Reports are coming out that the CIA listed a quick takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban was a real possibility. That report was allegedly given to the Whitehouse before all of our troops were removed from Afghanistan. NBC says they received their information from past and present employees of the CIA. That’s funny because everyone in the Biden administration says that they were taken by surprise by the quickness of the Taliban takeover.
Biden acknowledges that he received a CIA briefing on July 8th, but that they did not include the information on a quick takeover, but would he even remember it if they did? Of course the language everyone is using could mean something different from what they want you to think it means. It could mean that the CIA did tell them, but they didn’t consider it as plausible.
Biden said:
“That is not true. They did not reach that conclusion.”
“The Afghan government and leadership have to come together. They have the capacity. They have the forces. They have the equipment. The question is: Will they do it?”
But, an official response from the White House did not deny that such a meeting was held or what the briefing is said to have contained. That is quite different than Biden’s contention that it never happened. If that was actually the case, why wouldn’t the White House say so? I’m sure they would have if the reports weren’t true.
CNN reported Tuesday that Biden’s State Department claimed they were acting on an intelligence assessment that predicted that it would take the Taliban longer to seize control but that report is being denied by intelligence sources. I guess they aren’t willing to fall on their sword for Biden.
The finger-pointing became more mystifying when Biden’s National security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday denied he was “familiar” with any “intelligence assessment” that would indicate Afghanistan would fall so quickly.
“I’m not actually familiar with the intelligence assessments you’re describing. But I also don’t want to get into specific intelligence products,” he said. “And one thing I will not do from this podium or anywhere else is talk about what a different component of the inner agency did or didn’t do because from my perspective.”
The different White House stories about the intelligence reports and what those intelligence reports said are unclear, which places the spotlight on Biden to clarify what he knew before the country came crashing down in less than a week.
It is likely the question will only be answered by a congressional investigation. And because the Democrats control Congress, the 2022 midterm elections will play a significant role in the possibility of creating a congressional committee to investigate Biden’s knowledge of what he knew and when.
This could happen because Democrats do not want to be tarred with this brush heading into the 2022 midterm elections.
