5 ms·

White House weighs response as Biden faces mounting criticism over Afghanistan

9 points by drocer88 5y ago

nanis 5y ago
Clearly not very seriously. Neither the Secretary of State[1] (whose employees are in peril at the airport) nor Biden[2] has anything on their public schedules. Also, this is the kind of thing one has to plan for, not wing it and figure it out after the fact. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28197904 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28197904 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28197884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28197884
- eesmith 5y ago
  The public meeting list for August 16 currently says "Secretary Blinken attends meetings and briefings, from the Department of State." You can't infer that the lack of public meetings on the topic means a lack of any action. For example, the same source lists no activity (public meetings or otherwise) for the SoS on August 14. But scrolling through https://www.state.gov/press-releases/ https://www.state.gov/press-releases/ shows relevant activity : August 14: "Secretary Blinken’s Call with Canadian Foreign Minister Garneau" - https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-canadian-foreign-minister-garneau-3/ https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-canadian-... August 14: "Secretary Blinken’s Call with Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation Chair Abdullah Abdullah" - https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-afghanistan-high-council-for-national-reconciliation-chair-abdullah-abdullah-2/ https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-afghanist... August 14: "Secretary Blinken’s Call with Afghan President Ghani" - https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-afghan-president-ghani-5/ https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-afghan-pr... Or, for a weekday, August 12, "Secretary Blinken’s Calls with Foreign Minister Garneau, Foreign Minister Maas, and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg " - https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-calls-with-foreign-minister-garneau-foreign-minister-maas-and-nato-secretary-general-stoltenberg/ https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-calls-with-foreign-... but his public schedule for that day was "Secretary Blinken has no public appointments." - https://www.state.gov/public-schedule-august-12-2021/ https://www.state.gov/public-schedule-august-12-2021/ .
  - nanis 5y ago
    > You can't infer that the lack of public meetings on the topic means a lack of any action. I can infer from a lack of press conferences, public addresses, or any public explanation of what they are going to do that they do not intend to keep the public informed and they did not expect any of this nor did they have any preparations. So, now, they are struggling to figure out something coherent to say that will not be invalidated in less than a few hours.
    - eesmith 5y ago
      Of that I agree. My comment, however, referred to your original statement 'Clearly not very seriously'. Very Serious People have been winging it for the last 20 years.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
FridayoLeary 5y ago
The UK launches public enquiries for these sorts of failures. Calls are being made for one now, i think. Is there any equivalent in America?

9 points by drocer88 5y ago

Clearly not very seriously. Neither the Secretary of State[1] (whose employees are in peril at the airport) nor Biden[2] has anything on their public schedules. Also, this is the kind of thing one has to plan for, not wing it and figure it out after the fact. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28197904 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28197904 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28197884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28197884

eesmith 5y ago
The public meeting list for August 16 currently says "Secretary Blinken attends meetings and briefings, from the Department of State." You can't infer that the lack of public meetings on the topic means a lack of any action. For example, the same source lists no activity (public meetings or otherwise) for the SoS on August 14. But scrolling through https://www.state.gov/press-releases/ https://www.state.gov/press-releases/ shows relevant activity : August 14: "Secretary Blinken’s Call with Canadian Foreign Minister Garneau" - https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-canadian-foreign-minister-garneau-3/ https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-canadian-... August 14: "Secretary Blinken’s Call with Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation Chair Abdullah Abdullah" - https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-afghanistan-high-council-for-national-reconciliation-chair-abdullah-abdullah-2/ https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-afghanist... August 14: "Secretary Blinken’s Call with Afghan President Ghani" - https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-afghan-president-ghani-5/ https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-call-with-afghan-pr... Or, for a weekday, August 12, "Secretary Blinken’s Calls with Foreign Minister Garneau, Foreign Minister Maas, and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg " - https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-calls-with-foreign-minister-garneau-foreign-minister-maas-and-nato-secretary-general-stoltenberg/ https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-calls-with-foreign-... but his public schedule for that day was "Secretary Blinken has no public appointments." - https://www.state.gov/public-schedule-august-12-2021/ https://www.state.gov/public-schedule-august-12-2021/ .
- nanis 5y ago
  > You can't infer that the lack of public meetings on the topic means a lack of any action. I can infer from a lack of press conferences, public addresses, or any public explanation of what they are going to do that they do not intend to keep the public informed and they did not expect any of this nor did they have any preparations. So, now, they are struggling to figure out something coherent to say that will not be invalidated in less than a few hours.
  - eesmith 5y ago
    Of that I agree. My comment, however, referred to your original statement 'Clearly not very seriously'. Very Serious People have been winging it for the last 20 years.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

FridayoLeary 5y ago

The UK launches public enquiries for these sorts of failures. Calls are being made for one now, i think. Is there any equivalent in America?