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Marine’s Accusations: Pentagon Cover-Up in Afghanistan Bombing Probe

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The Marine at the heart of the recent Afghanistan probe has leveled serious accusations against the Pentagon, alleging a cover-up of evidence that could have prevented the deadly suicide bombing during the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Former Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who suffered life-altering injuries in the attack, testified in March 2023 about the events leading up to the bombing. He claimed that despite having identified a potential threat, he and his team were prevented from taking action. Vargas-Andrews stands by his testimony, asserting that the attack could have been averted if action had been taken based on the on-the-ground intelligence available.

The subsequent probe initiated by CENTCOM failed to substantiate Vargas-Andrews’ claims, leading to a dispute over the accuracy of the findings. While the investigation concluded that the bomber was not the individual initially identified by Marines, Vargas-Andrews maintains that there was a failure to act on actionable intelligence.

One of the key points of contention revolves around missing photographs of the bomber, which could have provided crucial intelligence. Despite exhaustive searches, these photos remain unaccounted for, raising questions about the thoroughness of the investigation.

The identification of the bomber as Abdul Rahman Al-Logari, an ISIS operative released by the Taliban, adds complexity to the situation. While CENTCOM asserts that the evidence conclusively links Al-Logari to the attack, Vargas-Andrews insists that he still had an opportunity to engage the bomber and prevent the tragedy.

The discrepancies between Vargas-Andrews’ account and the findings of the investigation underscore the need for transparency and accountability in understanding the events leading up to the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Watchdog Report: U.S. Has Given Afghanistan $11 Billion in Aid Since Disastrous Biden Withdrawal

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John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), issued his latest report on Monday.

The report revealed the United States and its allies have supported the Afghan economy with “cash shipments” averaging $80 million that “arrive in Kabul every 10-14 days” ever since the Taliban takeover and President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal in 2021. The U.S. has sent over $11 billion in assistance to Afghanistan and Afghan refugees since then.

Sopko quoted U.N. assurances that the money is “placed in designated U.N. accounts in a private bank,” rather than being “deposited in the central bank or provided to the Taliban.”

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stressed that the cash deliveries are “carefully monitored, audited, inspected, and vetted in accordance with U.N. financial rules and processes.” (Read more from “Watchdog Report: U.S. Has Given Afghanistan $11 Billion in Aid Since Disastrous Biden Withdrawal” HERE)

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U.S. Marines Forced to Pick Up Afghanis’ Feces in Kabul Before Leaving in 2021

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Before they were allowed to leave Kabul in August 2021, having just lost 13 comrades to a suicide bomber, Marines were ordered to pick up human feces and other disgusting trash at the airport so as to leave it pristine for the Taliban.

This humiliation is recounted for the first time in a new book, “Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End.”

The Kabul airport passenger terminal was filthy on Aug. 28, 2021, after the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. More than 120,000 Afghans had camped there for a week, “defecating and leaving trash, bags, clothes, and other unspeakable things.”

Marines at every level were infuriated at being “forced to scoop up human poop.” The order to clean “came with a threat that we would not leave at all if it was not completed,” one junior Marine told authors Jerry Dunleavy and James Hasson. (Read more from “U.S. Marines Forced to Pick Up Afghanis’ Feces in Kabul Before Leaving in 2021” HERE)

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General Calls Delays in Afghanistan Withdrawal an Example of ‘American Arrogance’

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Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie said he believes the delay in withdrawing troops from Afghanistan can be attributed to “American arrogance.” He spoke to his many regrets about the withdrawal that led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in August 2021.

McKenzie, the head of United States Central Command at the time of the withdrawal, said in an interview with Fox News’s Jennifer Griffin that he regretted the U.S.’s decision to “stay on until the very end,” saying that often pushing that choice could land, and did land, the country in an “extremist situation.”

“I think it’s a case of American exceptionalism or American arrogance, depending on your perspective, to believe that you can actually withdraw, beaten from the field of battle, and still maintain a large political platform in the country you’re actually retreating from,” McKenzie said in the interview, which aired Thursday.

“I go back to the basic decision to wait so very late to begin to bring people out — after we had already given away Bagram Airfield, after we had already drawn down to a very low footprint in the country,” he continued. “I think those were the decisions that led to the scenes at the airport in Kabul.” (Read more from “General Calls Delays in Afghanistan Withdrawal an Example of ‘American Arrogance’” HERE)

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Gold Star Families Force Biden to Face His Failure in the Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal: ‘Disgrace to the Nation’

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The families of 13 American service members killed during Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan two years ago inserted themselves back into the country’s conscience last week.

“Not a single person has been held accountable,” said Mark Schmitz, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, one of the 13 heroes killed in a terrorist bomb blast on Aug. 26, 2021, during the chaotic military evacuation of Kabul airport. “Our so-called leader can’t seem to even utter their names in public, not even once.”

The Gold Star families’ unanswered reproach of the president finally found voice when they testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week, almost exactly two years after the debacle. . .

Their tragedy has been suppressed, their inconvenient grief largely ignored by the media, their stories buried by Google search and the breezy Wikipedia entry on the Afghanistan withdrawal which barely mentions the 13 fallen.

The president has never uttered the names of their loved ones, and after enough time had passed, proceeded to boast about his success. (Read more from “Gold Star Families Force Biden to Face His Failure in the Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal: ‘Disgrace to the Nation’” HERE)

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Biden Admin Is the ‘Single Largest Donor’ to Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan Since Botched Withdrawal, Watchdog Says

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The Biden administration is the “single largest donor” of taxpayer money to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan since the U.S. evacuated forces in 2021, according to a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) on Tuesday.

The U.S. appropriated over $2.35 billion in funds for Afghanistan reconstruction and humanitarian efforts since 2021, following the disordered withdrawal of American forces in the region, according to the SIGAR report. John Sopko, head of SIGAR, warned Congress in April that he “cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban,” and said that the Biden administration has blocked investigative efforts as to whether the Taliban is being sustained by American tax dollars.

“The Taliban are comfortable accepting foreign support insofar as they can closely monitor the organizations, including restricting and controlling them, and claim some credit for the provision of the benefits,” reads the SIGAR report. “Despite Taliban promises made since gaining power in August 2021 to be more inclusive, counter terrorism, respect human rights, and not pose a security threat to the region, the U.N. says that the Taliban ‘shows no signs of bending to pressure for reform or compromise.’”

The U.S. first appropriated the aid package in 2021, despite multiple warnings from federal lawmakers and agencies that the funds could be misused, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Efforts by Congress to track the money have been stonewalled, and investigative efforts by SIGAR have been largely ignored by the Biden administration and the State Department. (Read more from “Biden Admin Is the ‘Single Largest Donor’ to Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan Since Botched Withdrawal, Watchdog Says” HERE)

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UFO Search: Retired Navy Senior Chief ‘Not Going to Jail’ to Report What He Saw in Afghanistan

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A retired Navy senior chief petty officer said he saw a metallic orb in Afghanistan that’s similar to the one shown in a video during last month’s Senate hearing, but there’s no secure way for him to come forward.

“I’m going to be honest with you. I’d love to tell everything in detail, but I’m not willing to go to jail to do it,” said a retired Navy senior chief, whose name is being withheld for fear of repercussions.

“I’m constrained because of security agreements, so they need a way for submissions to be made,” he told Fox News Digital.

Not having a secure way to report potential UFOs was a glaring oversight in the eyes of two lawmakers on both sides of the aisle after All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)’s April 19 UFO hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.

AARO is an office within the US Office of the Secretary of Defense that investigates UAPs – unidentified anomalous phenomena – which is the government-created word for UFOs. (Read more from “UFO Search: Retired Navy Senior Chief ‘Not Going to Jail’ to Report What He Saw in Afghanistan” HERE)

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Biden Blames Trump for Messy Afghanistan Withdrawal — Then Sneaks Away to Camp David

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The White House Thursday released its first after-action review of the disastrous 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan – without taking responsibility for its role in the rushed evacuation mission blighted by the deaths of 13 US service members and hundreds of Afghans in an ISIS suicide bombing.

As National Security Council spokesman John Kirby took questions from reporters about the 12-page document — released moments before he met the media — President Biden himself slipped out the front door of the White House to a waiting helicopter, departing Washington to spend the Easter holiday weekend at Camp David.

The review blames former President Donald Trump’s administration for pledging to the Taliban that the US would leave Afghanistan by May 2021 as part of the Doha agreement — a move that supposedly left his successor no option but to pull American forces out. In fact, the deal also gave the US the right to withdraw from the accord if Afghan peace talks failed — which they did.

“During the transition from the Trump Administration to the Biden administration, the outgoing administration provided no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies,” the document states. “There were no such plans in place when President Biden came into office, even with the agreed-upon full withdrawal just over three months away.” (Read more from “Biden Blames Trump for Messy Afghanistan Withdrawal — Then Sneaks Away to Camp David” HERE)

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Family of Marine Killed During Afghanistan Withdrawal Stunned to Learn Snipers Could Have Taken Out Suicide Bomber

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A Marine sniper’s testimony that he had an opportunity to take out the Abbey Gate suicide bomber during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan came as a surprise to family and advocates of one of the service members killed in the attack, they told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted an investigation into the events leading up to the suicide bombing on August 26, 2021 that killed 13 U.S. military personnel aiding the evacuation of Afghan allies after the Taliban captured Kabul. Family of the deceased received in-person briefings a short while before CENTCOM made public the unclassified version of the final report, but one family member and two advocates said the briefers never provided any indication that the Marine snipers had a missed chance to engage the bomber.

“They said nobody knew where he was at that time or what he looked like at that time,” Shana Chappell, the mother of 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, who died in the blast, told the DCNF.

“What [the sniper] had said I had already known about, because other Marines had talked about it before the investigation had even happened,” she added. “There was just a lot of stuff that didn’t add up that I had been told by the Marines that were there, and none of it was mentioned in the report that was given to us.”

The investigation concluded a lone suicide bomber managed to bypass Taliban checkpoints at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, detonating an explosive vest that also contained ball bearings at 5:36 p.m, according to the report. ISIS later claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed up to 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. servicemembers, as well as wounding dozens more. (Read more from “Family of Marine Killed During Afghanistan Withdrawal Stunned to Learn Snipers Could Have Taken Out Suicide Bomber” HERE)

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Marine in Kabul Airport Blast Says He Was Told Not to Shoot ISIS Bomber

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A Marine who survived the deadly bombing at Kabul’s airport during the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan told lawmakers Wednesday he was told not to kill a suspected ISIS terrorist who he believes was responsible for later killing 13 of his fellow service members and countless Afghans.

Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews recounted to the House Foreign Affairs Committee how his team deployed to Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021, and were tracking a man who intelligence officers believed was a suicide bomber “throughout the entirety” of the day leading up to the explosion.

“Intel guys confirmed the suicide bomber … described as clean-shaven, brown-dressed, black vest and traveling with an older companion,” he said. “I asked intel guys why he wasn’t apprehended sooner since we had a full description. I was told the asset could not be compromised.”

Vargas-Andrews recounted his experience during his opening remarks at the committee’s hearing examining the Biden administration’s handling of the final weeks of the 20-year US war in Afghanistan. The chaotic effort brought massive crowds to the airport with fewer than 6,000 US troops deployed to assist.

Vargas-Andrews told the committee that his team continually updated intelligence teams that day on the suspect’s actions, noting the men were an “anomaly in the crowd” and “both had obvious mannerisms that go along with who we believed him to be.” (Read more from “Marine in Kabul Airport Blast Says He Was Told Not to Shoot ISIS Bomber” HERE)

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