{"id":71110,"date":"2021-08-20T17:38:35","date_gmt":"2021-08-20T22:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=71110"},"modified":"2021-08-20T17:42:21","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T22:42:21","slug":"71110","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=71110","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This question from Bloomberg&#39;s Justin Sink is better than Zeke&#39;s about how can Biden say a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan going forward won&#39;t pose a serious terrorism threat. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fRVv0iz17l\">pic.twitter.com\/fRVv0iz17l<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CurtisHouck\/status\/1428781774897917952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 20, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Biden dismisses the State Department dissent cable, brushing it off as no big deal: &quot;I have all kinds of cables. All kinds of advice.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QtdHmCpw6F\">pic.twitter.com\/QtdHmCpw6F<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CurtisHouck\/status\/1428782294467325954?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 20, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2021\/08\/20\/remarks-by-president-biden-on-evacuations-in-afghanistan\/\">The specifics of these Q&amp;A as supplied by the White House<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Q\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you, Mr. President.\u00a0 You just said that you would keep a laser-focus on counterterrorism efforts and that you don\u2019t see as great of a threat of terrorism from Afghanistan as other parts of the world.\u00a0 But if you and your administration so badly misassessed how quickly the Taliban would sweep through Afghanistan and we no longer have an embassy there from which to run intelligence operations, how can you at all be confident of your assessment of the risk of terrorism and the ability of the U.S. to conduct over-the-horizon missions to keep it in check?\u00a0 Can you tell Americans that they\u2019re safe and will remain safe from terror attacks in Afghanistan?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:\u00a0 [which for whatever reason didn&#8217;t make it on the tweet]<br \/>\nI think you\u2019re comparing apples and oranges.\u00a0 One question was whether or not the Afghan forces we trained up would stay and fight in their own civil war they had going on.<\/p>\n<p>No one \u2014 I shouldn\u2019t say \u201cno one\u201d \u2014 the consensus was that it was highly unlikely that in 11 days they\u2019d collapse and fall, and the leader of Afghanistan would flee the country.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a very different question than whether or not there is the ability to observe whether or not large groups of terrorists began to accumulate in a particular area in Afghanistan to plot against the United States of America.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we retained an over-the-horizon capability to go in and do something about that if that occurs \u2014 if that occurs.<\/p>\n<p>But in the meantime, we know what\u2019s happening around the world.\u00a0 We know what\u2019s happening in terms of what\u2019s going on in other countries, where there is the significant rise of terrorist organizations in the Middle East, in East Africa, and other places.<\/p>\n<p>And so, the bottom line is: We have to do \u2014 we\u2019re dealing with those terrorist threats from other parts of the world in failed states without permanent military \u2014 without permanent military presence there.\u00a0 We have to do the same in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>Q\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And, sir, just on that initial assessment: We\u2019ve learned, over the last 24 hours, that there was a dissent cable from the State Department \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:\u00a0 Sure.<\/p>\n<p>Q\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2014 saying that the Taliban would come faster through Afghanistan.\u00a0 Can you say why, after that cable was issued, the U.S. didn\u2019t do more to get Americans out?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:\u00a0 We\u2019ve got all kind of cables, all kinds of advice.\u00a0 If you notice, it ranged from this group saying that \u2014 they didn\u2019t say it\u2019d fall when it would fall \u2014 when it did fall \u2014 but saying that it would fall; to others saying it wouldn\u2019t happen for a long time and they\u2019d be able to sustain themselves through the end of the year.<\/p>\n<p>I made the decision.\u00a0 The buck stops with me.\u00a0 I took the consensus opinion.\u00a0 The consensus opinion was that, in fact, it would not occur, if it occurred, until later in the year.\u00a0 So, it was my decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This question from Bloomberg&#39;s Justin Sink is better than Zeke&#39;s about how can Biden say a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan going forward won&#39;t pose a serious terrorism threat. pic.twitter.com\/fRVv0iz17l &mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 20, 2021 Biden dismisses the State Department dissent cable, brushing it off as no big deal: &quot;I have all kinds of cables. 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