Its been more than two years since the United States abandoned its allies in Afghanistan.
While America seems to have moved on from this dark page of history, many of our veterans have not. Veteran volunteer groups like Moral Compass Federation continue to sound the alarm, because the terror warning dashboard light on Afghanistan is now blinking red.
As we enter this turbulent election year, a serious national security threat of global terrorism has been eclipsed by sensational civil trials and unprecedented partisan mudslinging. In order to bring the terror threat into sharp focus this election year, here are three things that might surprise you about Afghanistan: An Estimated 20 Terror Groups Are Operating In Afghanistan
The son of Osama bin Laden, Abdallah bin Laden, has been spotted as recently as 2023 in Ghazni and Kandahar Provinces. Is he enjoying the tourist season in Afghanistan? Doubtful. A new report from the UN Security Council paints a grim picture of terror threats in Afghanistan. ISIS-K currently presents the greatest threat. They are assessed by the UN intelligence community as capable of projecting effective terror threats on a global level. Al-Qaeda is also re-generating rapidly from a strategic messaging entity to an operational force. While they only possess a regional capacity at the moment, they have aspirations (and the potential) to strike on a global scale. This is evidenced by the fact that Al-Qaeda has reportedly opened eight new training camps in Afghanistan. There are also five Al-Qaeda sponsored madrasas inside Afghanistans borders where thousands of future terrorists are radicalized for future strikes, regionally and globally. The State Department Sends $80 Million To The Taliban Every 10-14 Days
According to the UN, theres been more than $2 billion sent to the Taliban since the collapse. While the Biden administration contends that these funds are used for humanitarian aid, veterans groups and intelligence insiders assert that much of this money gets funneled into other nefarious uses, including into madrassas. More than two million students have graduated from these institutions of radicalization since the collapse in Afghanistan. There is little to no external oversight inside Afghanistan to ensure this foreign aid is applied responsibly, and not for terrorist activities. In fact, John Sopkos, Director of the Special Investigator General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a recent 2023 Congressional Testimony that he cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer [that] we are not currently funding the Taliban. A Small Group Of Afghans Are Actively Resisting The Taliban
The NRF is led by Ahmad Massoud , the son of the slain Northern Alliance Leader, Ahmad Shah Massoud, killed by Al-Qaeda suicide bombers just before the attacks on September 11, 2001. As Afghanistan collapsed, resistance fighters consolidated in the Panjshir Valley of Northeast Afghanistan to make their stand against the oppressive Taliban rule. It hasnt been easy. The NRF has almost no external support. The State Department refuses to officially engage the political wing of the NRF, opting instead to push for engagement with the Taliban a group who practices a neanderthal version of gender apartheid on a grand scale. Yet the NRF conducts determined attacks against the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda Allies. The resistance is the only force attempting to disrupt otherwise unfettered terror activity in this safe haven we created by our irresponsible exit. Many veterans, concerned with the growing terror threat in Afghanistan have voiced their support for the NRF in an organization called Vets4NRF .
The abandonment of our Afghan Allies of 20 years heaped a moral injury on an entire generation of American Veterans who voluntarily fought the longest war in American History. This violation of a strict veteran code of never abandoning our allies by our political, diplomatic, and senior military leaders has resulted in increased mental health issues across the veteran community. It has also contributed to recruiting and retention issues in the military.
We shouldnt turn the page on Afghanistan. If we do, our enemies have a vote in the outcome, and theyll make us pay for it. Veterans serve as our moral compass when institutional leadership fails. They should get loud this election year. They should continue to demand support for our at-risk and highly vetted allies. Helping our Afghan Allies, helps our veterans.
We also need Americans to bring the growing threat in Afghanistan back onto the main stage this election year. The NRF isnt looking for American boots on the ground. Perhaps instead of cutting those 40-million-dollar-a-week checks to the Taliban, we should send them to the only outfit thats directly standing up to terrorism, the NRF.
Because if we stay on this current path of directly financing terror groups and pretending the Taliban will behave in our best interest, there will be American boots on the ground, only theyll be worn by our children. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP
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Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Scott Mann is a former U.S. Army Green Beret with tours all over the world including Colombia, Iraq, and multiple tours in Afghanistan. He is a warrior storyteller and the founder ofRooftop Leadershipand the author of the instant New York Times Best-Seller,Operation Pineapple Express. He has since foundedOperation Pineapple Express Relief, a 501c3 to help support the emergency needs of our Afghan allies such as safe passage out of Afghanistan, plus unforeseen resettlement needs.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
The Kremlin has criticised President Joe Biden for adding “fuel to the fire” after giving Ukraine permission to launch US missiles into Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “It is obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to… continue adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions around this conflict.”
Russia‘s Foreign Ministry added that the action by Mr Biden‘s administration would fundamentally alter the nature of the war and trigger “an adequate and tangible” response.
The UK has refused to reveal if it plans to follow suit, for example extending the use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles by Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia.
Britain’s Defence Secretary John Healey told the House of Commons commenting would “compromise operations and security”, adding that he will speak with the US and Ukrainian defence secretaries on Monday evening.
At the G20 Summit in Brazil, Sir Keir Starmer gave a similar response: “I’m not going to get into operational details because the only winner, if we were to do that, is [Vladimir] Putin, and I’m not prepared to do that.”
For over a year Ukraine has been calling on America changes its policy on the use of long-range missiles.
Donald Trump Jr,the son of president-elect Donald Trump,suggested in a post on X that Mr Biden was risking a third world war “before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives”.
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3:04
The use of tactical missile systems for Ukraine
Hungary: Policy is ‘astonishingly dangerous’
There has been a strong, but mixed, reaction across Europe to America’s change of policy.
Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said the decision was “astonishingly dangerous” – although the country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has a close and often sympathetic relationship with Moscow.
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Slovakia’s leader Robert Fico, who has also fostered a stronger relationship with his Russian counterpart, said it was an “unprecedented escalation of tensions” and “a decision that thwarts hopes for the start of any peace talks”.
But other countries have been more positive.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said: “This decision was very necessary… Russia sees that Ukraine enjoys strong support and that the West’s position is unyielding and determined.”
Meanwhile, Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna was equally positive. He said easing restrictions on Ukraine was “a good thing”, adding: “We have been saying that from the beginning – that no restrictions must be put on the military support [for Ukraine].”
How could Russia respond?
In the past, Russia’s president has mentioned sending weapons to the West’s adversaries to strike Western targets abroad. He didn’t mention any nations specifically, but the assumption was it was a reference to Iran.
Moscow has also recently changed its nuclear doctrine, to allow it in theory to respond with nuclear weapons if the West attacks targets on Russian soil.
So are these threats genuine? Or is it more sabre-rattling?
The calculus in Washington seems to be that this is another bluff from Moscow, following the obliteration of previous red lines without consequence.
The West has supplied missiles, battle tanks and fighter jets to Kyiv, all without invoking the escalation that was threatened.
But could Russia respond in other, more subtle ways, which it doesn’t want to broadcast? Think sabotage, cyber attacks, closer alignment with Iran (and of course North Korea).
So in that sense, it’s not the Kremlin’s public fury the West will be worried about, it’s what happens behind the scenes.
Missiles are ‘not a game changer’
Former British ambassador to Russia Sir Toby Brenton has told Sky News: “Nobody is really expecting this to be a game changer.
“They’re expecting it to make life more difficult for the Russians, slow the Russian advance down, but… from all the stories I’m hearing, there are not actually that many of these missiles available to be used.”
Barely anyone speaks – there is virtual silence apart from the sounds of passing vehicles and the wind whipping through flags and photographs commemorating the dead in a war that started 1,000 days ago when Russia invaded.
What is really striking is the sheer number of people who have died, and this memorial in Kyiv’s Maidan Square represents just some of those who gave their lives defending their country.
Soldiers in camouflage fatigues pause to pay their respects to comrades, civilians stop and stare, heads often bowed.
At the same time, on mobile phones, news alerts announce another missile strike on Ukraine. This time in the port city of Odessa.
More dead, more injured, it never stops here.
As this war grinds on, with Russia making significant gains in the east, it says something about the Ukrainian people’s resolve to keep going.
For months the Ukrainian government has been pleading with the United States and its western partners for permission to use long range weapons to attack deep inside Russia.
These weapons would allow Ukraine to target airfields and bases where drones and missiles are launched against Ukraine, and to attack supply routes and military camps. In effect – to take the fight to Russia.
Time and again civilians and soldiers alike tell me the West and the United States are scared of annoying or provoking Russia. Wrongly or rightly, most believe the West is happy for Ukraine to hold the line but not beat Russia.
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2:25
Ukraine allowed to use US long-range missiles in Russia
News that President Biden, in the twilight of his time in office, has changed his position allowing American missiles to be fired into Russia, has been greeted with euphoria.
Although it’s tempered by his decision to allow them to be used only in the Kursk region of Russia, where North Korean troops are augmenting the Russian military.
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I met Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko in the capital, she heard the news as she arrived back in Ukraine from a trip abroad.
She says the decision has “lifted spirits here” and calls the move “extremely significant” but says it needs to go further.
“As members of parliament we have been echoing the president in every single meeting we have abroad, asking for the permission to strike inside Russia’s territory, what this means is permission to liquidate 16 airbases from which Russia on a daily and nightly bases sends airplanes carrying missiles that are hitting Ukrainian homes, Ukrainian infrastructure, and basically making civilian life impossible in the country,” she told me.
She continued: “Having permission to strike inside of all of Russia would really change things round for the people of Ukraine first and foremost, but also on the battlefield.”
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She told me that despite the war dragging on, the Ukrainian people remain resolute and united.
“The resilience is still there, for us this resilience equals survival, if Ukraine stops fighting there will be no Ukraine, there will be no us as Ukrainians, there will be no housing, we would not be allowed to live under the Ukrainian flag, so the only option here is to make sure that Russia stops fighting and that Russia can never fight again.”
Over the past almost two weeks I have driven from the west to the east of this huge country.
It strikes me that you can barely pass a town or a village cemetery without the blue and gold colours of the Ukrainian flag punctuating the grey skies – marking the graves of the war dead.
A thousand days since the Russian invasion began, soldiers and civilians alike are still dying, but Ukraine is still fighting.
An undersea fibre optic cable between Germany and Finland has stopped working and might have been deliberately cut by an unknown party, according to authorities.
The 729 mile (1,173km) C-Lion1 cable under the Baltic Sea from Helsinki to Rostock went offline just after 2am GMT on Monday.
The outage was reported by Finnish state-controlled cyber security and telecoms company Cinia.
A physical inspection has not yet been done but the abrupt nature suggests it was completely severed by an outside force, said chief executive Ari-Jussi Knaapila.
Germanyand Finland‘s foreign ministers said they were “deeply concerned” and it “immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage”.
A joint statement said: “Our European security is not only under threat from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors.
“Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies.”
Cinia said “corrective measures” were under way and a repair ship was being prepared.
The damage to the fibre optic cable could take around five to 15 days to fix, Mr Knaapila told reporters.
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He said the damage occurred near the southern tip of Sweden’s Oland island and that Cinia was working with authorities to investigate.
The cable links central European telecoms networks to Finland, other Nordic countries and Asia.
Another submerged gas line and several telecoms cables were seriously damaged last year in the Baltic Sea.