Today’s Headlines and Commentary

Taliban leaders declared victory in Afghanistan after the last United States plane departed from Kabul around midnight, according to the New York Times. Secretary of State Blinken announced that the American embassy in Kabul would remain closed. Earlier this month, Blinken said the U.S. would remain “deeply engaged” in Afghanistan long after troops left. In remarks at the State Department just as the U.S. withdrawal completed, he told reporters, “Given the uncertain security environment and political situation in Afghanistan, it was the prudent step to take.” As many as 200 American citizens and tens of thousands of Afghans who worked with U.S. organizations were left behind after a two-week evacuation effort ended yesterday. Blinken demanded that the Taliban make good on its promise to allow those with the necessary paperwork to leave the country.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that at least 40,000 vulnerable Afghans who worked with German organizations in Afghanistan remain in the country, and the German government is assessing whether they are eligible for evacuation, according to the Washington Post. German officials said the country’s evacuation efforts rescued only 634 people before official border crossings closed and military flights ended. Uzbekistan has said it will allow Afghans headed to Germany to temporarily enter the country by air, though its land borders will remain closed.

The FBI announced that in 2020, hate crimes in the United States rose to their highest level in 12 years, according to the Washington Post. The agency tallied 7,759 hate crimes last year, an increase of 6 percent from 2019 that it says was propelled by attacks on Black and Asian people. Last year was the sixth time in the past seven years that the number rose, resulting in a 42 percent increase since 2014. Attorney General Merrick Garland said hate crimes “instill fear across entire communities and undermine the principles upon which our democracy stands” and pointed to measures the Justice Department is taking to improve incident reporting and better train law enforcement.

The European Union proposed travel restrictions on unvaccinated visitors from the United States, reports the New York Times. In June, the EU added the U.S. to its “safe list” of countries whose residents could enter without quarantine or other restrictions. The bloc has proposed removing the United States from the list in response to a surge of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in the U.S. The suggested policy is not mandatory, and each member country decides whether to adopt the restrictions.

The United Nations announced that leaded gasoline for cars has been completely eradicated, according to the BBC. Many countries banned the toxic fuel in the 1980s, but Algeria, the last country to allow leaded gasoline, ran out in July. The gasoline has contaminated air, water and soil for almost a century and can cause heart disease, cancer and strokes. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the development an “international success story” and said the eradication “will prevent more than one million premature deaths each year from heart disease, strokes and cancer, and it will protect children whose IQs are damaged by exposure to lead.”

Taiwan will hold a large-scale air raid drill which will simulate missile and warplane attacks from China, according to the South China Morning Post. The annual drill, called the Wan An exercise, comes amid rising tension across the Taiwan Strait. Chinese PLA forces have recently aimed missiles at Taiwan, flown warplanes into Taiwanese Air Defense Identification Zone and staged war games of their own close to the island. Defense Ministry spokesperson Shen Shun-wen said the exercise is aimed at strengthening the “overall alertness, preparedness and capability of both the government and the public in dealing with such threats” from Beijing.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Jan Patja Howell shared an episode of the Lawfare Podcast in which Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson sits down with Oona Hathaway of Yale Law School and Matt Waxman of Columbia Law School to talk about Authorization for Use of Military Force reform after Afghanistan.

Alex Zerden explained what is known about ISIS-K funding in Afghanistan.

Susan Landau discussed the implications of Apple’s new system for preventing the spread of child sexual abuse material that involves scanning the material of all those using certain apps.

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