Presented by Climate Power

Hey, good morning, playbookers.

It's Monday, August 16th.

I'm Rugu Mono-Voland.

And this is your Politico Playbook Daily Briefing.

Let's get you up to speed when it comes to the situation in Afghanistan.

The Taliban to Kabul occupied the presidential palace and declared that,

quote, the war is over. President Ashraf Gandhi left the country, while Westerners and Afghan

partners are trying to leave. It's creating a chaotic situation at the Kabul airport where all

U.S. embassy personnel have relocated. President Joe Biden authorized another 1,000 troops to Kabul,

bringing the total to 6,000.

The State Department and Pentagon announced that they were completing a series of steps to

secure the airport to enable the safe departure of U.S. and ally personnel from Afghanistan via

civilian and military flights, and that the United States would be taking over air traffic

control. The joint statement from the U.S. and dozens of allies warned the Taliban not to interfere with the evacuation effort.

The U.S. embassy in Kabul advised Americans there to shelter in place, and this comes from the AP.

General Mark Millie, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators on a briefing call Sunday

that U.S. officials are expected

to alter their earlier assessments about the pace of terrorist groups reconstituting in Afghanistan,

because, quote, officials believe terror groups like al-Qaeda may be able to grow much faster

than expected. While team Biden is often unflappable in the face of bad news, the AP reports that the president and other top U.S. officials were stunned on Sunday by the pace of the Taliban's nearly complete takeover of Afghanistan.

Biden and his team have often been praised for their discipline and refusal to allow what they see as ankle Biden critics in the media to throw them off course.

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