As the chaos surrounding the Biden administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan turned very deadly Thursday, news broke this week that the U.S. has either abandoned or handed over more than weapons, aircraft, ammo, and vehicles.
Also left for the Taliban were biometric data and readers that can identify many of the persons who worked with U.S. and NATO forces over the entirety of the 20 year Afghanistan war.
In addition to complex personal identification information like names and phone numbers, the equipment left behind includes biometric Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE). These devices hold digital iris and fingerprint scans along with stored biographical information.
The U.S. has used such devices in Afghanistan to conclusively identify contractors and Afghan locals who agreed to assist and work for the U.S. military.
A report in JihadWatch said that there will likely be disastrous results for persons stranded in Afghanistan whose information is stored on the devices now in the hands of the Taliban. It goes on to say the episode demonstrates that Joe Biden is so incredibly incompetent that his actions increasingly resemble deliberate sabotage.
Additionally, Politico reported on Thursday that U.S. officials directly handed over to the Taliban a list of American citizens and nationals and multiple Afghan allies. The Taliban was given this information to facilitate the entry of listed persons into the outer perimeter of the Kabul airport during U.S. evacuation efforts.
This week, the decision to hand over identifying information for stranded Americans led to outrage from some military officials and lawmakers.
Handing this information to the Taliban was expected to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from the situation that turned deadly on Thursday for at least 12 American troops when a complex suicide bombing mission was carried out near one of the busiest gates into the airport.
One military official told Politico on the condition of anonymity that “they just put all those Afghans on a kill list, and it makes you feel unclean.”
Earlier this week, Biden officials said that turning over the list was the best way to keep evacuees safe and prevent a shooting war with Taliban soldiers.
The Biden administration has been working directly with the Taliban in running checkpoints along the airport’s outer perimeter. At a press conference, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby stated earlier this week that U.S. officials have been in “daily communication” with Taliban commanders over checkpoint operations.
