US scrambles to fill intelligence vacuum in wake of rapid Taliban victory in Afghanistan
CNN
The rapid Taliban victory in Afghanistan has provided a boost to extremist groups and terror networks and hastened an intelligence vacuum that US officials are now scrambling to fill.
For months, US intelligence agencies had been preparing for what would inevitably be a reduced intelligence gathering operation in the region, given the withdrawal of US and allied forces from Afghanistan. But the sudden collapse of Afghanistan's government has prompted US intelligence agencies to move some resources to the region from elsewhere, according to two sources familiar with the matter, in an effort to try to make up for capabilities they view as key to detecting plots that could affect the US at home or its interests abroad.President Joe Biden is expected to announce an executive order as early as Tuesday that would effectively shut down the US-Mexico border to asylum-seekers crossing illegally when a daily threshold of crossings is exceeded – a sweeping and controversial proposal that is likely to receive fierce pushback from progressives and immigration advocates.
In the days and weeks leading up Hunter Biden’s trial on felony gun charges, President Joe Biden made little attempt to distance himself from his son. Instead, Hunter Biden was seen at the White House and in Delaware at his father’s side amid what the president’s allies acknowledge is a difficult moment for both men.