Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration was reportedly warned weeks ago by U.S. officials in Afghanistan that the nation was at risk of collapsing as the Taliban made rapid territorial gains.
“The cable, sent via the State Department’s confidential dissent channel, warned of rapid territorial gains by the Taliban and the subsequent collapse of Afghan security forces, and offered recommendations on ways to mitigate the crisis and speed up an evacuation,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “The cable, dated July 13, also called for the State Department to use tougher language in describing the atrocities being committed by the Taliban.”
The report said that 23 U.S. Embassy staffers, all of whom are U.S. citizens, signed the cable and that there “was a rush to deliver it.” The report said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken received the cable and read it.
“The classified cable represents the clearest evidence yet that the administration had been warned by its own officials on the ground that the Taliban’s advance was imminent and Afghanistan’s military may be unable to stop it,” the report added. “The existence of the confidential State Department cable adds to an expanding debate involving the White House, Pentagon and U.S. intelligence services over what U.S. officials understood about assessments of Afghanistan’s stability.”
Fox News later confirmed The Wall Street Journal’s reporting on the cable.