BLUF
That mastermind of the Kabul airport attack is now dead, so we are told. Yes more than a little too late for those injured and killed in the attack. But the question must be asked. What else is at play here that we don’t know about? The skepticism is warranted.
A dead terrorist is ALWAYS a good thing. But we do need to be cautious about what else is at play here.
Taliban Kill ISIS Leader Behind Kabul Airport Bombing.
Well, better late than never. It seems the Taliban killed the ISIS leader who was the mastermind of the Kabul airport bombing that killed thirteen U.S. soldiers and wounded scores of others.
The ISIS-K leader who planned the deadly 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul international airport’s Abbey Gate was killed by the Taliban, according to the National Security Council.
The administration didn’t name the ISIS-K leader, but John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, called him “the mastermind of the horrific attack,” which was carried out in the final days of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Kirby did not specify when the Taliban killed the ISIS-K leader, but called it one in a “series of high-profile leadership losses” that ISIS-K has suffered this year.
The terrorist who carried out the suicide bombing, Abdul Rehman Al-Loghri, had been released from prison only days earlier when the Taliban took control of the area. The attack left 13 US service members and more than 170 Afghans dead.
Keep in mind, as Toni noted here in her post, that terrorist who actually detonated the bomb was in our sights. Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews testified before Congress that they KNEW Al-Loghri was a bad guy and our military command sat on their damned hands instead, which led to Sgt. Vargas-Andrews dealing with massive injuries he will be dealing with for the rest of his life. To this day, no one in charge has faced any repercussion for their refusal to act.
Yes, it’s very good that this one very bad terrorist is now deader than a doornail. But it is very much a case of too little too late.
We now have verification of what we knew would happen. The Taliban is making bank off of U.S. largess while terrorists (most of them anyway) get safe haven in the country.
Not only that, but the Taliban is thumbing their nose at us when they hold parades showcasing all the military equipment our military leaders decided to leave behind.
It is of note that while this is being confirmed, do we trust the veracity of the Taliban?
The administration official said it was their “moral responsibility” to let the victims’ families know that the “mastermind” and “person most responsible for the airport attack” had been taken off the battlefield. The official added that intelligence officials determined that the leader had “remained a key plotter and overseer” for the group.
Several officials said the U.S. played no role in the killing and did not coordinate at all with the Taliban. The administration official called the Taliban action “significant” and said the U.S. only learned of the operation through its “over the horizon” intelligence capabilities.
This latest news is of little comfort to the families of the soldiers killed at the Kabul airport on that fateful day.
Staff Sergeant Darin “Taylor” Hoover was badly injured in the attack and later died.
Despite his wounds, he continued helping his fellow Marines, handing them ammunition and encouraging them to fight on. He was 31.
His father, Darin Hoover, who was briefed about the ISIS-K operative’s death Tuesday, said he’s frustrated by how little information the Pentagon and State Department have shared about the attack that day.
“We only get piecemeal stuff from them and it just doesn’t work for me,” he said. “How can you have the next generation coming up to defend this country if this is how they’re treated?”
We are nearly two years out from that attack, and all we know is that our military leaders and the State Department are super proud of how they handled things. That they have no regrets on the disastrous withdrawal, and really guys, there was very little chaos at the airport! Since the Biden Administration is so pleased with how everything went, why not release the ENTIRE report instead of the ‘look at us, we are GREAT! and it was Trump’s fault!‘ summary.
Meanwhile, there is something else to consider here.
That mastermind of the Kabul airport attack is now dead, so we are told. Yes more than a little too late for those injured and killed in the attack. But the question must be asked. What else is at play here that we don’t know about? The skepticism is warranted.
A dead terrorist is ALWAYS a good thing. But we do need to be cautious about what else is at play here.