Keep your eye on Karen Decker for secretary of state if <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-searches-university-of-delaware-for-biden-docs-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Joe Biden</a> wins a second term. She’s his kind of diplomat.
Decker is the United States’ “charge d’affaires” for Afghanistan, which is the closest thing we have to an ambassador in that God- and U.S.-forsaken country. You remember Afghanistan, the eternally ungovernable land where about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watchdogs-damning-report-on-war-in-afghanistan-details-two-decade-debacle/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2,500 of the brave men and women of our military died,</a> and we spent trillions of dollars over 20 years, only to leave and put the terrorists back in charge.
Decker loves to communicate with Afghans through Twitter because people in a nation with a per capita income of about $500(!) are obviously obsessed with social media. And she really likes to help jumpstart rollicking conversations about history and culture by posing provocative questions that, truth be told, are more Kamala than Kissinger.
“Super Bowl LVII,” she tweeted on February 13. “Two elite quarterbacks who happen to be Black made history in epic showdown. Congrats to Chiefs for thrilling victory! Afghans – what’s the most exciting sports match you remember?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Biden’s ambassador to Afghanistan. <a href="https://t.co/clVvidaoF6">pic.twitter.com/clVvidaoF6</a>
&mdash; Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1626078150424764416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Imagine being an Afghani father contemplating selling your prepubescent daughter to a connected creep five times her age just so you could feed the rest of your family. Somehow, you happen to have a smartphone, and you follow this numbskull on Twitter. You might reply to Decker’s tweet with something like this:
“Great question!” you tweet. “I really miss watching football now that your boss has put the Taliban back in control of our country and they use our stadiums for <a href="https://8am.media/eng/taliban-invites-outlookers-to-farah-football-stadium-to-watch-public-executions/#:~:text=The%20Taliban%20called%20on%20the%20residents%20of%20Afghanistan%E2%80%99s,today%2C%20sources%20in%20Farah%20confirmed%20to%20Hasht-e%20Subh.">mass public executions</a>. Also, thanks for the update on the Super Bowl, as we don’t have a television. Or electricity.”
The U.S. doesn’t currently maintain an embassy in Afghanistan, having moved operations to Qatar after the disastrous August 2021 pullout that led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and the return of the Taliban terrorist regime. Decker, who works out of the Qatari embassy in Doha, is the top-ranked U.S. diplomat assigned to Afghanistan because she apparently drew the shortest straw in the history of the State Department.
A career foreign service officer whose State Department bio says she specializes in “conflict resolution and crisis management,” Decker was only scratching the surface of social media stupidity.
“Are Afghans familiar with #BlackGirlMagic and the movement it inspired?” she tweeted on February 15. “Do Afghan girls need a similar movement? What about Afghan women? Teach me, ready to learn.”
Afghan girls were also “ready to learn” back when the U.S. was around to prop up a feckless and corrupt government. But alas, Karen, under the Taliban government the Biden administration restored to power, girls can’t go to school, and women can’t show their faces outside. Maybe a leftist podcast and some ‘girl power’ bromides are all that’s needed for Afghan women to put these medieval meanies in their place. America could even send a few social justice warriors over to help them make signs and practice chanting slogans. We could send all of them, come to think of it.
Here is Decker’s patronizing attempt to share a little of our own history. Note the glowing homage to perhaps America’s greatest president.
“Abe Lincoln born today in 1809,” she tweeted on February 12. “He did some stuff. It’s also NAACP Day – home of grassroots activism, inclusive communities, and making sure Black voices are heard. What does that look like for Afghans struggling to be heard?”
Decker seems to have wandered into Afghanistan from a writers’ meeting at Disney+, but she is actually no stranger to the war-ravaged nation. She was director for Afghanistan Operations for the Afghan Relocation Effort from 2021-2022, deputy chief of mission of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul from September 2018 to September 2020, and served other stints in the country on behalf of the U.S. going back as far as 2006. You would think she knew better, and perhaps she does.
As ridiculous as Decker’s tweets may seem to you, and to Afghans, if they actually ever saw them, maybe neither is the intended audience. Decker might be spewing this woke claptrap purely for the Biden administration’s personnel department. They’ve undoubtedly got big plans for her come 2024.

Karen Decker

Our Top Afghanistan Diplomat Is Just Joe Biden’s Type Of Tone-Deaf Twit

Our Top Afghanistan Diplomat Is Just Joe Biden's Type Of Tone-Deaf Twit

Afghanistan

Biden Administration

Global Politics

Politics

State Department

Taliban

Once again, this author is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-satanic-temple-opens-telehealth-abortion-clinic-to-defend-its-religious-ritual-of-killing-unborn-babies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced to clarify</a> to The Daily Wire audience that they are not reading The Babylon Bee.
On Wednesday, the United States Chargé d’Affaires Karen B. Decker posed what might be the greatest question of our time, and the response to it could hold the answer to peace in the Middle East.
&#8220;Are Afghans familiar with #BlackGirlMagic and the movement it inspired?&#8221; the woman who &#8220;<a href="https://af.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/our-ambassador/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">specializes in conflict resolution and crisis management</a>&#8221; in Afghanistan on behalf of the State Department tweeted. &#8220;Do Afghan girls need a similar movement? What about Afghan Women? Teach me, ready to learn. @Beyonce @lizzo @ReginaKing.&#8221;
The obvious answer is that, no, Afghans are not familiar with &#8220;#BlackGirlMagic.&#8221; Most people probably are not. A cursory glance shows that the hashtag was popularized in 2016 as part of a global effort to promote positivity amongst black females.
&#8220;We&#8217;re using it to celebrate ourselves because historically black women haven&#8217;t had the type of support that other groups have,&#8221; Cashawn Thompson, a caregiver from Washington, D.C., <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35263240" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told the BBC</a> at the time. &#8220;Black Girl Magic tries to counteract the negativity that we sometimes hold within ourselves and is sometimes placed on us by the outside world.&#8221;
The phrase has since been shared hundreds of thousands of times across social media.
On Wednesday, when this author clicked on the hashtag for more detail, the top result was a video of a curvaceous black woman bending on all fours on the ground, posing in suggestive manners while looking at the camera. The user who shared that tweet observed, &#8220;The hips spread out when she takes backshots #BlackGirlMagic.&#8221; 
Admittedly, this author has no idea what that means, but it isn&#8217;t tough to guess that it is about something pornographic. In the words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, &#8220;You know it when you see it.&#8221; Needless to say, that post in question will not be shared.
It is probably safe to assume that is not what Decker envisioned in Afghanistan. Instead, it seems likely that she is inquiring about how to start a new hashtag movement to support the women facing ultimate oppression under Islamic Extremist totalitarians.
In reaction to Decker&#8217;s idea, the conservative writer and editor Christoper Bedford bluntly observed, &#8220;We are not a serious country.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We are not a serious country. <a href="https://t.co/MbOEFS6Bdc">https://t.co/MbOEFS6Bdc</a>
&mdash; Christopher Bedford (@CBedfordDC) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBedfordDC/status/1625908088288030720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Popular Twitter user @ComfortablySmug tweeted, &#8220;We are ruled by administrative class paper pushers like this, who think every problem can be solved by listening to a Beyonce song.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We are ruled by administrative class paper pushers like this, who think every problem can be solved by listening to a Beyonce song
Is it a mystery why the Taliban took Afghanistan in a week?
Or why China sends balloons over America?
Because their opponent is literally a Karen <a href="https://t.co/ZfNG5cWqux">pic.twitter.com/ZfNG5cWqux</a>
&mdash; Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) <a href="https://twitter.com/ComfortablySmug/status/1625913850498277376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Is it a mystery why the Taliban took Afghanistan in a week? Or why China sends balloons over America? Because their opponent is literally a Karen,&#8221; he added.
Indeed, since the Taliban took over the country in less than three days after Biden botched U.S. troop withdrawal, women have faced a living hell.
In early January, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-struggles-to-respond-to-taliban-crackdown-on-women-dissent-in-afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the terror group has enacted a series of strict laws, especially restricting women&#8217;s freedom. In December, Taliban leaders banned women from attending universities in the country. Women are also under other strict regulations, such as a rule banning them from traveling outside their homes without a male guardian.
At the time, State Department spokesman Ned Price told the media, “We are working with our partners throughout the government and also with like-minded partners around the world to devise an appropriate set of consequences that register our condemnation for this outrageous edict on the part of the Taliban, while also protecting our status as the world’s leading humanitarian provider for the people of Afghanistan.&#8221;
It now seems the big solution might be a hashtag. What doesn&#8217;t really make sense is calling on Lizzo for this job. The larger-than-life singer has claimed she is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-did-lizzo-go-from-being-oppressed-to-playing-james-madisons-flute-while-twerking" target="_blank" rel="noopener">oppressed</a> in America as a female. So what would her message be to women who actually have no freedoms?
One should hope we never find out and that the U.S. government creates a better solution than #BlackGirlMagic for the situation at hand.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US Gov/Taliban/Lizzo

U.S. Official Calls On Lizzo To Help Teach ‘#BlackGirlMagic’ To Afghan Women Subjugated By The Taliban

U.S. Official Calls On Lizzo To Help Teach '#BlackGirlMagic' To Afghan Women Subjugated By The Taliban

World

A suicide bomber targeted police at a crowded mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, killing at least 47 people and injuring more than 150 others.
Most of the people who died were police officers, The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-peshawar-mosque-bombing-e632e0afcf948bc0502f5dfbd19359c1">reported</a>, in what is the latest attack against law enforcement in the city by Islamist militants. Hospital officials <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/blast-mosque-pakistans-peshawar-70-injured-2023-01-30/">told</a> Reuters that many of the wounded were in critical condition.
A Pakistani Taliban commander, Sarbakaf Mohmand, reportedly took responsibility for the attack on Twitter, the AP reported. His group, officially known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), comprises Sunni and sectarian Islamist groups dedicated to overthrowing the Pakistani government and imposing Islamic rule, Reuters reported. The group is separate from the Afghan Taliban but remains a close ally of the terrorist group that seized power in Afghanistan following the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from the region.
Mohmand said the attack was revenge for the killing of Abdul Wali, also known as Omar Khalid Khurasani, who was killed in Afghanistan in August 2022, the AP reported.
The attack occurred during noon prayers and was strong enough to cause a wall to collapse on top of people who were worshiping. It is unclear how the bomber was able to get into the building, which is located inside a fortified compound that includes the Sunni mosque as well as the headquarters for the provincial police force and a counter-terrorism department, Reuters reported.
&#8220;We&#8217;re getting that the terrorist was standing in the first row,&#8221; Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said, according to the outlet.
More than 300 worshipers were inside the mosque for noon prayers, with even more coming in, when the bomber detonated his explosives vest, the AP reported. Police told the outlet that rescuers worked quickly to remove debris to reach worshippers trapped under the rubble.
The latest attack was the city&#8217;s deadliest since March 2022, when Islamic State militants committed a suicide bombing at a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Peshawar during a prayer service, killing at least 58 people and injuring nearly 200, Reuters reported.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif vowed “stern action” against the group behind the attack and traveled to Peshawar to visit those injured. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan also spoke out against what he referred to as a “terrorist suicide attack” on Twitter, the AP reported.
“My prayers &amp; condolences go to victims (sic) families,” Khan wrote. “It is imperative we improve our intelligence gathering &amp; properly equip our police forces to combat the growing threat of terrorism.”
Khan lost power last April when he received a no-confidence vote in parliament, leading to Sharif taking control of the government.

PAKISTAN-UNREST-BLAST

Suicide Bomber Targeting Police Kills 47, Injures More Than 150 During Prayer Service

Mosques

Pakistan

Terrorism

Twitter appeared to take away verified check marks from Taliban accounts that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/twitter-blue-verified-taliban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">purchased</a> them.
In the past, Twitter only provided the “verified” marks to groups that were “active, notable and authentic accounts of public interest,” according to The Guardian. However, Elon Musk’s new plan has been to allow people to pay money for the check marks. The Twitter Blue verification system, outlined in December, costs $8 each month, with a greater price of $11 charged to people who use the social media app on Apple electronic devices. 
It is a way to “get priority ranking in search, mentions, and replies to help lower the visibility of scams, spam and bots,” according to <a href="https://twitter.com/TwitterBlue/status/1602426811656413189?s=20&amp;t=kpMNq63QYJVRG96AAyK-9g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>.
Twitter also <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/about-twitter-verified-accounts#:~:text=A%20blue%20checkmark%20may%20mean,%2C%20notable%2C%20and%20authentic)." target="_blank" rel="noopener">clarifies</a> that a blue check could mean that &#8220;the account has an active subscription to the new Twitter Blue subscription service and has met our eligibility criteria,&#8221; or &#8220;the account was previously verified under the legacy verification criteria.&#8221;
The system was re-<a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/17/twitter-removes-blue-checks-bought-by-taliban-officials/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=NYPTwitter&amp;utm_medium=SocialFlow" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> in December, but the first introduction had been unsuccessful after people tried to pose as organizations or political figures. Musk then paused the verification plan in order to make sure that such issues wouldn’t come up again in the future. 
As of Monday, the accounts for the leader of the Taliban’s department for “access to information,” Hedayatullah Hedayat, and its top media watchdog at the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture, Abdul Haq Hammad, each had blue marks. Four other major backers of the terrorist group also were utilizing the verification markers. Last month, Hammad&#8217;s blue check mark was taken off, local media reportedly noted, but it was back. 
The BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64294613" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on the fact that the Taliban members were utilizing the method of buying the verification. The terrorist group also took control of verified Twitter accounts that had been used by the prior administration. 
After the report came out, it appeared as if Twitter stopped the blue check subscriptions for the members of the Taliban. On Tuesday, Hedayat’s and Hammad’s Twitter accounts didn’t have the blue check marks anymore. It wasn&#8217;t entirely obvious what had caused the blue check marks to no longer be on the accounts.
Musk has taken to keeping some users off the platform, while allowing others to come back on after he took over control of the company. The Babylon Bee was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2022/03/21/the-babylon-bees-twitter-account-was-suspended-but-that-made-its-story-go-viral/?sh=6b0c0c06209d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kicked</a> off of the platform for making the joke that its “Man Of The Year” award was going to Rachel Levine, a biological male who is the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
At the time, Twitter said in a statement regarding The Babylon Bee, &#8220;The account you referenced has been temporarily locked for violating our hateful conduct policy. The account owner is required to delete the violative Tweet before regaining access to their account.&#8221;
The Bablyon Bee was put back on Twitter after Musk took over.

A1399CA9-736C-4FDF-AB32-FDC582AF5568_1_201_a

Twitter Appears To Remove Blue Check Marks From Taliban Authorities

Elon Musk

Social Media

Twitter

U.S.

The following book excerpt is taken from “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Aziz-Mission-Calling-Thousands/dp/1400238137/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1673890231&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saving Aziz</a>&#8221; by Chad Robichaux with David L. Thomas, (Thomas Nelson, January 2023).
<h2>Bashir’s Return </h2>
With the Taliban’s takeover imminent, my concern for Aziz’s life, on a 1–10 scale, climbed to 9.
If he had been alone, I would not have worried as much because Aziz could find a way to evade the Taliban and get to a safe location. But he had his wife and six kids with him. And when Aziz and I communicated, his usual steady tone was missing. He was scared for his family.
The velocity behind the Taliban’s momentum forced us to repeatedly adjust our plan of going into Afghanistan with the media story cover. We found a potential work-around for obtaining a business visa for Aziz as his reason for wanting to live in the UAE. To provide legitimacy for the business visa, Aziz needed a stand-up company in Dubai. The project’s cost kept rising. But each time the dollar amount increased, someone compelled by Aziz’s story stepped forward to offer a donation, including Dave Barton and Rick Green from WallBuilders. Another friend kicked in $100,000, giving us a $185,000 budget for saving Aziz’s family.
The media attention on Afghanistan forced the Taliban to try to control its mob, if you will. The Taliban had become more PR savvy, and they knew all they needed to do was run out the clock and the country would be theirs. They could claim that the execution of those twenty-two commandos in Dawlat Abad was part of war. But killing innocent civilians was not, and if reports and videos of the Taliban killing women and children got out, that was perhaps the only thing that might cause the United States to delay its withdrawal.
But controlling barbarians is no easy task.
Atrocities were being handled discreetly by Taliban standards. But the Taliban was known to be systematically seeking out interpreters and other allies for interrogation. Some were killed. Aziz told me that one interpreter had pleaded for help getting out of the country because the Taliban had threatened his life. He was out driving with his young son one day and came upon a Taliban checkpoint. Knowing his fate if he stopped, he sped through the checkpoint. The Taliban shot up his car to stop him. Then they pulled him out of his car and, with his son watching, cut off his head.
Aziz’s greatest fear was that the Taliban would take his wife and kids and force Aziz to watch as they raped his daughters. Only then would they kill Aziz.
Aziz had achieved a high profile around Kabul. We paid interpreters well, and his business smarts had allowed the companies he ran after I left to be profitable. His natural leadership made him a respected figure in his community, so he was easy to find.
Plus, Bashir, the person responsible for the execution of my ten Afghan teammates and the bombing of my house, had been freed. He had become a Taliban leader and now targeted Aziz.
During the Obama administration, prisoners of war were usually released to Afghanistan, and Bashir transferred from the Bagram Air Base prison to the Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul. He served five years there. As Aziz tells the story — and his anger is still evident when he tells it — when Bashir was released, some Americans gave him money and shipped him to Saudi Arabia.
Aziz balked.
“You guys could have killed him,” Aziz said.
“We don’t kill people like that. That’s not in our rules,” came the reply. 
“But he’s one of the bad guys,” Aziz countered. “He told everything about our operations to the Taliban.”
Aziz was assured that Bashir was sent out of the country so he couldn’t reveal more information.
As the Taliban started capturing provinces, Aziz received an alert from a friend who recognized Bashir among the Taliban. Bashir was now a Taliban commander. Aziz knew Bashir would seek revenge for Aziz’s role in his spending six years in prison.
“They are headed to Kabul,” Aziz’s friend warned. “You need to change your location.”
Aziz contacted me to tell me about Bashir and said he and his family were on the move, staying in a different house every night. They lived out of their backpacks, and I spoke to him daily to keep posted on their status and movements.
As good of a plan as our media cover was, it was no longer feasible. Aziz’s family didn’t have that much time.
Securing SIVs for Aziz’s family remained Plan A, but I held out no hope for those chances. We didn’t need a Plan B — we needed a second Plan A. And that plan was to go save Aziz and his family.
<a href="http://savingaziz.org"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-489423 size-medium" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/9781400238132.cover_.001-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/9781400238132.cover_.001-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/9781400238132.cover_.001-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/9781400238132.cover_.001-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/9781400238132.cover_.001-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/9781400238132.cover_.001-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/9781400238132.cover_.001-1360x2040.jpg 1360w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/01/9781400238132.cover_.001-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /></a> 

Chad Robichaux is a former Force Recon Marine and Department of Defense contractor with eight deployments to Afghanistan as part of a Special Operations Task Force. After overcoming his own personal battles with PTSD, Chad founded the Mighty Oaks Foundation, a leading nonprofit that has served veterans through their faith-based, combat resiliency programs. His new book is &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Aziz-Mission-Calling-Thousands/dp/1400238137/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1673890231&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saving Aziz</a>: How the Mission to Help One Became a Calling to Rescue Thousands from the Taliban.&#8221;
Adapted by permission from Thomas Nelson. ©2023 by Chad Robichaux. Published by Nelson Books. Coming January, 2023 <a href="http://savingaziz.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wherever books are sold</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-AFGHANISTAN-CONFLICT

How One Marine Risked His Life To Save His Afghan Interpreter From The Taliban

Books

Marines

Military

Readers Pass

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> is reportedly debating on how harsh its response should be to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taliban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taliban’s</a> recent acts against women and protesters in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Afghanistan</a>.
U.S. officials worry that too harsh a response could alienate Taliban leaders, with whom the U.S. is trying to cooperate on counterterrorism efforts, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/05/biden-taliban-anti-woman-policies-00076639?nname=playbook&amp;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nrid=0000015e-f320-d26d-a7fe-fbf341270000&amp;nlid=630318" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Politico</a>.
“We knew this was coming but dreaded it and couldn’t stop it,” one administration official told Politico.
The reported divide is best visible in the tension between Tom West, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, and Rina Amiri, U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights. The two agree that there should be repercussions for the Taliban, though the two disagree on the degree that U.S. interests in working with the Taliban should factor into the U.S. response.
“It’s generally true that Tom wants to find some way to keep working with the Taliban. I think he thinks that’s his mandate from the president,” an official said. “Rina has a more human rights-principled approach — do what we should do and let the chips fall where they may.”
The White House downplayed the existence of divisions among the staff over the administration’s response to the Taliban. State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday told reporters that the U.S. is working with “partners” to come up with an appropriate response.
“We are working with our partners throughout the government and also with like-minded partners around the world to devise an appropriate set of consequences that register our condemnation for this outrageous edict on the part of the Taliban, while also protecting our status as the world’s leading humanitarian provider for the people of Afghanistan,” Price said.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the terror group has enacted a series of strict laws, especially restricting the freedom of women. In December, Taliban leaders <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64045497" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banned</a> women from attending universities in the country. Women are also under other strict regulations, such as a rule banning them from traveling outside their homes without a male guardian.
Protests over the strict Taliban rule are typically broken up.
The terror group has faced international condemnation over its rule. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned the Taliban that the more it presses in its strict rule, the further isolated Afghanistan will become from the world.
The U.S. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unbelievable-biometric-device-with-identities-of-u-s-servicemen-afghan-allies-sold-on-ebay-for-68-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrew</a> its last troops from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, ending a 20-year occupation of the country. The withdrawal was chaotic, bloody, and marred the reputation of the U.S. military and intelligence apparatus. Hundreds of Americans, thousands of the U.S. military’s Afghan allies, and millions of dollars worth of U.S. military equipment were left behind.
The U.S. also lost 13 servicemen in a terror attack on Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, the final headquarters of the U.S. withdrawal as the Taliban blitzed and conquered the country behind the departing Americans. In an attempted counterstrike against a suspected terrorist, the U.S. mistakenly bombed an Afghan aid worker, killing 10 civilians, including seven children.

Taliban protest

Biden Admin Struggles To Respond To Taliban Crackdown On Women, Dissent In Afghanistan

Executive

Foreign Policy

Joe Biden

Washington D.C.

White House

Alleged sex trafficker and online media personality Andrew Tate has an unsavory group of friends concerned about him&#8211; the Taliban.
The radical Islamic militant group currently in charge of Afghanistan are reportedly &#8220;worried&#8221; about Tate, after he was arrested in Romania on charges of human trafficking last week. The Taliban reportedly made the comments in a Twitter Spaces chat on New Year&#8217;s Eve with &#8220;anti-woke&#8221; journalist and former Miss New Jersey, Sameera Khan.
&#8220;We are hosting a Twitter space with the Afghan Taliban to discuss the detainment of Andrew Tate,&#8221; Khan wrote on Twitter. &#8220;They are worried about Andrew Tate and they are asking us if he’s free yet. They say westerners need Andrew Tate because we are oppressed by feminists.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We are hosting a Twitter space with the Afghan Taliban to discuss the detainment of Andrew Tate.
They are worried about Andrew Tate and they are asking us if he’s free yet.
They say westerners need Andrew Tate because we are oppressed by feminists.
&mdash; Sameera Khan (@SameeraKhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/SameeraKhan/status/1609079456991150087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2022</a></blockquote>
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According to a tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/SameeraKhan/status/1609058238602919936?s=20&amp;t=GMOQsvdEFS6_BiNRuxFH5Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promoting the Twitter Space</a>, it was hosted by Khan. Speakers in the space included a number of American freelance journalists, Afghan journalist Omar Baryal, and a number of Afghan accounts with handles in Pashto, an official language of Afghanistan. The Space was entitled &#8220;Andrew Tate w/ Taliban,&#8221; with Tate&#8217;s name surrounded by heart emojis.
Tate, a recent convert to Islam, and the Taliban seem to have a mutual admiration for each other. In an interview on &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QcZSVu3CCY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Piers Morgan Uncensored</a>&#8221; in December, Tate praised the Taliban for supposedly bringing law and order to Afghanistan. &#8220;It&#8217;s very difficult to sit and make black and white assumptions about anything, to sit and say that the Taliban are completely and utterly evil and we&#8217;re completely and utterly good,&#8221; said Tate. &#8220;I believe that the Taliban bring Law and Order. It may not be the Law and Order we like, but it&#8217;s a form of Law and Order, and humans usually gravitate [to it].&#8221;
A few days later, Tate met with <a href="https://twitter.com/Cobratate/status/1606323233535451136?s=20&amp;t=hTQGdLmvIpLGSGHSbggJsA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miles Routledge</a>, the British &#8220;danger tourist&#8221; who visited Afghanistan during the Taliban&#8217;s initial takeover of the country. Routledge told him that the Taliban found his videos on social media and promote him as an example of a virtuous Western Muslim promoting traditional values.
&#8220;So I usually go to them and ask&#8230; &#8216;who are some famous people you know?&#8217; And you know who they say? They say Andrew f***ing Tate,&#8221; Routledge said. &#8220;And these mountain Taliban, who have been in the mountains for like 20 years, fighting, they haven&#8217;t seen a laptop in their lives, now they&#8217;ve got TikTok&#8230; they see you, and they&#8217;re idolizing you. They literally just promote you.&#8221;
Romanian authorities reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/andrew-tate-detained-in-romania-in-human-trafficking-investigation-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detained Tate</a> and his brother Tristan on Thursday on charges of abducting two women.
Local media reported that sources close to the investigation said the former policewoman allegedly formed a criminal group. Romanian prosecutors said the group explicitly aims to recruit and exploit girls to create and distribute pornographic clips on sites like OnlyFans.
The raid was conducted by the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT ), according to Romanian media outlet G4Media.
According to Daily Mail, DIICOT said in a news release that Romania’s police, crime, and investigation unit had raided five homes with search warrants issued in connection to an ongoing investigation into an organized criminal group, human trafficking, and rape.
The alleged victims were “recruited by two British citizens” who were later transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county, police said.
Authorities did not name the suspects.
The women were then allegedly subjected to “physical violence and mental coercion’ and were ‘sexually exploited by group members by forcing them to perform pornographic demonstrations […] for the purpose of producing and disseminating through social media platforms,” Daily Mail reported.
Authorities reportedly detained the two brothers for 24 hours.
Brandon Drey contributed to this report.

Andrew Tate

Andrew Tate’s Friends, The Taliban, Are ‘Worried’ About Him After His Arrest

Andrew Tate's Friends, The Taliban, Are 'Worried' About Him After His Arrest

Sex Trafficking

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-military" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. military</a> device used to record and store information on military personnel, Afghanis who worked with the U.S. military, terrorists, and others reportedly turned up on an online auction platform and was sold for $68.
The purchaser is German security researcher Matthias Marx. Marx and his team purchased the device, known as a Secure Electronic Enrollment Kit, or SEEK II, from eBay in August, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/27/technology/for-sale-on-ebay-a-military-database-of-fingerprints-and-iris-scans.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>.
The researchers had read reports of biometric devices falling into the hands of the Taliban after the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan last year. The researchers wanted to study the machines to assess what amount of risk thousands of Afghanis who worked with the U.S. military during its 20-year occupation may face.
In addition to the SEEK II, Marx and his team purchased five other biometric devices from eBay. On one other, they said they found sensitive, identifying information of U.S. servicemen. That device was last used in Jordan in 2013.
“The irresponsible handling of this high-risk technology is unbelievable,” Marx told Times. “It is incomprehensible to us that the manufacturer and former military users do not care that used devices with sensitive data are being hawked online.”
Marx allowed the Times to review the information found stored on the SEEK II. It contained unencrypted, identifying information, including retinal scans and fingerprints, of about 2,632 people. The device was last used in Afghanistan a decade ago, according to the Times.
“It was disturbing that they didn’t even try to protect the data,” Marx said. “They didn’t care about the risk, or they ignored the risk.”
The U.S. military could not verify the information reported to be contained on the biometric scanner.
“Because we have not reviewed the information contained on the devices, the department is not able to confirm the authenticity of the alleged data or otherwise comment on it,” Defense Department press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said in a statement. “The department requests that any devices thought to contain personally identifiable information be returned for further analysis.”
The U.S. withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, ending a 20-year occupation of the country. The withdrawal was chaotic, bloody, and marred the reputation of the U.S. military and intelligence apparatus. Hundreds of Americans, thousands of the U.S. military’s Afghan allies, and millions of dollars-worth of U.S. military equipment was left behind.
The U.S. also lost 13 servicemen in a terror attack on Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, the final headquarters of the U.S. withdrawal as the Taliban blitzed and conquered the country behind the departing Americans. In an attempted counterstrike against a suspected terrorist, the U.S. mistakenly bombed an Afghan aid worker, killing 10 civilians, including seven children.
“This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to forces at the airport,” Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/17/tragic-mistake-us-drone-strike-512586" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> afterward. “Our investigation now concludes that the strike was a tragic mistake.”
Some of the equipment left behind in Afghanistan was reported to be biometric scanners and devices that contained sensitive information on U.S. soldiers and Afghan allies. The devices could allow the Taliban to easily track and identify potentially thousands of Afghanis who provided assistance to the U.S. military and who were left behind in the withdrawal.
“We processed thousands of locals a day, had to ID, sweep for suicide vests, weapons, intel gathering, etc.” a U.S. military contractor told <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/08/17/afghanistan-taliban-military-biometrics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Intercept</a> in August 2021. Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, or HIIDE, “was used as a biometric ID tool to help ID locals working for the coalition.”

Hamid Karzai International Airport

‘Unbelievable’: Biometric Device With Identities Of U.S. Servicemen, Afghan Allies Sold On eBay For $68, Report Says

U.S. Military

The Taliban banned all women from universities in Afghanistan, the county&#8217;s Education Ministry said Tuesday.
A letter, shared on Twitter by a spokesman for the ministry, made the announcement after a meeting of the Taliban government, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-international/ap-taliban-bans-women-from-universities-in-afghanistan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Associated Press</a>.
&#8220;You are all informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females under further notice,&#8221; said the letter to government and private universities, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/afghanistan-taliban-closes-universities-for-women/a-64170146" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per DW News</a>.
The Taliban already effectively <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/17/taliban-ban-girls-from-secondary-education-in-afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banned girls from secondary education</a> once the group retook control of Afghanistan last year following the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-report-reveals-biden-failures-that-led-to-botched-afghanistan-withdrawal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withdrawal</a> of U.S. military forces from the country.
Despite this crackdown in classrooms, Afghan girls <a href="https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-religion-education-graduation-de4ef0913bed3034919f98a1cdf5e5b1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were able</a> to take high school graduation exams earlier this month, the Associated Press reported.
The move on Tuesday further realizes the fears of those who warned about the collapse of women&#8217;s rights when the U.S. military left Afghanistan in late August 2021 after nearly 20 years of conflict.
&#8220;So after almost 17 months of banning teenage girls from school. The Taliban decide to BAN women from universities too. Afghanistan is the ONLY country in the world that bans women and girls from going to school &amp; university. This is a crime against humanity &amp; it must not stand,&#8221; tweeted Shabnam Nasimi, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/20/refugee-tory-rwanda-plan-afghan-family" target="_blank" rel="noopener">former adviser</a> to the minister for Afghan resettlement and minister for refugees.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
So after almost 17 months of banning teenage girls from school. The Taliban decide to BAN women from universities too.
Afghanistan is the ONLY country in the world that bans women and girls from going to school &amp; university.
This is a crime against humanity &amp; it must not stand. <a href="https://t.co/igK1wpg2n0">pic.twitter.com/igK1wpg2n0</a>
&mdash; Shabnam Nasimi (@NasimiShabnam) <a href="https://twitter.com/NasimiShabnam/status/1605265587738910727?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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A bipartisan group of U.S. senators raised concerns in March after the Taliban <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/23/1088202759/taliban-afghanistan-girls-school" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reneged on a pledge</a> to allow Afghan girls back to school for sixth grade and above.
“The Taliban’s decision to continue to deny girls access to secondary education confirms what we warned was a goal of the Taliban’s all along: the unraveling of education and other hard-won rights for Afghan women and girls,” <a href="https://www.shaheen.senate.gov/news/press/shaheen-collins-murkowski-ernst-feinstein-hirono-slam-talibans-refusal-to-open-secondary-education-to-afghan-girls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said a statement</a> from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), and others. “Banning girls from going to school beyond Grade 6 is part of the Taliban’s broader assault on women’s education, rights and freedoms in Afghanistan – all of which come amid a devastating humanitarian crisis that’s hitting women and children the hardest.&#8221;
Nearly one year ago, the State Department announced the appointment of two officials to lead an effort seeking to improve conditions for Afghan girls and women. At the time, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/blinken-appoint-2-veteran-officials-effort-help-afghan-girls-women-n1286727" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News reported</a> that international relief agencies were pressuring the Biden administration to give in to Taliban demands to unfreeze more than $9 billion in assets controlled by the United States.
President Joe Biden signed an order in February that would split $7 billion in assets for humanitarian aid for Afghanistan as well as a fund for victims of the 9-11 attacks. The order “is designed to provide a path for the funds to reach the people of Afghanistan, while keeping them out of the hands of the Taliban and malicious actors,” the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-united-states-terrorism-b2743737c3286dbba95a7663615e37be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White House said at the time</a>.

Afghan women university

Taliban Closes Afghan Universities To Women

Education

Women

Have America&#8217;s enemies ever had a better friend than <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President Joe Biden</a>?
The Chinese Communist Party, the drug cartels of Mexico, the Taliban, and a villain nicknamed the &#8220;Merchant of Death&#8221; — among others — have all received handouts, half-hearted condemnations, and diplomatic hugs from the Biden gang.
Most recently, it would appear that the United States was manhandled by Russia into releasing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wnba-star-brittney-griner-freed-from-russian-prison-in-swap-for-arms-dealer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Viktor Bout</a> — an arms dealer accused of selling weapons to Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other nefarious groups all over the world. In exchange, the U.S. received WNBA star Britney Griner – an apparent pothead who detests America&#8217;s national anthem — who was arrested in Russia last February.
U.S. Marine Paul Whelan remains in captivity. Why did Griner get released? It seems that was all Ol&#8217; Vladdy Putin offered, but the White House press secretary was sure to mention that Griner&#8217;s release was important because she is a &#8220;role model and inspiration to millions of Americans, particularly the LGBTQI+ Americans and women of color.&#8221;
Much ink has been spilled over the lopsided trade, but Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-democrat-senator-blasts-biden-over-releasing-terrorist-for-griner-deeply-disturbing-decision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">perhaps put it best</a> by describing it as a &#8220;deeply disturbing decision&#8221; and an invitation for &#8220;dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans overseas as bargaining chips.&#8221;
Now there&#8217;s a concern from some in the Defense Department that Bout <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/pentagon-merchant-death-viktor-bout-arms-trafficking-brittney-griner-exchange" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could return</a> to his former proclivities. No duh.
Griner will likely go back to smoking pot. Meanwhile, Russian propagandists will <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1601274662620581888" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continue laughing</a>.
Then there&#8217;s the Chinese Communist Party.
They have skated free of any blame for COVID while the Biden administration has refused to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-releases-tepid-statement-on-protests-in-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forcefully condemn</a> their zero COVID policy, which — when applied — turns into total tyranny. The president&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-kerry-blames-recent-covid-bout-for-failed-climate-change-talks-with-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate envoy John Kerry</a> has also largely been ignored by the Red Dragon. America&#8217;s energy industry is suffering while China barrels full steam ahead.
No surprise there though, even before getting into office Biden was saying China wasn&#8217;t &#8220;competition&#8221; for the U.S. He was only half-correct: They aren&#8217;t our competitor — they are our<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/china-the-enemy-within" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> foremost adversar</a>y.
The folks in Washington have also removed sanctions on Venezuela — a socialist country historically not-so-keen on America. Socialist oil is fine, but American produced? No bueno for Biden.
Drug cartels have also found prosperity under this administration. The Biden administration&#8217;s decision to dismantle former President Donald J. Trump&#8217;s illegal immigration policy has resulted in the invasion we now see at the border.
With the flood of illegal aliens has come copious amounts of drugs — especially the all-too-deadly fentanyl which has killed Americans by the hundreds of thousands over the last few years.
The result has been called a &#8220;<a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/sep/27/20-billion-payday-joe-bidens-border-surge-sends-sm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$20 billion payday</a>&#8221; for these thugs below the border.
The crisis also benefits China — which often makes the synthetic version of the narcotic before it gets shipped to Mexico where it is made into its final form. The U.S. has had some success in slowing down such fatalities — but that’s in spite of Biden’s border policies — not because of them.
Congressman David Trone (D-MD) recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-important-things-going-on-biden-spits-in-the-face-of-every-american-with-latest-excuse-for-not-visiting-border" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NPR, “Our success right now on slowing or stopping the movement of fentanyl across the border is close to zero. We are failing because we have two partners, China and Mexico, who have chosen not to participate in any meaningful way to help us.”
Even in that analysis from a Democratic congressman, China is referred to as America&#8217;s &#8220;partner&#8221; — not our enemy.
Now, let&#8217;s get to the Taliban.
Critics argue that Trump treated those jihadists pretty well by negotiating the withdrawal of U.S. troops and <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-5000-taliban-brittany-griner-biden-prisoner-deal-1765859" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allegedly releasing 5,000</a> Taliban members. The president denies it was that cut and dry.
Regardless of what happened, it doesn&#8217;t explain why Biden botched America&#8217;s departure from the country so badly. The military left behind billions in equipment, stranded Americans, and allowed in hundreds — if not thousands — of under-vetted or unvetted Afghans. Thirteen Americans were killed because of how it was handled.
Ending the &#8220;forever war&#8221; might have been the right thing to do, but why wouldn&#8217;t Biden destroy the military equipment and evacuate American allies and U.S. citizens before leaving?
On top of that, a recent Pentagon <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bidens-fumbled-afghanistan-withdrawal-propaganda-gift-china-defense-department-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report confirmed</a> that the calamity was used by the Chinese to &#8220;erode U.S. and partner influence.&#8221; Other <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/international-disorder-biden-is-a-remarkably-bad-negotiator-and-doesnt-understand-how-the-world-works" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> indicate that the disaster also provided Putin with all the evidence he needed that an attack on Ukraine would be wise — given the dunce in the Oval Office.
So far, this writing has featured all foreign enemies.
We haven&#8217;t even discussed the domestic enemies seeking a &#8220;total transformation&#8221; of government based on equity and the principles of critical race theory — which teaches that we need to dismantle and abolish America as we know it. Nor have we gone into the alleged &#8220;Big Guy&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/news-outlets-expose-themselves-as-tech-illiterate-by-taking-years-to-authenticate-hunters-laptop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kickback scheme</a> between the president&#8217;s struggling artist son and his Chinese business partners.
We&#8217;ll get to those items in a later column. We&#8217;re only two years into a Biden presidency, so we have some time — unfortunately.
For now, readers should remember that there is an old quote attributed to President Abraham Lincoln, &#8220;Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?&#8221;
Somehow it doesn&#8217;t seem likely that Lincoln was referring to how Biden treats America&#8217;s opposition thus far.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

America’s Enemies Have A Best Friend In Biden

America's Enemies Have A Best Friend In Biden

Al Qaeda

China

Drug Cartels

Illegal Immigration

Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has plans for harsh Sharia law in Afghanistan, including public amputations and stoning, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63624400?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&amp;at_custom2=twitter&amp;at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&amp;at_custom3=%40BBCWorld&amp;at_campaign=64&amp;at_medium=custom7&amp;at_custom4=A4EC7558-642A-11ED-8B3E-724A0EDC252D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>.
The Taliban had implemented harsh Sharia law in the 1990s when they took over in Afghanistan, but promised after the United States withdrew in 2021 that they would <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/afghanistan-the-taliban-had-promised-amnesty-for-all-but-they-are-responsible-for-most-violence-against-civilians-12628906" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offer</a> “amnesty for all.”
“His Highness Amir al-Mu&#8217;minin in a meeting with the judges: Examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists carefully. Those files in which all the Shariah conditions of Hadd and Qisas are fulfilled, you are obliged to implement Hadd and Qisas,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted on Sunday.
Women were banned from visiting parks in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, last week.
At the beginning of September 2021, just a few weeks after the U.S. pullout, Joe Biden&#8217;s administration praised the Taliban, calling them “businesslike and professional.”
&#8220;The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA,&#8221; the administration <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/09/09/statement-by-nsc-spokesperson-emily-horne-on-qatar-airways-charter-flight-from-kabul/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> in a statement after some American citizens were finally evacuated out of Afghanistan after being left there. &#8220;They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step.&#8221;
&#8220;We will continue these efforts to facilitate the safe and orderly travel of American citizens, lawful permanent residents, and Afghans who worked for us and wish to leave Afghanistan,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;Because there is an ongoing terrorist threat to operations of this nature, we will not be sharing details of these efforts before people are safely out of the country.&#8221;
Prior to that, at the end of August, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFZJWznPqkM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed</a> reporters to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks, then <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/psaki-we-have-enormous-leverage-over-the-taliban/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boasted</a>, “We have enormous leverage over the Taliban.”
The State Department <a href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in 2001</a> regarding the Taliban’s history with women when they ruled Afghanistan between 1996-2001:
<blockquote>
Under Taliban rule, women were given only the most rudimentary access to health care and medical care, thereby endangering the health of women, and in turn, their families. In most hospitals, male physicians could only examine a female patient if she were fully clothed, ruling out the possibility of meaningful diagnosis and treatment. These Taliban regulations led to a lack of adequate medical care for women and contributed to increased suffering and higher mortality rates. …
In May 2001, the Taliban raided and temporarily closed a foreign-funded hospital in Kabul because male and female staff allegedly mixed in the dining room and operating wards. It is significant to note that approximately 70% of health services had been provided by international relief organizations — further highlighting the Taliban&#8217;s general disregard for the welfare of the Afghan people.
</blockquote>
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this report.
Related: <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-praises-taliban-on-week-of-9-11-anniversary-businesslike-and-professional/">Biden Admin Praises Taliban On Week Of 9/11 Anniversary: ‘Businesslike And Professional’</a>

Biden Admin Called Taliban ‘Businesslike And Professional.’ Now They Want Public Amputations, Stoning: Report

Biden Admin Called Taliban 'Professional ... Businesslike.' Now They Want Public Amputations, Stoning: Report

Violence

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taliban">Taliban</a> celebrated the anniversary of the withdrawal of American forces from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/afghanistan">Afghanistan</a> on Wednesday with a parade in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and in front of Bagram Air Base.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="استعراض عسكري لقوات إمارة أفغانستان في قاعدة باغرام.اسآد طالبان" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8s9ppTps0w4?start=11&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The withdrawal followed a 20-year-long insurgency against a U.S.-led NATO force and the rapid collapse of the U.S.-backed government, which fell almost immediately after the U.S. pulled its troops. The handling of the withdrawal by the Biden administration has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-report-reveals-biden-failures-that-led-to-botched-afghanistan-withdrawal">widely criticized</a> and reportedly left thousands of <a href="https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2022/2/bombshell-report-biden-admin-left-9k-americans-in-afghanistan-originally-claimed-150">Americans</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-army-colonel-sent-busloads-of-americans-afghan-allies-to-be-murdered-by-taliban-evac-team-says">allies</a> trapped behind enemy lines.
U.S. forces officially withdrew from the country at one minute to midnight on August 30, 2022. The Taliban, which is still not recognized by any nation as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, declared it a national holiday, Freedom Day, and launched celebratory fireworks over the capital on Tuesday night.
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This is the celebration of the Taliban tonight the withdrawal of the US last soldier from Afghanistan on 30th August 2021. And the US also announced today that we have given $775 million to the Taliban in response to China and Russia&#39;s criticism. <a href="https://t.co/EJ68KTjQsj">pic.twitter.com/EJ68KTjQsj</a>
&mdash; Anees Ur Rehman (@JournalistAnees) <a href="https://twitter.com/JournalistAnees/status/1564671276983222276?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Since taking power, the Taliban has reimposed harsh Sharia law on the country, forbidden women from work outside of a small number of economic sectors, banned female education past the 6th grade, and placed restrictions on internal travel. Harsh legal punishments such as stoning and mutilation have reemerged.
The parade included Taliban fighters, as well as missile launchers, tanks, helicopters, and other military equipment. The U.S. gave <a href="https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/08/videos-taliban-holds-parade-at-us-embassy-to-celebrate-us-withdrawal-anniversary/">billions of dollars</a> in weapons and equipment to the Afghan government, and much of that materiel fell into the hands of the Taliban when they took control of the country.

WATCH: Taliban Parades In Front Of U.S. Embassy To Celebrate Withdrawal Anniversary

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