Monday. Where to start? Some of the same news from last week as well as some “new” news.
Afghanistan. I’m stunned at how this country fell to the Taliban. Days, just days, after the United States pulled its forces out, the Taliban is in control. Twenty years there and this is how it ends. The lives lost. The money spent.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the airport in Kabul is in chaos as Afghans and western citizens tried to get out. “Saigon on Steroids,” the paper calls it.
I don’t know how this could have been handled differently. Clearly, there had to be another way.
California Congresswoman Jackie Speier, a Democrat, tells MSNBC, “This is an intelligence failure. We underestimated the Taliban and overestimated the resolve of the Afghan army.”
Haiti. Just weeks after its president was assassinated, a devastating earthquake. Fox News reports nearly 1,300 people have died.
Now, a tropical depression is about to brush by the island. Rescue crews are doing what they can before it hits.
Yes, another storm. At this point, it’s a tropical depression. It’s that time of year.
Finally, Covid. The Florida Hospital Association reports 15,630 Covid patients in the hospital right now. That’s 100 fewer than the day before. Still, much higher than the same day a year ago.
The Huffpost has a story on how Covid hospitalizations for people in their 30s have hit an all-time high. Another indication that the Delta variant poses a bigger risk to younger adults.
So, that’s where we start the week. A country falls. Another deals with an earthquake. Hurricane season ramps up. And… Covid remains rampant.
It’s not a good start to the week.