This Monday, House Intel. Committee Chair Democrat Congressman Adam Schiff (CA) spoke about some bad news reports about the crisis in Afghanistan when he informed journalists that evacuations will possibly go past the Aug. 31 date, during which time the airport will stay hostile.
Speaking to journalists on Capitol Hill after an intel briefing, Schiff stated that it is “very unlikely” evacuations within Afghanistan will be done by August 31 because of an overwhelming amount of Americans and Afghan allies currently stranded inside the region amid a growing hostile security threat.
Schiff soberingly said:
“I think it is possible, but I believe it is very unlikely. Given the amount of Americans who still are waiting to get evacuated, the amount of SIVs, the amount of others within the Afghan press, female leaders. It’s difficult for me to think of everything that can be done between now and the close of this month.”
Schiff did say, however, that he was “encouraged” by the amount of people getting evacuated from the area on a daily basis.
“We have 11,000 people leaving in one day,” he said. “Nonetheless, with the logistical problems of transporting people to the Kabul airport and the lack of workarounds, it is difficult for me to see that being completed by the end of this month.”
This previous weekend, United States officials warned about the ISIS threat in the area had increased after the Taliban takeover. Schiff echoed these concerns:
“I believe the danger to the airport is real and it has been a worry of mine. It would make an attractive target for groups like ISIS.”
“Whenever you get a big gathering like this, it is an opportunity for explosives. It’s a true danger,” he said.
In July, President Joe Biden showed confidence that the withdrawal from Afghanistan would be done in an orderly way and without much difficulty. One month after, however, soon after the Taliban took over, Biden went against himself when he said to ABC that chaos was unavoidable.
Biden’s credibility was damaged even more when a classified State Dept. cable from July said that Sec. of State Antony Blinken was given warnings that Kabul would fall to the Taliban hands by August 31 withdrawal date. In his comment to journalists, Schiff admitted that United States intel. agencies turned “more pessimistic” about the problem over the previous six months:
“The intel. agencies reviews of the Afghan allied government’s ability to hold itself up became increasingly bad in the previous six months. And there were some warnings about the Taliban taking over, and some of those warnings included the possibility of a very fast take over.”
According to CNN’s Ryan Nobles, Schiff was agreeing with Jason Crow, who is an Intel Committee Member and stated, “I do not think at this time that I have see any evidence of an intel. failure.”
“Given the number of Americans who still need to be evacuated, the number of SIVs, the number of others who are members of the Afghan press, civil society leaders women leaders. It's hard for me to imagine all of that can be accomplished between now and the end of the month,”
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 24, 2021
Finally Schiff said that the intel community was very aware that the Taliban had the ability to take over the country.
"the intelligence agencies assessments of the Afghan government's ability to maintain itself became increasingly pessimistic,” he said. (more)— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 24, 2021
Schiff's take was echoed by Intel Committee Member Jason Crow:
"I do not believe at this point, sitting here today, that I have any evidence of a intelligence failure," Crow- a Democrat- told @jeremyherb— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) August 24, 2021
Author: Steven Sinclaire
