berchman Loc: South Central PA

The Taliban Have Seized U.S.
Military Biometrics Devices
Biometric collection and identification
devices were seized last week during the
Taliban’s offensive.
August 17 2021, 3:11 p.m.

The Taliban have seized U.S. military biometrics devices
that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted
coalition forces, current and former military officials have
told The Intercept.

The devices, known as HIIDE, for Handheld Interagency
Identity Detection Equipment, were seized last week during
the Taliban’s offensive, according to a Joint Special
Operations Command official and three former U.S. military
personnel, all of whom worried that sensitive data they
contain could be used by the Taliban. HIIDE devices contain
identifying biometric data such as iris scans and
fingerprints, as well as biographical information, and are
used to access large centralized databases. It’s unclear how
much of the U.S. military’s biometric database on the
Afghan population has been c*********d.

While billed by the U.S. military as a means of tracking

terrorists and other insurgents, biometric data on Afghans
who assisted the U.S. was also widely collected and used in
identification cards, sources said.

“We processed thousands of locals a day, had to ID, sweep
for suicide vests, weapons, intel gathering, etc.” a U.S.
military contractor explained. “[HIIDE] was used as a
biometric ID tool to help ID locals working for the coalition.”

A spokesperson for the Defense Intelligence Agency
referred questions to the Office of the Secretary of Defense,
which did not respond to a request for comment.

An Army Special Operations veteran said it’s possible that
the Taliban may need additional tools to process the HIIDE
data but expressed concerns that Pakistan would assist
with this. “The Taliban doesn’t have the gear to use the data
but the ISI do,” the former Special Operations official said,
referring to Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services
Intelligence. The ISI has been known to work closely with
the Taliban.

tramsey Loc: Texas

And your source is ...

berchman Loc: South Central PA

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I find it reprehensible that we made little, if any, effort to remove (destroy) our weapons and technology while we leaving.
--Bob

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

That's what you get when the politicians start issuing orders.... You should look to your president and the leadership he has chosen and not the folks on the ground that are told to just get out, leave everything behind. Wasn't the Afghan army supposed to take all that equipment?

Rose42

Must you plagiarize?

Regardless, call it for what it is. A collosal failure on the part of the Biden administration.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

Plagiarize? I gave the source after it was requested.

Were the military issued orders by Biden to leave behind technology that could be used to identify those who helped us?

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

It wasn't left for the Taliban it was left for the Afghan Army, but now we know that the Taliban owns thousands of armored vehicles, Black Hawk Helicopters, the technology that you are concerned about.... Face it, Biden and his generals, the same ones that stood down the military to look for none existent problems of g****r insensitivity, are big failures.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

You may be interested in this..... Colossal failure by Blinkin and his State Department.

Confidential State Department Cable in July Warned of Afghanistan’s Collapse

About two dozen State Department officials in Kabul sent an internal memo to Secretary of State Antony Blinken

WASHINGTON -- About two dozen State Department officials serving at the embassy in Kabul sent an internal memo to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and another top State Department official last month warning of the potential collapse of Kabul soon after the Aug. 31 troop withdrawal deadline, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the cable.

The cable, sent via the State Department’s confidential dissent channel, warned of rapid territorial gains by the Taliban and the subsequent collapse of Afghan security forces, and offered recommendations on ways to mitigate the crisis and speed up an evacuation, the two people said.

The cable, dated July 13, also called for the State Department to use tougher language in describing the atrocities being committed by the Taliban, one of the people said.

The classified cable represents the clearest evidence yet that the administration had been warned by its own officials on the ground that the Taliban’s advance was imminent and Afghanistan’s military may be unable to stop it.

As of last weekend, some 18,000 Afghans who have applied for the U.S.’s Special Immigrant Visa program, as well as their families, remained on the ground in Afghanistan, with about half of them outside Kabul in areas already under Taliban control, and efforts to get them to the Kabul airport have grown more difficult by the day.

In all, 23 U.S. Embassy staffers, all Americans, signed the July 13 cable, the two people said. The U.S. official said there was a rush to deliver it, given circumstances on the ground in Kabul.

The cable was sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Director of Policy Planning Salman Ahmad. Mr. Blinken received the cable and reviewed it shortly after receipt, according to the person familiar with the exchange, who added that contingency planning was already under way when it was received, and that Mr. Blinken welcomed their feedback.

State Department spokesman Ned Price declined to address the cable, but told The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Blinken reads every dissent and reviews every reply.

“He’s made clear that he welcomes and encourages use of the dissent channel, and is committed to its revitalization,” Mr. Price said. “We value constructive internal dissent.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/confidential-state-department-cable-in-july-warned-of-afghanistans-collapse-11629406993

Rose42

You did. I missed it. Why not just give it up front?

Pretty determined to make excuses for the bumbler in chief I see. Biden knew what was going to happen for months. He is responsible for this gong show now. His administration was inept.

btbg

Not the military's fault. This is squarely on Austin and Biden.

thom w Loc: San Jose, CA

Unlike yourself, he didn't straddle the fence.

Rose42

I don’t straddle the fence. Why do you troll?

thom w Loc: San Jose, CA

Why don't you put mirrors in your house.

skylane5sp Loc: Puyallup, WA

What is your obsession with mirrors? Not everyone is as narcissistic as you are.