It’s Tuesday August 31 and we are on the road today, joining you from Texas, where we are scouting locations for an upcoming Cipher Brief event. We’re looking forward to sharing more on that with you in the very near future. But let’s get to the lead today: US forces have completed their withdrawal from Kabul - ending Washington’s 20-year mission in Afghanistan.
US missile defenses intercept multiple rockets targeting Kabul airport as US prepares for final evacuation of remaining troops > US Targets suspected ISIS-K sites in multiple air strikes> European leaders are pushing for a Kabul ‘Safe Zone’ in a special session of the UN security council > A new UN report says North Korea may be restarting a nuclear site > and China will soon surpass Russia as nuclear power.
Suicide attack kills at least 60 Afghans and 13 US military troops; Biden vows to hunt those responsible; US and Britain continue evacuation efforts while all other allies have ceased their operations in Kabul; Russia tells Iran to restart nuclear negotiations; Conflict in Ethiopia grows while UN warns of humanitarian catastrophe.
Chaos in Afghanistan as explosion rock Kabul resulting in numerous Afghan KIA and US wounded; Wall Street Journal report highlights clandestine efforts by CIA during ongoing rescue operations around Afghanistan; Major Cyber Summit at White House with President Biden and heads of leading tech companies. A lot more in this episode.
Special Guest former CIA Officer Marc Polymeropoulos joins us to talk about VP Kamala Harris and the suspected 'Havana Syndrome' incident in Hanoi and also shares his perspective on the unfolding situation in Afghanistan.
CIA Director Burns meets secretly with Taliban co-founder Baradar; Biden facing pressure to extend withdrawal deadline, White House says announcement on that 'imminent'; VP Harris accuses China of bullying; Iran starts second shipment of oil in violation of US sanctions.
In this episode: The Taliban won't agree to foreign troops in Afghanistan beyond August 31 while Biden says the US may in fact extend the deadline, setting the stage for heightened tensions. Security at the Kabul airport continues to deteriorate. Taiwan warns that China is seeking to emulate the Taliban while committing that it can defend itself and VP Harris kicks off a south Asian tour in Singapore.
In this episode: Britain has meeting with UN Security Council over ship attack while the UK's top General calls for military action on Iran.
U.S. announces new $750 million dollar arms deal with Taiwan and Beijing's foreign ministry says it will 'seriously damage' U.S.-China relations and vows to react; Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz says Israel is prepared to militarily respond to Iran and says the time is now for the world to take action against Iran. A lot more in this episode.
In this episode: A second ship attack off the coast of UAE with some officials accusing Iran of being behind the hijacking; Former UK National Cybersecurity Center CEO Ciaran Martin says 'cyberbabble' is not a policy response; We welcome special guest and TCB Expert Norm Roule to the show to break down the state of play with Iran.
US & UK accuse Taliban of war crimes as Afghan Military commander urges citizens to flee Lashkar Gar as fighting continues in major Afghan cities; Belarusian opposition leader found dead in Ukraine; German navy ship sets sail for South China Sea.
In this episode: Republican Congressional lawmakers say COVID escaped from Wuhan lab and urge bi-partisan investigation; Senators urge Biden to let the Intel Community COVID investigation continue 'as long as necessary'; Israel, US and UK say Iran responsible for shipping attack and Blinken says a response is coming. There's a lot more in this episode to start the week.