While President Biden Was Reassuring The Public That Afghanistan Would Not Collapse, U.S. Intelligence Was Telling The White House That The Collapse Of The Afghan Army Was Likely

Groups gathered at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, looking to leave the country on Monday. © Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

New York Times: Intelligence Warned of Afghanistan Military Collapse, Despite Biden’s Assurances

WASHINGTON — Classified assessments by American spy agencies over the summer painted an increasingly grim picture of the prospect of a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and warned of the rapid collapse of the Afghan military, even as President Biden and his advisers said publicly that was unlikely to happen as quickly, according to current and former American government officials.

By July, many intelligence reports grew more pessimistic, questioning whether any Afghan security forces would muster serious resistance and whether the government could hold on in Kabul, the capital.

President Biden said on July 8 that the Afghan government was unlikely to fall and that there would be no chaotic evacuations of Americans similar to the end of the Vietnam War.

The drumbeat of warnings over the summer raise questions about why Biden administration officials, and military planners in Afghanistan, seemed

ill-prepared to deal with the Taliban’s final push into Kabul, including a failure to ensure security at the main airport and rushing thousands more troops back to the country to protect the United States’ final exit.

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WNU Editor: If true. This tells me that the White House made the decision to ignore all the intel warnings, and proceed with the withdrawal anyway. Consequences be damned.

On a side note. German intelligence did not believe Kabul would fall .... German spies saw Kabul fall as 'rather unlikely': report (DW).

More News On Reports That U.S. Intelligence Did Warn The White House That The Collapse Of The Afghan Army Was Likely

CIA counter-terrorism chief joins long list of military officials saying Biden WAS warned Afghanistan could capitulate in days - after president said he 'can't recall' the warnings and Mark Milley saying no one saw it coming -- Daily Mail

Intel Agencies Warned of Afghan Collapse as Biden Publicly Downplayed Possibility -- National Review

CIA warned of rapid Afghanistan collapse. So why did U.S. get it so wrong? -- NBC