WHITE HOUSE STAFF HORRIFIED AS KABUL ATTACK UNFOLDS

U.S. President Joe Biden, anxiously awaiting the completion of U.S. evacuation efforts from Afghanistan, had gathered in the White House Situation Room with military and diplomatic advisers for a daily update on the evacuation early Thursday when suicide bomb explosions outside the Kabul airport killed at least 12 U.S. troops and wounded 15 others. The team did not emerge from the Situation Room until more than two hours later, then Biden went to the Oval Office, as a steady stream of Pentagon personnel, some in uniform, filed in and out of the White House. Some White House staff learned of the growing numbers of casualties from television screens in the West Wing, and let out despairing cries as the numbers multiplied. “This is the nightmare we feared — and it’s why for weeks, military, intelligence and congressional leaders from both parties have begged the president to stand up to the Taliban and push out the airport perimeter,” Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse said.