Hi there, and happy Friday!
It’s time to run down the articles and essays that will keep you informed through the weekend. You shouldn’t be surprised that the vast majority of today’s readings involve Afghanistan, and I do have one point to make about yesterday’s terrible attacks: They serve as evidence not that we should remain in Afghanistan for another twenty years, but that the twenty-year American military operation was a failure. After twenty years of working to make the area safer, Kabul still sees dozens of terror attacks every year. Remaining in Afghanistan does nothing to promote security; it only serves to put American lives in harm’s way.
Now, on to the headlines.
Afghanistan
New York Times: Taliban Reject Extended Deadline as US Races to Finish Evacuation
New York Times: US Is Turning Some Afghan Allies Away from the Kabul Airport, an Official Says.
New York Times: Military Ramps Up Evacuations from Kabul, but Bottlenecks Persist
New York Times: How Many People in Afghanistan Need to Be Rescued? The Number Remains Elusive.
New York Times: A Taliban Spokesman Urges Women to Stay Home Because Fighters Haven’t Been Trained to Respect Them.
New York Times: At Least 250,000 Afghans Who Worked with US Haven’t Been Evacuated, Estimates Say
New York Times: US, Others Warn of Threat at Airport in Kabul and Tell Citizens to Leave Immediately.
New York Times: The Latest GOP Schism: How to Handle Afghan Evacuees
New York Times: US Says 1,500 Americans Remain in Afghanistan as Evacuation Enters Final Days
New York Times: 2 US Representatives Try to Explain Unauthorized Visit to Kabul
New York Times: Kamala Harris Pledges US Help for Afghan Women and Children
New York Times: Biden Faces a Tragedy He Pledged to Avoid
New York Times: After Decades of War, [Daesh] and Al Qaeda Can Still Wreak Havoc
NYT Media Equation: How Mexico Helped the Times Get Its Journalists Out of Afghanistan
AP: Deadly Gunfire at Airport; Taliban Insist on US Pullout Date
AP: G-7 Leaders Can’t Sway Biden to Delay Afghanistan Withdrawal
AP: US Troops Surge Evacuations Out of Kabul but Threats Persist
AP: “Was It Worth It?” A Fallen Marine and a War’s Crushing End
AP: US Presses on with Evacuations Despite Fears of More Attacks
CNN: US Concerned About “Very Specific Threat Stream” from [Daesh] Against Crowds Outside Kabul Airport
CNN: McCarthy Tells Republicans Biden Will Face a “Reckoning” for Handling of Afghanistan Exit
Foreign Affairs: Why America Can’t Build Allied Armies
NBC News: Taliban Leader Reaches Out to West, Promises Rights for Afghan Women
Politico Opinion: “Anyone Got Any Helos Sitting Around?”: How a Private Network Is Using a Messaging App to Rescue Afghans
HuffPost: Anti-Immigrant Trump Aide Stephen Miller Laid Groundwork for Disastrous Afghan Evacuation
The Atlantic: Escape From Afghanistan
New Yorker: Afghanistan, Again, Becomes a Cradle for Jihadism— and Al Qaeda
Republicans
Politico: How Screwed Is Adam Kinzinger?
NBC News: FCC Looks to Fine Conservative Activists $5Million for False Mail Voting Robocalls
NBC News: Rudy Giuliani Associate Igor Fruman Likely to Plead Guilty Wednesday
Daily Beast: GOP Pays Rudy Giuliani Associates Wrapped Up in Ukraine Probe
Daily Beast: Matt Gaetz Failed to Properly Disclose His Abysmal Book Sales
Vanity Fair: “I Did Not Know It Was a Man”: The Surreal Story of How a Deadly Crash Upended South Dakota Politics
Newsweek: Misinformation Site Gateway Pundit Is Dominating Coverage of Arizona’s Election Audit
1/6
New York Times: Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump and Allies Over Election Lies and Jan. 6
CNN: US Capitol Police Says Shooting of January 6 Rioter Ashli Babbitt Was “Lawful”
NBC News: Officer Who Shot Ashli Babbitt During Capitol Riot Breaks Silence: “I Saved Countless Lives”
AP: Report Details Mishandling of Police Emergency System on 1/6
Gretchen Whitmer
AP: Man Gets 6 Years in Prison in Michigan Governor Kidnap Plot
NBC News: Man Who Plotted to Kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Sentenced to Over 6 Years
Newsweek: Gretchen Whitmer Says Kamala Harris Is Unfairly Treated Because of Race and Gender
Housing
New York Times: Supreme Court Ends Biden’s Eviction Moratorium
CNN: Supreme Court Throws Out Biden Administration Eviction Moratorium
HuffPost: Billions in Federal Rental Aid Sit Unspent by Local Governments
Global Affairs
New York Times: New Israeli Leader Backs Hard Line on Iran but Softer Tone with US
NBC News: 2 US Diplomats to Be Evacuated from Vietnam after “Havana Syndrome” Incidents
The Border
New York Times: A Texas Sheriff’s Grim Task: Finding Bodies as Migrant Deaths Surge
New York Times: Supreme Court Allows Revival of Trump-Era “Remain in Mexico” Policy
China
New York Times: In Southwest Asia, Kamala Harris’s Message: You Can Count on the US
CNBC: Kamala Harris Says Asia Won’t Have to Choose Between the US and China
Jobs
NYT Opinion: How Not to Create Jobs
Climate Crisis
New York Times: How Should the Fed Deal with Climate Change?
AP: With Wildfire Threatening, Lake Tahoe Prepares for Emergency
Esoterica
New York Times: Justice Breyer on Retirement and the Role of Politics at the Supreme Court
Newsweek Opinion: America Faces an Epidemic of Senseless Gun Violence
New Yorker: Why Don’t the French Celebrate Lafayette?
Lastly…
An essay from the NYT contemplates the consciousness of cats and other animals. Cheers to that.
Thank you for caring enough to read.
Be safe. Enjoy your weekend. You are loved.
Talk to you Monday.