Suspect charged after Vancouver car ramming leaves 11 dead    Suspect in killing of general claims he was paid by Ukraine    North Korea confirms troop deployment to Russia for first time    Rock & Roll Hall of Fame picks Outkast but not Oasis    400-800 year old giant coral colony discovered within AMAALA waters in the Red Sea    Makkah police arrest Yemeni and Egyptian suspects of fake Hajj campaign    Kafalah grants 1,900 loan guarantees worth over SR4.8 billion to SMEs during 1Q 2025    Council of Senior Scholars reaffirms performing Hajj without a permit is a sinful act    HR Ministry launches 'Ajeer Al-Hajj' service for seasonal work during Hajj 2025    stc reports strong first-quarter 2025 results with 11% rise in net profit    King and Crown Prince offer condolence to Iranian president over the deadly port explosion    Saudi Awwal Bank records SR2.1 billion net profit after zakat and income tax for 1Q25    Virgin Atlantic celebrates one month of nonstop service between London and Riyadh    Al Ahli cruise past Buriram into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Duran leads Al Nassr past Yokohama Marinos into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi orchestra to perform at Sydney Opera House in May    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



US diplomats sent cable warning of potential catastrophe in Afghanistan last month
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 22 - 08 - 2021

A group of US diplomats wrote a classified cable to Secretary of State Antony Blinken in mid-July warning that swift action needed to be taken because they believed the situation in Afghanistan could rapidly deteriorate and they feared a catastrophe.
They laid out how the department should act quickly to process and evacuate Afghans who had assisted the United States and get them out of the country quickly.
The diplomats decided to send the dissent memo because they felt previous warnings and recommendations they had made were being ignored and labeled alarmist, two State Department officials told CNN.
The classified cable, signed by more than a dozen US diplomats, urged specific steps to be taken, including starting a biometric enrollment program for the Afghans applying for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) or refugee status ahead of the evacuation, so they wouldn't waste time before what they believed would be the imminent collapse of the Afghan government as the US withdrew.
The State Department responded to the cable within days of receiving it and followed through on some of the issues it raised, said a source familiar with the matter. But not all of the recommendations in the memo were quickly implemented, the diplomats said.
The question of what advice was not heeded is likely to draw further scrutiny from lawmakers as they examine whether the administration could have done more to stop the chaos unfolding on the ground in Kabul after the fall of the Afghan government.
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul, has already called for a briefing about the cable.
On Thursday, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer did not deny that diplomats in Kabul warned the administration of a potential coming catastrophe in Afghanistan, but said that the dissent cable "predicted the potential fall of the Afghan government in the aftermath of the US troop drawdown on Aug. 31."
"Obviously, that all happened even more quickly than the cable — which was quite concerned about this possibility — projected," Finer told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" Thursday.
"I think the cable reflects what we said all along, which is nobody had this exactly right in predicting that the government and army of Afghanistan were going to collapse in a matter of days," he said.
In a statement to CNN, State Department spokesperson Ned Price declined to comment on the contents of the cable, but said, "the secretary reads every dissent and reviews and clears on every reply."
"He's made clear that he welcomes and encourages use of the Dissent Channel, and is committed to its revitalization," Price said Thursday. "Just as importantly, we incorporate the channel's constructive and thoughtful ideas into our policy and planning."
"Maintaining the channel's integrity and the notion of disciplined dissent is key to that revitalization. It's why we keep communication strictly between the Department's leadership and the authors of the dissent messages and why we don't comment publicly on the substance of messages or the replies, regardless of the classification," he said.
Price also said that the Biden administration values the dissent memo mechanism. "We value constructive internal dissent. It's patriotic. It's protected. And it makes us more effective."
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the cable. Dissent memos are designed as a way for diplomats to express concern over a policy when they feel they have not been heard through other means.
A source familiar with the matter noted that the department had stood up a task force focused on the Special Immigrant Visa processing in an effort to do everything possible to speed it up.
The memo also called for an airlift operation for Afghans, which was announced the day after the cable was received, the sources said.
In his interview on CNN, Finer also underscored that the administration had responded to at least some of the concerns outlined in the memo.
"The second thing the cable asked for was evacuation flights by the US government of special immigrant visa applicants ... they asked for those to begin by August 1. We began those flights in July," he said.
The first evacuation flight arrived in the US on July 30, after pressure not only from the diplomats, but also bipartisan lawmakers and advocates.
In the wake of the Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan, many diplomats in Kabul were relocated from the country, and the embassy compound was shuttered.
The core remaining personnel have relocated to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where they are urgently working to evacuate American citizens, SIV applicants and other vulnerable Afghans. — CNN


Clic here to read the story from its source.