{"id":2332388,"date":"2024-08-28T09:07:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marine-who-guarded-kabul-airport-calls-for-accountability\/"},"modified":"2024-08-28T09:12:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:12:41","slug":"marine-who-guarded-kabul-airport-calls-for-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marine-who-guarded-kabul-airport-calls-for-accountability\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine Who Guarded Kabul Airport Calls For Accountability"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmarine-who-guarded-kabul-airport-calls-for-accountability%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2332388&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Marine Corps Cpl. Greg Whalen shared his experiences while guarding Hamid Karzai\u2062 International Airport during the \u2063chaotic final \u2062days \u200bof \u2062the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. As thousands of Afghans gathered outside the \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-military-suspends-evacuations-amid-chaos-at-kabul-airport\/\" title=\"US Military Suspends Evacuations Amid Chaos at Kabul Airport\">airport seeking<\/a> to escape, Whalen and his fellow Marines struggled to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/7-children-and-2-adults-die-in-calif-car-crash\/\" title=\"7 children and 2 adults die in Calif. car crash\">maintain control<\/a>, having to\u2063 keep the gates closed to prevent a \u200brush of desperate individuals. The withdrawal, which will mark its three-year anniversary on August 30, was \u200dmarked by significant challenges, including the abandonment of thousands of Americans and vast\u200d amounts \u200bof military equipment. An ISIS\u200b suicide\u200d bombing resulted in the deaths of 13 American soldiers and many Afghans.<\/p>\n<p>Whalen pointed out that, while \u2063President Biden might bear some responsibility, the situation was complex, and no senior officials have been\u200c held accountable for the withdrawal&#8217;s failures. Despite clear intentions for\u2062 withdrawal, \u200cWhalen expressed frustration over\u2062 the\u200b lack\u2064 of \u2062preparation and timely action before\u200b the situation worsened.<\/p>\n<p>Having served in Afghanistan after being stationed in\u200c Kuwait, Whalen described the tense atmosphere \u200bat the airport, \u200bwhere Marines \u2064were tasked with processing evacuees amidst \u2064crowds seeking safety. In reflection, he creatively expressed his sentiments by releasing songs commemorating the \u2062tragic\u200d events, including one titled &#8220;Kabul 2021.&#8221; He\u200c remarked on the strange collaboration \u200bbetween\u200b American forces and \u2062the \u200bTaliban,\u200d noting the potential for escalation that was \u200ckept in check. Ultimately, the withdrawal remains a significant and contentious topic, with ongoing discussions about accountability and lessons learned from the operation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Marine Corps Cpl. Greg Whalen peered across barbed wire, overlooking chaos below the wall. He was guarding Hamid Karzai International Airport, days before America withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got thousands of people outside,&rdquo; Whalen said to The Federalist. &ldquo;We had to keep it closed and maintain control.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Afghanistan withdrawal marks its three-year anniversary on Aug. 30. The disastrous exit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/News-Stories\/Article\/Article\/3741245\/kabul-airport-attack-review-reaffirms-initial-findings-identifies-attacker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left<\/a> as many as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.risch.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/2022\/2\/bombshell-report-biden-admin-left-9k-americans-in-afghanistan-originally-claimed-150\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">9,000 Americans<\/a> in Afghanistan, according to a 2022 report, along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/04\/27\/politics\/afghan-weapons-left-behind\/index.html\">$7 billion<\/a> of military <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Resist_CBDC\/status\/1826820015657759115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1826820015657759115%7Ctwgr%5E09973af172baf3613049a009b1f2bb5592ba5dbf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthefederalist.com%2F2024%2F08%2F26%2Fno-one-has-resigned-in-three-years-since-catastrophic-afghanistan-withdrawal%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">equipment<\/a> for the Taliban. An ISIS suicide bomber <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/News-Stories\/Article\/Article\/3741245\/kabul-airport-attack-review-reaffirms-initial-findings-identifies-attacker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">killed<\/a> 13 American service members and hundreds of Afghans outside the airport in the closing days of the withdrawal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to say, &lsquo;It is Joe Biden&rsquo;s fault.&rsquo; It&rsquo;s way more complicated than that,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;But all of them together as a group? Somebody should have held somebody accountable.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Not a single senior official has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/26\/no-one-has-resigned-in-three-years-since-catastrophic-afghanistan-withdrawal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">resigned<\/a> or been fired in the three years since the calamity, as The Federalist previously reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The purpose of the withdrawal was clear, according to Whalen, but how to accomplish it and how the situation became so dire seemed like a &ldquo;mystery.&rdquo; He noted he was simply giving his opinion. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The fact that it got to the situation that it was, and we weren&rsquo;t even called to go in and do anything until basically two weeks before the deadline, is insane,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;There are videos of people clinging to planes and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AlinejadMasih\/status\/1427252725851561987\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">falling<\/a> from the sky because they&rsquo;re so desperate to get out. That was the condition on the ground. To me, somebody could have seen that this was going to need more help, much faster, much earlier.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Whalen released three <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/3IaimKAkmk10m8M135wkyC?si=8xiPhGrOQfapxedDftfGRg&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=08edfb72bcd8449d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">songs<\/a> on Aug. 23 in remembrance of the tragedy. One song, &ldquo;Kabul 2021,&rdquo; recalls the last Americans leaving Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Can&rsquo;t you see what&rsquo;s been going on<\/p>\n<p>What cowards are running the show?<\/p>\n<p>How is it right to be promising life<\/p>\n<p>When we intend to up and go home?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Before the Fray<\/h3>\n<p>Whalen, who is no longer on active duty, enlisted in the Marines in 2017 after high school. He served at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, then was ordered to the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines. It was with this unit that he deployed in 2021 for his first tour overseas. &ldquo;The deployment was essentially getting on a ship with the Navy, sailing around, and then Marines getting off at different places to do training, and just be on standby in case something happened,&rdquo; Whalen said.<\/p>\n<p>His unit was planning to leave the Middle East in July, he said, but officials said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin wanted them to stay in the area. So the unit spent an entire month in Kuwait on standby.&nbsp;Meanwhile, the Taliban had been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/specials\/taliban-takeover-afghanistan-5-days\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">taking over<\/a> Afghanistan since America began withdrawing in May. &ldquo;We knew we might be going. It really looked like we weren&rsquo;t going to,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;We&rsquo;ve been sitting here this whole time. If they really needed us, they would have used us.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But that changed, Whalen said, when officials ordered the troops to Afghanistan on Aug. 12 or 13 &mdash; just weeks before the withdrawal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/08\/24\/politics\/joe-biden-g7-afghanistan\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">deadline<\/a> of Aug. 31. &ldquo;Suddenly, &lsquo;Yep, we&rsquo;re going right now,&rsquo;&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d been packed and ready, so guys immediately just started going.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h3>On the Ground<\/h3>\n<p>After arriving in Afghanistan, Whalen patrolled the perimeter of the airport in a &ldquo;combined anti-armor team.&rdquo; He said the walls were not very tall, so people occasionally climbed over. &ldquo;We were kind of constantly driving, so we did a mixture,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;Most of the time we did spend at East Gate.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Whalen said so many Afghans gathered outside the gate that Marines parked a truck behind it so the crowd could not force its way in.<\/p>\n<figure><video controls src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_4146.mov\"><\/video><figcaption>Marines securing the East Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport. Courtesy | Gregory Whalen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Marines held the gate closed, opening it just enough to let individuals through &mdash; forcing it shut when the mob surged, according to Whalen. Parents passed their babies to the Marines, begging them for help.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The baby thing came from, they&rsquo;re either going to overheat or get crushed,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;So the parents are like, &lsquo;Please take them.&rsquo; And then we&rsquo;d grab them when they&rsquo;d come in.&rdquo;&nbsp;Whalen appeared in a viral video at the time, just to the left of a Marine lifting a baby over barbed wire.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>&ldquo;The only thing I trusted was that he was a Marine and my daughter would be fine,&rdquo; says the father of the baby who was passed over razor wire to a U.S. Marine at the Kabul airport. <\/p>\n<p>Now, she and her family are safe in Arizona after a harrowing escape. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jjhteNbSTw\">pic.twitter.com\/jjhteNbSTw<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBSEveningNews\/status\/1443991663538475012?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Officials later commanded Marines to close off the gate for good, according to Whalen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He said the situation became more dire as thousands of Afghans &mdash; many of whom were translators or sympathetic to America &mdash; piled up inside and outside the airport, hoping to escape.&nbsp;&ldquo;Dealing with the people that were trying to evacuate was just the strangest, really tense situation where you&rsquo;re having to get in their face, maybe physically force them back,&rdquo; Whalen said.&nbsp;He credited commanding officers and other Marines for keeping some semblance of order, though he said it was &ldquo;hectic.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;One of the major frustrations is that we were bringing people inside, searching them, getting them set in the staging areas to load them up on buses so they can go to the terminal,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;For days, there were no buses.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>Marines escorted Afghans into the airport. Courtesy | Gregory Whalen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>He said the crowd included expectant mothers, many of whom gave birth under the stress of the situation. He called it the &ldquo;perfect storm.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was just weird,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;It was everything from, &lsquo;Get ready for a combat type reaction if the Taliban or somebody does try to come through shooting,&rsquo; to &lsquo;Get baby formula for the brand new baby whose mother just gave birth.&rsquo; The whole spectrum.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He said the military&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/08\/31\/politics\/taliban-escorted-american-kabul-airport\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arrangement<\/a> with the Taliban &mdash; in which the Taliban secured the exterior while Americans focused on the interior &mdash; was one of the &ldquo;weirdest and most frustrating things.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We were face to face, in a way, for the whole time we were there,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;It was extremely tense.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>A member of the Taliban (center right) and a translator (center left) speaking to Whalen (far left) and the Marine who lifted the baby in the viral <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CBSEveningNews\/status\/1443991663538475012\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video<\/a> (far right).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>While the Taliban primarily wanted the Americans to leave, Whalen said, the situation could easily have escalated. &ldquo;There were times where they threatened to start shooting,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they would have done that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>But on Aug. 26 three years ago, an ISIS member <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/News-Stories\/Article\/Article\/3741245\/kabul-airport-attack-review-reaffirms-initial-findings-identifies-attacker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">killed<\/a> 13 American service members and over 150 Afghans in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-nashville-bomber-anthony-warner-perished-at-scene-dna-was-found-at-site-of-explosion-us-attorney-video\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Nashville Bomber Anthony Warner Perished at Scene, DNA Was Found at Site of Explosion: US Attorney (VIDEO)\">suicide bombing<\/a> outside an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mayhemthis-was-nuts-cnn-reports-kabul-airport-in-chaos-despite-white-house-assurances\/\" title=\"\u2018Mayhem\u2026This Was Nuts\u2019: CNN Reports Kabul Airport In Chaos Despite White House Assurances\">airport gate<\/a> in Kabul. Whalen said the gate was &ldquo;just down the street&rdquo; from where he was stationed, but he was on patrol at the time. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For hours that afternoon, we would get to the trucks and we&rsquo;re sitting there waiting, just in case we had to zoom off after it all happened,&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;One of the weirdest things was, I can&rsquo;t even remember hearing the bomb going off.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Former President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MatthewFoldi\/status\/1828065932867944701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">laid<\/a> flowers at Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 26 this year to honor the fallen Americans. President Joe Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2024\/08\/26\/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-the-anniversary-of-the-terrorist-attack-outside-kabul-airport\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued<\/a> a statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The last American troops left Afghanistan on Aug. 30, 2021.<\/p>\n<h3>Lasting Consequences<\/h3>\n<p>Vice President Kamala Harris had a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/04\/25\/harris-afghanistan-biden-withdrawal-decision-484581\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">key role<\/a>&rdquo; in the decision to withdraw, according to Politico. She <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CortesSteve\/status\/1828026916948918635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1828026916948918635%7Ctwgr%5E09973af172baf3613049a009b1f2bb5592ba5dbf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthefederalist.com%2F2024%2F08%2F26%2Fno-one-has-resigned-in-three-years-since-catastrophic-afghanistan-withdrawal%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> she was the &ldquo;last person in the room&rdquo; with Biden before he made the decision.<\/p>\n<p>Whalen said that, while he did not know who made the decisions, someone along the line &ldquo;completely failed in the planning process.&rdquo;&nbsp;He said the failed withdrawal destroyed the partnerships between troops and Afghans.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our country has made promises to a lot of people for decades, saying, &lsquo;We&rsquo;re going to help you. You&rsquo;re working with and for us,&rsquo;&rdquo; Whalen said. &ldquo;The way that it fell out has shattered a lot of American lives too, because of the intensity of the relationships that they made when they were deployed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marine Corps Cpl. Greg Whalen looked over the barbed wire at the turmoil unfolding below as he guarded Hamid Karzai International Airport, just days before the final U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. &#8220;There are thousands of people outside,&#8221; Whalen told The Federalist. &#8220;We had to keep it closed and maintain control.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>The anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal will be observed on August 30, three years after a chaotic exit that reportedly left around 9,000 Americans behind and resulted in $7 billion worth of military equipment falling into Taliban hands, according to a 2022 report. Tragically, an ISIS suicide bomber killed 13 American service members and hundreds of Afghans near the airport during those final days.<\/p>\n<p>Whalen expressed that while he wouldn&#8217;t place all blame on President Joe Biden\u2014acknowledging the complexity of the situation\u2014he felt accountability was lacking among senior officials since no one has resigned or been dismissed in three years following this crisis, as previously reported by The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that while the goal of withdrawal was clear, how it was executed and how conditions deteriorated became perplexing. &#8220;It&#8217;s insane that we weren&#8217;t called to act until just two weeks before the deadline,&#8221; Whalen remarked. He pointed out videos showing desperate individuals clinging to planes as they tried to escape: \u201cSomeone should have recognized earlier that more assistance was needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In remembrance of these events, Whalen released three songs on August 23; one titled \u201cKabul 2021\u201d reflects on Americans&#8217; last moments in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>Whalen enlisted in the Marines after high school in 2017 and served at Camp Lejeune before being assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines for his first overseas deployment in 2021. Initially planned for departure from the Middle East in July, his unit remained on standby for a month due to directives from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin amidst Taliban advances following America&#8217;s May withdrawal announcement.<\/p>\n<p>However, everything changed when orders came through around August 12 or 13 for troops to head into Afghanistan just weeks ahead of their scheduled exit date. Upon arrival at Kabul airport, Whalen patrolled its perimeter with a combined anti-armor team but faced challenges with large crowds attempting entry.<\/p>\n<p>To manage overwhelming numbers outside East Gate where many Afghans gathered\u2014many being translators or allies\u2014the Marines parked vehicles behind it to prevent breaches while allowing limited access for individuals needing help.<\/p>\n<p>Parents often handed their babies over barbed wire out of fear they would be crushed or overheated; some were captured on video during this tense moment when a Marine lifted an infant over razor wire\u2014a scene later shared widely online by news outlets like CBS Evening News.<\/p>\n<p>As conditions worsened with thousands hoping for evacuation inside and outside airport grounds amid rising tensions with Taliban forces securing perimeters outside while Americans focused inwardly\u2014it created an atmosphere fraught with urgency yet chaos where even expectant mothers gave birth under duress described by Whalen as a \u201cperfect storm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He criticized military arrangements made between U.S forces and Taliban fighters which involved them managing external security while American troops handled internal operations\u2014a dynamic he found both strange yet frustrating given their proximity throughout this ordeal leading up until tragedy struck when an ISIS attack claimed lives including those among his fellow service members stationed nearby during its occurrence.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately marking August&#8217;s end saw all American troops depart from Afghan soil officially concluding two decades-long involvement there amidst lasting repercussions stemming from broken promises made towards local partners who had relied upon U.S support throughout years past now shattered relationships left behind due largely because planning failures along decision-making processes went unchecked according him reflecting broader implications affecting countless lives moving forward post-withdrawal era still felt today across communities impacted deeply within region itself long-term ramifications remain evident ongoing discussions surrounding these events continue shaping narratives surrounding America\u2019s role abroad historically speaking too<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2332389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-80.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[8049,39504,7801,4505],"class_list":["post-2332388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-accountability","tag-kabul-airport","tag-marine","tag-military"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-80.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2332388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2332389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2332388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2332388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2332388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}