| | | | | |  | | By Myah Ward | | | With help from Renuka Rayasam THE KABUL CONTENDERS — With the Taliban now firmly in control of Afghanistan after seizing the capital Kabul, who's officially in charge of the country? It's complicated — a variety of figures old and new are vying to become the successor to ousted president Ashraf Ghani. Unlike the pro-Soviet leader Najibullah, who ended his final day in power dangling from a lamppost, Ghani opted to flee for sunny Dubai. Filling the vacuum he leaves behind could be up to the same guys who once harbored al Qaeda and became international symbols of barbarism and cruelty — but an opposition is emerging, too. Among the contenders:
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Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, center, arrives with other members of the Taliban delegation for an international peace conference in Moscow in March. | AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko | Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Baradar, the Taliban's top political leader and one of its founders, worked alongside Taliban commander Mullah Mohammed Omar in the late 1990s. When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, Baradar fled to neighboring Pakistan. He was later arrested there during a joint raid by the country's counterterrorism forces and the CIA. In 2018, as the Taliban gathered strength in Afghanistan's countryside, Pakistan released him to lead peace talks between the group and the United States. Under the eventual deal, the Taliban agreed not to attack NATO forces and promised not to harbor terrorist groups in return for a full U.S. withdrawal. Baradar triumphantly returned to Afghanistan this week, and he's likely to be the dominant player in any new government. "Now comes the test," he said upon landing in Kabul. "We must meet the challenge of serving and securing our nation, and giving it a stable life going forward." Source: The Associated Press
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Ahmad Massoud, son of late Afghan commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, delivers a speech next to a portait of his father during a ceremony to unveil a commemorative plaque of late Afghan anti-Taliban commander Massoud in an alley along the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris in March. | Christophe Archambault/Pool Photo via AP | Ahmad Massoud Ahmad Massoud is the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, a legendary Afghan tribal leader who resisted the Taliban in the 1990s. Al Qaeda assassins killed him two days before the 9/11 attacks. Now his son, Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, is in an undisclosed location in the country's northern Panjshir Valley, calling for an uprising against the Taliban — and asking for American help. "The Taliban is not a problem for the Afghan people alone. Under Taliban control, Afghanistan will without doubt become ground zero of radical Islamist terrorism; plots against democracies will be hatched here once again," he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed this week. "No matter what happens, my mujahideen fighters and I will defend Panjshir as the last bastion of Afghan freedom. Our morale is intact. We know from experience what awaits us. But we need more weapons, more ammunition and more supplies." Sources: The New York Times, The Washington Post, France 24
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Amrullah Saleh | Scott Nelson/Getty Images | Amrullah Saleh Saleh, the former vice president of Afghanistan, says he's hunkered down with Massoud in the Panjshir Valley. Saleh said Tuesday that he's the "legitimate caretaker president" as he works to bring together military leaders to oppose the Taliban. "I will never, ever & under no circumstances bow to d Talib terrorists," he tweeted this week. "I will never betray d soul & legacy of my hero Ahmad Shah Masoud, the commander, the legend & the guide. I won't dis-appoint millions who listened to me. I will never be under one ceiling with Taliban. NEVER." Source: Yahoo News
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Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai before posing for a photo at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in 2019. | Greg Baker - Pool/Getty Images | Hamid Karzai Karzai was Afghanistan's much-criticized president from the U.S. takeover until 2014, when he was succeeded by Ghani. The former leader has made an improbable comeback in recent days, appearing as a leading figure in efforts to ensure a peaceful transfer of power after Kabul's fall. This week, Karzai met with Anas Haqqani, senior leader of a key faction of the Taliban, and with Abdullah Abdullah, the previous government's main peace envoy. Source: The Guardian
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Abdullah Abdullah at the Pentagon in June. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | Abdullah Abdullah The Afghan politician, previously the chief executive officer of Afghanistan, chairs the High Council for National Reconciliation, making him a key player in the intra-Afghan peace talks with the Taliban. He was previously an adviser to Ahmad Shah Massoud and a senior member of the Northern Alliance. Abdullah Abdullah ran for president of Afghanistan twice. He lost his second race against Ghani, in which the close results were questionable. The two rivals established a national unity government after months of talks and U.S. mediation, and Abdullah was named chief executive. Sources: Washington Post, Reuters
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In this undated photo from an unknown location, released in 2016, the leader of the Afghanistan Taliban Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada poses for a portrait. | Afghan Islamic Press via AP, File | Hibatullah Akhundzada The Taliban's supreme leader came into power in 2016 after the group's previous top dog, Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan. He hasn't made a public appearance in years, leading some to question whether he's still alive. Some reports have suggested Akhundzada could emerge as Afghanistan's official ruler, in a position like president. Others expect him to play a behind-the-scenes role, with Baradar ultimately calling the shots. Sources: NPR, Reuters Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas for us at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight's author at mward@politico.com and on Twitter at @MyahWard.
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Motorcycle enthusiasts attend the 81st annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on Aug. 9 in Sturgis, S.D. | Scott Olson/Getty Images | BADLANDS — Monument Health, which has five hospitals in South Dakota, was getting ready to declare a zero Covid patient day in June. The system was down to three Covid patients and the press release was written up, Shankar Kurra, Monument Health's vice president for medical affairs, told Nightly's Renuka Rayasam. It was a pretty remarkable moment. The state's vaccination drive had sputtered out in May. Just 1 percent of the population got fully vaccinated between mid-May and mid-June. Kristi Noem, South Dakota's Republican governor and a potential 2024 presidential candidate, had actively rejected Covid mitigation measures. Cases were rising across unvaccinated parts of the country, but in South Dakota at least, Noem's strategy was starting to look like a success. The state's Covid numbers, which hovered around 13 new cases a day for the second week of June, matched those of highly vaccinated states that took an active approach to curbing case counts. "We were like Vermont, even though we were nothing like Vermont," Kurra said. Just a few weeks later, cases started to rise. Now South Dakota has one of the fastest growing case counts in the country. The state, which has 887,000 residents, has been recording hundreds of cases a day this week. Kurra pinpoints the rapid rise to the region's tourist season. First there were the rodeos in Wyoming, where locals go to work and watch bronco busting. Cheyenne Frontier Days kicked off on July 23 this year, and about two weeks later, South Dakota's case count jumped from about two dozen cases a day to about 100 cases a day. Then, of course, there was the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which officially started Aug. 6 and wrapped up on Sunday. Even if many of the rally events were outdoors, people packed together to see performers like Kid Rock and they mingled indoors in restaurants and tattoo shops. Last year's rally, attended by 462,000 people, was linked to at least 649 Covid cases, according to a CDC study. Even more people showed up this year. "You cannot separate 700,000 people even in the remote Black Hills," Kurra said. Kurra expects a rapid decline in cases in another week or so. The growing Covid numbers have spurred vaccinations in the state, too. But in September, schools and universities across the state are scheduled to open for in-person instruction. Kurra expects that will lead to another upswing. Rapid City's school superintendent invited Kurra to speak at a school board meeting this Monday to talk about the importance of vaccinations, masking and other mitigation measures. He said he knows he'll meet resistance from people skeptical of public health measures, and he's planning on listening. But he wants to communicate the pandemic's risks, especially now that Covid cases are filling pediatric ICUs across the country. "We have to ask ourselves, do we understand the pandemic?" Kurra said. "If so, we're not doing the right thing. Somehow that has been lost in the conversation around personal responsibility."
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| — Capitol Hill bomb suspect surrenders to police: A man who claimed to have explosives in his truck surrendered on Capitol Hill after a five-hour standoff this afternoon . The suspect, who was identified as Floyd Roy Roseberry of North Carolina, was "taken into custody without incident" according to U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger. — Suspect livestreamed on Facebook for hours before being blocked: Roseberry livestreamed his anti-government remarks for hours before Facebook took down his account. He broadcasted to the social network as he sat in his car surrounded by federal agents in Washington, D.C. He said his car would "blow up" if security shot through his window. — Three senators test positive for Covid-19 after vaccination: Sens. Roger Wicker, Angus King and John Hickenlooper all have Covid-19 breakthrough infections, their offices announced today. Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi and King, an Independent from Maine who caucuses with Democrats, both tested positive for the virus after mild symptoms, according to their statements. They are not the first senators to test positive for Covid-19 after getting vaccinated: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) reported a breakthrough infection earlier this month. — FTC sues Facebook for antitrust violations again: The Federal Trade Commission has filed a new antitrust complaint against Facebook , rebooting a high-stakes case to break up the social media giant after a federal judge tossed the agency's original complaint in June. Progressive FTC Chair Lina Khan joined with her two Democratic colleagues in a 3-2 party-line vote Wednesday to file the new complaint. The agency's two Republicans — who both opposed the suit when it was first filed in December — voted against the new bid. — Elder's ex-fiancée said he brandished a gun at her: Alexandra Datig, the former fiancée and longtime radio producer for California GOP gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder, says she broke off an 18-month engagement with the conservative talk show host in 2015 after he waved a gun at her while high on marijuana . Datig's claim, which she regards as the culmination of a series of humiliating disputes that made her fearful for her safety and her ability to maintain her sobriety, comes after Elder has gained momentum in the recall to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, with many observers counting him as the likeliest Republican alternative should voters decide to replace the incumbent.
| | | | A message from AT&T:   | | | | | | | | | | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | | VAX TO SCHOOL — A pandemic trend to watch: States requiring teachers to be vaccinated this fall. Just today, reports surfaced that New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will require teachers to get the Covid-19 vaccine, and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued a similar requirement, making hers the fourth state to mandate vaccinations for teachers, alongside California and Washington. All four states have Democratic governors.
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