U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate | Politico |

U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city's airport, a choice that's prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials.

Asked about POLITICO's reporting during a Thursday news conference, President Joe Biden said he wasn't sure there were such lists, but also didn't deny that sometimes the U.S. hands over names to the Taliban.

"There have been occasions when our military has contacted their military counterparts in the Taliban and said this, for example, this bus is coming through with X number of people on it, made up of the following group of people. We want you to let that bus or that group through," he said. "So, yes there have been occasions like that. To the best of my knowledge, in those cases, the bulk of that has occurred and they have been let through.

"I can't tell you with any certitude that there's actually been a list of names," he added. "There may have been. But I know of no circumstance. It doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, that here's the names of 12 people, they're coming, let them through. It could very well have happened."

A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command declined to comment.

A message for our Afghan sisters & brothers. #AfghanEvac #DigitalDunkirk pic.twitter.com/6Nih9cITha

— Matt Zeller (@mattczeller) August 26, 2021

Left Behind: Portraits of American Allies

'Sapere aude'

Thousands of Afghans at a village and district levels are at risk - they are exposed. I spoke to @BBCBreakfast pic.twitter.com/vArYyXbg04

— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 26, 2021

Left In the Dark: Failures of Accountability for Civilian Casualties Caused by International Operations In Afghanistan | Amnesty International - Nov. 2016 |

SUMMARY

A group of women from an impoverished village were collecting firewood in a mountainous area in Laghman province, in September 2012, when a US plane dropped at least two bombs on them. Seven women and girls were killed and seven more were injured, four of them seriously. Mitalam Bibi, aged 16, survived but was blinded in one eye, as was her cousin, Aqel Bibi, aged 18.

Ghulam Noor, an elderly farmer, lost his 16-year-old daughter Bibi Halimi in the attack. He and other family members of the dead, hearing that international forces claimed that only insurgents had been killed in the bombing, brought the women's bodies to the district capital, Mihtarlam. "We had to show them that it was women who were killed," he told Amnesty International.

Noor wanted the circumstances of his daughter's death to be investigated, but he felt utterly without recourse. "I have no power to ask the international forces why they did this," he said. "I can't bring them to court." Although a group of villagers filed complaints about the killings with the district governor and the provincial governor, such complaints have little value, as international forces in Afghanistan are immune from Afghan legal processes. No one ever contacted Noor or other family members to investigate the circumstances and legality of the attack. None of the family members were informed why the attack took place or what justification it might have had.

Footnote: Under the Rome Statute, the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed on the territory of a state party or by its nationals. Afghanistan acceded to the Rome Statute on 10 February 2003, giving the court jurisdiction over crimes committed beginning on 1 May 2003.

The army chief said that Pakistan has no favourites in Afghanistan and its sole aim is to help achieve a peaceful, sovereign, stable and prosperous Afghanistan. [_link]

— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) August 28, 2021

Saw the title and was interested. Saw the author and felt rage. Wolfowitz, one of several people who should never, ever comment on US national security again. A simple apology is all we want to hear from you. The `Forever War' Hasn't Ended - WSJ [_link]

— Tony Thomas (@TonyT2Thomas) August 28, 2021

Paul Wolfowitz and the reasons for Invading Iraq | UK Parliament | ... 800,000 people died!

Interview with former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, the man widely known -- fairly or not -- as the "Architect of the Iraq War"

... that we have no business getting involved with their internal affairs and in fact that's interference and it's beyond our capacity. And my basic point is that, first of all, it is our business: The internal affairs of other countries has a big impact on American interests. To me, the evidence on that is dramatic, and we have an ability to influence it, more in some places than some others.

'Sapere aude'

"The foot soldiers of the left marched in protest against the Iraq war. But it was noticeable that much of their officer class, in politics, culture, the media and the academy, were seduced by the war drums," writes @ClarkeMicah [_link]

— The Spectator World (@TheSpectator) September 9, 2021

Syria Regime Forces Enter #Daraa under Truce, Says Monitor [_link]

— Asharq Al-Awsat English (@aawsat_eng) September 9, 2021

Syria opposition, regime agree to Russia-brokered ceasefire in Daraa | TRT World |

'Sapere aude'