One of the most troubling pieces of news to come out of Afghanistan recently was the fact that evidently America had turned over to the Taliban a list of all Americans in the country and all Afghans who had helped the Americans. I think most Americans question the wisdom of that decision. Not only is the decision seemingly unwise, it makes no sense. Actually, when you look at the agencies involved, it makes perfect sense.
The Conservative Treehouse posted an article today explaining the ‘teams’ and what is actually involved.
The article reports:
There are two puzzle pieces that help to make sense of the Politico report about “U.S. Officials” giving the Taliban a list of American and U.S. Afghan names to allow through the checkpoints. {GO DEEP 1 and GO DEEP 2} However, if you don’t understand the two dueling power teams -each attempting to position- it doesn’t make sense.
Remember, the State Dept (DoS) and CIA are one team. The White House and Pentagon are another team.
♦ TEAM One – The Department of State is aligned with the CIA. Their media PR firms are CNN, CNNi and the Washington Post. Their ideology is favorable to the United Nations. Their internal corruption is generally driven by relationship with foreign actors. References: Hillary Clinton, Clinton Global Initiative, John McCain, Qatar, Muslim Brotherhood, Samantha Powers, Susan Rice, Cass Sunstein, Brookings Institute, Lawfare, China-centric, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Council on Foreign Relations.
♦ TEAM Two – The White House is aligned with the Pentagon (DoD) and National Security Council (NSC). Their media PR firms are domestic in nature. New York Times, Politico, etc. Their internal corruption is generally driven by domestic influence. References: Barack Obama, George Bush, Wall St, Big Banks, Multinational Corporations, Defense Contractors, FBI (state police), Judicial Branch, and community activists writ large.
Both teams are highly political. However, the State Dept/CIA team consider themselves above political changes; essentially the deeper Deep State.
With the DoS/CIA aligned with CNN/WaPo, when the Pentagon needs to defend their specific interests in crisis management, they must go elsewhere, hence Politico.
The article notes:
So it’s fair to say the aggrieved party is the Pentagon in this scenario…. which aligns with Politico receiving the information from the military perspective.
Applying the dynamic of interests from the previous history between the teams, it would appear the State Dept. and CIA gave the Taliban the list.
Indeed, the quick dispatch of the problem of stranded Americans is a ‘toxically political’ priority issue for the State Department. Additionally, the previous meeting between CIA Director William J Burns and the Taliban leadership now takes on a fulsome context.
It was a decision by the DoS and CIA to share the list and get the evacuation facilitated in the most expedient fashion possible. However, from a tactical perspective it put the Pentagon, charged with Kabul airport security, in a slightly compromised position.
Both teams were responsible for the Afghanistan mess. In the aftermath of the mess; and with the current situation in/around Kabul, each team is positioning to avoid scrutiny. Scrutiny on either team runs the risk of identifying massive corruption; so the objective is to push the spotlight onto the other team. State Dept. blames White House/Pentagon…. Pentagon/White House looking to avoid sunlight.
The Pentagon (arrows) is supposed to working in coordination with State (olive branch), but both institutions are corrupt regarding Afghanistan; so it’s a game of hot potato. If the executive office wasn’t corrupt, the eagle would be having whiplash; alas, the White House was/is an active participant. [So much for school civic ‘checks-n-balances’ eh?]
Externally, we are seeing the executive appointed heads of each faction battling for position on behalf of their institution. The media get to pick and choose which faction they will support. CNN will support the State Dept. ABC, CBS, NBC will lean slightly toward the White House/Pentagon.
Please follow the link above to read the entire article. The Conservative Treehouse has historically been proved accurate and quite a bit ahead of the curve.