After Thursday’s CBS Evening News decided it was time to abandon coverage of President Biden’s Afghanistan debacle, on Thursday, CBS This Morning and NBC’s Today show both made the same decision to ignore the ongoing foreign policy disaster. Only ABC’s Good Morning America managed to provide any Afghanistan coverage, warning viewers that the Taliban had seize U.S. military equipment left behind, including a functioning Black Hawk helicopter.
While NBC didn’t feel the continuing collapse of Afghanistan – where over 100 Americans and tens of thousands of U.S. Afghan allies are still trapped – was worthy of news coverage, its frivolous morning show did find time for a segment that devoted over three minutes to Broadway shows reopening. Even though CBS This Morning couldn’t squeeze in a single mention of Afghanistan, it made sure to spend over three minutes on China banning children from playing video games.
In sharp contrast, GMA stayed on the important topic, with fill-in co-host Cecilia Vega announcing: “We’re gonna turn now to the shocking images coming in right now from Afghanistan. The Taliban parading through the streets in U.S. armored vehicles and flying a Black Hawk helicopter.”
Correspondent James Longman sadly reported:
They’ve now sealed their military victory and so now for the Taliban the propaganda campaign has got underway. They wasted no time in celebrating the capture of U.S. hardware left behind by the Afghan army and the U.S. military. Take a look at this, this is video shot by Taliban forces, it shows a parade of U.S. armored vehicles just outside of Kandahar Wednesday. And right on top of there, that is the black and white flag of the Taliban. And take a look at this, flying overhead was a Black Hawk helicopter.
He concluded that cache of weapons and equipment would significantly help the terrorist regime tighten its stranglehold over the war-torn nation: “Now, it’s not clear how much U.S. hardware is now in the hands of the Taliban, but certainly gaining control in the skies with this kind of equipment is a major boost for them.”
Unfortunately, like on Thursday’s World News Tonight, GMA didn’t provide any update on Americans and Afghans left behind.
The networks have provided tough coverage of the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures in Afghanistan. However, the liberal media are still in business to protect the Democratic Party and are already trying to turn the page away from the President’s massive failure.
Here is a full transcript of the September 2 segment on GMA:
7:33 AM ET
CECILIA VEGA: We’re gonna turn now to the shocking images coming in right now from Afghanistan. The Taliban parading through the streets in U.S. armored vehicles and flying a Black Hawk helicopter. James Longman joins us now with more on this. Good morning, James.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Afghanistan Withdrawal Aftermath; Taliban Parades U.S. Armored Vehicles & Black Hawk Helicopter]
LONGMAN: Yeah, good morning, Cecilia. They’ve now sealed their military victory and so now for the Taliban the propaganda campaign has got underway. They wasted no time in celebrating the capture of U.S. hardware left behind by the Afghan army and the U.S. military. Take a look at this, this is video shot by Taliban forces, it shows a parade of U.S. armored vehicles just outside of Kandahar Wednesday. And right on top of there, that is the black and white flag of the Taliban. And take a look at this, flying overhead was a Black Hawk helicopter.
Now, it’s not clear how much U.S. hardware is now in the hands of the Taliban, but certainly gaining control in the skies with this kind of equipment is a major boost for them.
Now, taking power is one thing, but keeping it is quite another. And the Taliban does hope to form a new government. A spokesman has said that they’ll be announced in the next few days, there have been talks over the last three days. What is quite clear now is that there won’t be any non-Taliban members as part of that government. Cecilia?
VEGA: Yeah, and James, there have been so many questions about that U.S. drone strike after the attack on the airport there in Kabul. Ten civilians were killed in it but the Pentagon, they were pushed on this, they’re not backing down, they’re defending what happened there.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: U.S. Defends Deadly Drone Strike; Gen Milley: Hit That Killed 10 Civilians “Righteous”]
LONGMAN: No, that’s absolutely right, Cecilia. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mike Milley, has called the U.S. drone strike “righteous.” It took out at least one ISIS-K member and he said that there was intelligence that suggested that ISIS-K had another plot, he called that attack imminent and that is why the U.S. carried out that strike. Cecilia?
VEGA: James Longman, thank you so much.
