Report: Six charter aircraft are waiting on the airstrip at Mazar-i-Sharif, loaded with Americans and friendly Afghans – waiting for permission of the Taliban to take off. They are hostages, with whom Taliban hope to get more out of America. More?

The Taliban already have much of Afghanistan. They may well hold more of the country than they did on 9/11/01. They already have more military equipment than they know what to do with. Apparently they want cash. They know that Obama, when he was Biden’s boss, sent the Iranian ayatollahs pallets of cash. They would like the same from Biden. That would complete our humiliation.

“Twelve Strong” is an excellent film about the first days of the Afghanistan War. It tells the largely true story of 12 Special Forces operators who helped lead anti-Taliban Northern Alliance fighters to Mazar-i-Sharif and rout the Taliban.

So we have come full circle in 20 years. The same town where a few brave Americans beat the Taliban is now the site of six planeloads of Americans held hostage by the Taliban. We have turned a thriller into a tragic farce. If someone set out to write a worse ending for this story, he could not have done so.

Now we wait to see how much the Taliban will shake us down for. And we wait to see how a dangerously naive administration and their dangerously sycophantic media will spin this disgrace. When the ransom is paid, no doubt Biden and his associates will be described as brave and resourceful rescuers.

We already needed tranquilizers to tolerate this debacle. Now we will need anti-nauseants as well.