memeorandum: From prison to power: Taliban leaders go from jail, to negotiating table, to Kabul (Jerry Dunleavy/Washington Examiner)

8:50 AM ET, August 18, 2021

Top Items:

Biden Broke Our Deal With the Taliban — It's a foreign-policy humiliation unlike anything our country has endured since the Iran hostage crisis. — 'The likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country [of Afghanistan] is highly unlikely," …

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Post, Althouse, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Times of Israel, Politico, Townhall, Talking Points Memo, WEB OF EVIL, New York Times and National Review

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

Biden approval drops to lowest of 7-month presidency after Taliban takeover — President Joe Biden's approval rating dropped by 7 percentage points and hit its lowest level so far as the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed over the weekend in an upheaval that sent thousands of civilians …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The Dispatch, Insider, Power Line, Breitbart, Forbes, Washington Free Beacon, HotAir, The Mahablog, Washington Monthly, New York Post, New York Times, Raw Story and CNN

David Rohde / New Yorker:

Trying—and Failing—to Save the Family of the Afghan Who Saved Me — Twelve years ago, Tahir Luddin helped us both escape after we were kidnapped by the Taliban. Now I am struggling to get his family out of Kabul. — In the middle of March, I texted my friend Tahir Luddin …

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post and HotAir, more at Mediagazer »

The Intercept:

The Taliban Have Seized U.S. Military Biometrics Devices … The Taliban have seized U.S. military biometrics devices that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted coalition forces, current and former military officials have told The Intercept.

Discussion: Task & Purpose and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

Jerry Dunleavy / Washington Examiner:

From prison to power: Taliban leaders go from jail, to negotiating table, to Kabul — Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund returned to Afghanistan after nearly two decades on Tuesday, a reversal of fortune that saw him go from Taliban co-founder to prisoner in Pakistan to negotiator in Qatar to a now-central figure in Kabul.

Discussion: Vox, The Moderate Voice and Axios

New York Times:

Intelligence Warned of Afghan Military Collapse, Despite Biden's Assurances — Even as the president was telling the public that Kabul was unlikely to fall, intelligence assessments painted a grimmer picture. — WASHINGTON — Classified assessments by American spy agencies over the summer painted …

Discussion: HotAir, Daily Mail, New York Post, Politico, Breitbart, HuffPost, Washington Post, National Review, The Colorado Sun, Opinion Today, TheBlaze and Twitchy

Washington Post:

Taliban strikes conciliatory tone, consolidates power as de facto leader returns to country … At a wide-ranging news conference in Kabul on Tuesday, Taliban leaders in Afghanistan offered conciliatory messages, met with skepticism by experts, promising not to discriminate against women …

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Breitbart, Bloomberg, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Common Dreams

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:

Taliban Block Routes to Kabul Airport, Hampering Evacuations From Afghanistan — Residents in eastern city of Jalalabad stage first protest against Taliban rule — Afghans and Westerners stranded in Kabul after Sunday's Taliban takeover started trickling into the city's U.S.-controlled airport …

Discussion: Anadolu Ajansı … and Townhall

New York Times:

The Taliban respond with force to an outpouring of public anger. — Even as the Taliban took their first steps to create a functioning government, they faced the first street protests on Wednesday against their takeover of Afghanistan, with demonstrations in at least two cities.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian and Al Jazeera

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Biden's approval rating drops below 50 — DRIVING THE DAY — SIREN: President JOE BIDEN's average approval rating is below 50% for the first time this year. 538: 49.8% ... RCP: 49.4% — The dip has been driven by a slow erosion among independents that seems tied …

Discussion: Insider, Washington Examiner, The Hill, HuffPost, NPR, American Greatness and Metro.co.uk

CNN:
Biden administration faces daunting odds of pulling off massive Afghanistan evacuation in 2 weeks

Discussion: Mediaite, Breitbart and Ace of Spades HQ

Shelly Kittleson / Politico: In the Taliban's Birthplace, White Flags, Jailbreaks and Fears of Revenge

New York Times:
Body Parts Found in Landing Gear of Flight From Kabul, Officials Say

Discussion: The Drive, Washington Examiner, Media Matters for America, Washington Post, HotAir and TheBlaze

Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Halted Dollar Shipments to Afghanistan to Keep Cash Out of Taliban's Hands

Discussion: Washington Post, Political Wire, Reason, New York Post, Townhall and Quartz

Washington Post:
Withdrawal from Afghanistan forces allies and adversaries to reconsider America's global role

Discussion: Townhall and BizPac Review

Reuters:
Biden's vow to airlift Afghan allies meets ticking clock, risky rescue

Discussion: HotAir, New York Times and The White House

Samuel Chamberlain / New York Post:
Trump calls Afghanistan collapse ‘most humiliating’ moment for US

Discussion: Raw Story, Insider, Bloomberg, Variety, Townhall, National Review, The Daily Caller, The US Sun, Sputnik News and Mediaite

Haley Strack / The Federalist:
Obama Freed The Taliban Leader Who Engineered Kabul Takeover

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Hindustan Times, Summit News, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News and New York Post

Jon Sopel / BBC:
Three ways this Afghanistan crisis really hurts Biden

Discussion: Washington Post, HotAir, HuffPost, POLITICUSUSA and FactCheck.org

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
The Washington Post evacuates Afghan employees and family members from Taliban-held Kabul

Discussion: New York Times, Poynter, The Daily Caller, New York Post, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast and Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Ayaan Hirsi Ali / UnHerd:
Biden's most heartless betrayal

Discussion: Washington Post, Hackwhackers and The Colorado Sun

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
Biden administration freezes billions of dollars in Afghan reserves, depriving Taliban of cash

Discussion: CNN, Reason, Reuters, CNN, Bloomberg, Common Dreams, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Politico, CNN, New York Post, Portland Mercury, Al Jazeera, New York Times, National Review, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Foreign Policy

Dan Bilefsky / New York Times:
A Taliban official's TV interview with a female presenter is part of a broader campaign.

Discussion: CNN, euronews and Insider

Condoleezza Rice / Washington Post:
The Afghan people didn't choose the Taliban. They fought and died alongside us.

Discussion: The Bulwark, The Nation, The Dispatch, Sputnik News, National Review, New York Times and Raw Story

Office of the Texas Governor:

Office Of The Governor Statement Concerning Governor Abbott — Office of the Governor Communications Director Mark Miner today issued a statement after Governor Greg Abbott tested positive for COVID-19: — “Governor Greg Abbott today tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Bloomberg, KXAN-TV, The Wrap, The Hill, Vanity Fair, Breitbart, Insider, Common Dreams, HotAir, The Guardian, Chad Prather for Texas, National Review, UPI, Forbes, Washington Examiner, CNN, TheBlaze, VICE, The Daily Caller, NPR and The Texas Tribune

Patrick Svitek / The Texas Tribune:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for COVID-19 — He spoke Monday night at a GOP event in Collin County, later tweeting photos of him addressing a maskless crowd. Less than three hours before his diagnosis was announced Tuesday afternoon, he tweeted pictures of a meeting with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan.

Discussion: Houston Chronicle, CBS News, Sputnik News, KXAN-TV, Off the Kuff, RedState, Louder With Crowder, TMZ.com, KTLA, The US Sun, Denver Post, Politico, The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, Patterico's Pontifications, Crooks and Liars and The Hill

Tiffany Hsu / New York Times:

Pope Francis Encourages Covid Vaccines in Media Campaign — “Getting the vaccines that are authorized by the respective authorities is an act of love,” the pope says in a video from the Ad Council. — Getting vaccinated against Covid-19 is “an act of love,” Pope Francis says in a public service ad …

Discussion: One America News Network

Washington Post:
Alabama has ‘negative’ ICU beds free as U.S. hospitals struggle with surge of cases

Discussion: WSFA-TV, Breitbart and Mediaite

New York Times:

The School Culture Wars: ‘You Have Brought Division to Us’ — From mask mandates to critical race theory and gender identity, educators are besieged. “You are just trying to keep everything from collapsing,” one official said. — July and August are supposed to be the quietest months of the school year.

Steve Israel / The Hill:

Do not underestimate Kathy Hochul — As summer winds down, the most frequently asked questions in New York are: — A) What happened to the Mets? — B) Mask or no mask? — The first three engender hot debate. The fourth requires an understanding of New York politics to answer.

Rudy Takala / Mediaite:

Twitter Says Taliban Spokesman Will be Allowed to Remain if He Doesn't Get Too Violent — Twitter is refusing to join its peers in the social-media world in prohibiting the Taliban from using its platform. — Asked on Tuesday whether Twitter would join Facebook, TikTok and other tech companies …

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, New York Post, Townhall, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Page Array, The Wrap, Townhall and CNBC, more at Techmeme »

Ron Faucheux / Washington Examiner:

Are the wheels coming off the Biden administration? — When we look back at the first year of Joe Biden's presidency, will August of 2021 stand out as the time the wheels came off? — Despite the Senate passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, a substantial legislative accomplishment …

Discussion: CNBC and Crooks and Liars

NBC4 Washington:

DC Tunnel History Site Flagged Suspicious Activity Before Capitol Insurrection — The founder and administrator of an obscure website about underground infrastructure in Washington, D.C., saw a sudden and suspicious spike in traffic in the days before the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

Kate Murphy / Raleigh News & Observer:

UNC Chapel Hill Journalism School Dean Susan King resigning — The dean of UNC-Chapel Hill's Hussman School of Journalism and Media is stepping down after nearly a decade leading the school. — Susan King announced that this will be her last year as dean in her weekly email newsletter to journalism faculty.

Discussion: The Progressive Pulse

Zach Montellaro / Politico:

‘Center of the maelstrom’: Election officials grapple with 2020's long shadow — DES MOINES, Iowa — The nation's secretaries of state used to be little-known, wonky bureaucrats who operated in near-anonymity. But after the 2020 election, they are now on the frontlines of the battle over trust in American democracy.

Jesús A. Rodríguez / Politico:

What Kamala Harris' Law School Years Reveal About Her Politics — The signs in downtown San Francisco that day, outside of the University of California Hastings College of the Law, might as well have been plucked from today's racial justice protests. “Rise Above Racism,” “Should This Still Be Happening? …

Reuters:

U.S. reports more than 1,000 COVID deaths in single day — The United States reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, equating to around 42 fatalities an hour, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant continues to ravage parts of the country with low vaccination rates.

Discussion: Forbes, Balloon Juice, The Guardian, Washington Examiner and NaturalNews.com

Joshua Fechter / The Texas Tribune:

Texas Supreme Court says House Democrats can be arrested and brought to the Capitol, siding with Republicans trying to secure a quorum — In a bid to block a voting restrictions bill, House Democrats for weeks have denied the lower chamber the number of present members needed to pass legislation.

Discussion: HotAir, Off the Kuff, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Political Wire, CNN and KXAN-TV

Washington Post:

Durham grand jury explores theory someone presented FBI with fabricated evidence in 2016 Russia probe — Special counsel John Durham — the prosecutor examining the origins of the FBI's investigation into a possible conspiracy between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign …

Wall Street Journal:

The Democratic Food-Stamp Boom — The average family of four will get more than they spend on food. — By The Editorial Board — What a telling juxtaposition. Amid the throes of its Afghanistan retreat, the Biden Administration on Monday announced a giant food-stamp expansion.