of repressive regimes." npr.org/2020/10/27/928…

@SenatorMenendez

At Pack's confirmation in September '19, @SenatorMenendez specifically asked how he would protect the firewall between VOA journalists and its government board. Pack: "Well, I'm not sure about all the journalistic practices and techniques inside the agency now to do that...

... but I would look at those and try to strengthen them. I guess it comes down to that we need to say no when you get a call from some--a political person telling journalists what to do."

Read 4 tweets

Ali Rogin

@AliRogin

14 Aug 20

THREAD: I wanted to talk/tweet about the use of “fighting” imagery when we talk about cancer, and using the term “beat” to indicate success. It’s a topic I’ve been thinking a lot about because my upcoming book employs it, right in the title: “Beat Breast Cancer Like A Boss.”

@BBCRadio4

Also, I heard an excellent @BBCRadio4 piece that explores this topic in such a nuanced, thoughtful way. If this is something you’re interested in, I highly recommend you listen. bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

The interviewer spoke to several people who said they found such militaristic metaphors unhelpful, for various reasons, including that fighting suggests active participation, when in fact when it comes to cancer, you’re really a passive conduit.

Read 20 tweets

Ali Rogin

@AliRogin

30 Jun 20

During today's briefing, Kayleigh McEnany said that the president only gets briefed on intelligence "when there is a strategic decision to be made," and that he was not briefed "because there was no consensus." Former gov't briefers say that's not the bar for what's in the PDB.

@DavidPriess

Former CIA briefer @DavidPriess: “Many intelligence judgments in history have not had the consensus of every analyst who worked on it." nytimes.com/2020/06/29/us/…

Here's the definition of what's in a PDB on the Intel Community's own homepage: "A daily summary of high-level, all-source information and analysis on national security issues." (Granted, PDBs have evolved over administrations, but even this broad definition would apply here)

Read 6 tweets

Ali Rogin

@AliRogin

11 Mar 20

@omarAlshogre

At #SFRC hearing, @omarAlshogre, who suffered unspeakable horror at the hands of the Assad regime, says he remembers getting more food from prison guards on the day when Caesar's photos were released, shocking the world. "That’s why we have to speak," @omarAlshogre says.

@omarAlshogre

.@omarAlshogre talks about the psychological torture he underwent. One guard would ask him once a day, "how do you want me to kill you? Be creative." Omar adds, "what's awaiting people in #Idlib is the same thing, if we don't help them."

@RaedAlSaleh3

.@RaedAlSaleh3 says his Syria Civil Defense corps (White Helmets) are motivated by the phrase in the Quran, "Whoever saves one life, it is as if they have saved humanity."

Read 5 tweets

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!