Went down a bit of an internet rabbit hole over the last few days.

Main points:

– The spooks were packing up their shit well in advance of the fall of Kabul. They knew what was coming. But I guess the WH didn’t want to hear it

– The CIA’s local paramilitary, the NDS ‘Zero’ teams (who of course are accused of all kinds of murders and horrible shit) did a deal to get out

– In exchange for guarding the northern perimeter of HKIA during the evacuation, NDS operatives and their families got flights out, allegedly charging literally anyone $5,000 to get into the airport, with or without papers

– US citizens, SIV’s and others who helped the military and/or State were left behind in far greater numbers

https://twitter.com/CharlotteBellis/status/1433781934732333063

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/world/asia/cia-afghanistan-evacuations-demolitions.html

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Edit: clarification of who the NDS were selling airport access to