VIDEO GAMES VIRUS OUTBREAK MLB Arcade shooter States that once White Sox, Yankees ‘Ascent’ is a jolt had grip on COVID go deep in ‘Field of of ’90s nostalgia see crush of cases Dreams’ game Page 12 Page 6 Page 24 Richardson becomes 2nd woman to head combatant command ›› Page 3 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 85A ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SATURDAY,AUGUST 14, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas AFGHANISTAN Afghan unraveling ■ The Taliban complete sweep of country’s south ■ US sending 3,000 troops to evacuate diplomats Page 4 SIDIQULLAH KHAN/AP Smoke rises after fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security personnel, in Kandahar, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday. US veterans despair as Taliban take over much of the country they fought in BY J.P. LAWRENCE retired Army lieutenant colonel children. provincial capitals and large cities The final days of the U.S. war in Stars and Stripes who deployed to the city of Herat Now, like other veterans of throughout the country. Afghanistan should have been KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. in western Afghanistan from 2006 America’s longest war, he can only The collapse of much of the Af- handled better, several veterans troops who deployed to Afghanis- to 2007. watch from afar as the projects he ghan military has come weeks be- told Stars and Stripes. tan over the past two decades say The capture of Herat by the Tali- worked on and the people he tried fore the scheduled Aug. 31 final “A complete pullout is not only the Taliban’s rapid conquest of ban on Thursday shocked Gustaf- to help come under threats from withdrawal of U.S. troops ordered unnecessary, it is sabotage,” said much of the country has left them son. On Friday, he forwarded to the Taliban. by President Joe Biden. The with- Army Staff Sgt. Seamus Fennessy, stunned and dismayed. Stars and Stripes photos from 2007 The Taliban controlled an esti- drawal stems from a peace deal who fought in Ghazni province in “This one will hurt for a long of him and other troops building mated two-thirds of the country as signed last year by the Taliban and time, man,” said Sean Gustafson, a schools and handing out books to of Friday, after gaining several the Trump administration. SEE VETERANS ON PAGE 5 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Saturday, August 14, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Inflation at wholesale level jumps 1% in July EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1164.82 Associated Press which measures price pressures be- largest annual gain since 2008. Switzerland (Franc) 0.9192 Euro costs (Aug. 16) $1.15 Thailand (Baht) 33.33 WASHINGTON — Inflation at fore they reach consumers, were July’s 1% wholesale price uptick Dollar buys (Aug. 16) 0.8284 Turkey (NewLira) 8.5484 British pound (Aug. 16) $1.35 the wholesale level jumped a high- the most sizeable since a 1.2% rise in exceeded the 0.6% gain many econ- Japanese yen (Aug. 16) 108.00 (Military exchange rates are those available er-than-expected 1% in July, match- January, the Labor Department re- omists had expected and signaled South Korean won (Aug. 16) 1139.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ ing the rise from the previous ported Thursday. the price surge that has lifted the many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ month, and dimming hopes that the The latest data on rising producer cost of everything from airline tick- Britain (Pound) 1.3839 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2525 your local military banking facility. Commercial upward trajectory of prices would prices comes a day after the U.S. re- ets and hotels to food and gasoline China(Yuan) 6.4801 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.3209 begin to slow. ported that there was some evi- and has pushed prices well above Egypt (Pound) 15.6999 when buying currency. All figures are foreign Prices at the wholesale level over dence of slowing in price hikes at the the 2% target for annual gains set by Euro 0.8500 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7828 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ the past 12 months are up a record retail level. Consumer prices in July the Federal Reserve. Hungary (Forint) 299.90 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2176 7.8%, the largest increase in that rose 0.5%, compared with a 0.9% Core inflation at the wholesale Japan (Yen) 110.11 INTEREST RATES span of time in a series going back to jump in June. Over the past year re- level, which excludes volatile food Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3007 Norway (Krone) 8.8146 Prime rate 3.25 2010. tail prices are up a notable 5.4%, the and energy costs, also rose 1% in Ju- Philippines (Peso) 50.56 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.89 Federal funds market rate 0.09 And the back-to-back monthly in- same 12-month gain posted in June ly. Core prices over the past 12 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7505 3­month bill 0.06 creases in the producer price index, with both months recording the months are up 6.2%. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3571 30­year bond 2.01 WEATHER OUTLOOK SATURDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SATURDAY IN EUROPE SUNDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 68/65 Kabul Seoul 86/54 84/66 Baghdad 109/76 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar Mildenhall/ 92/71 69/66 100/63 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 70/61 80/74 73/32 Iwakuni Kuwait City 80/75 Bahrain Brussels Zagan Sasebo 112/93 98/93 Ramstein 79/65 82/74 Guam 74/57 82/57 86/83 Riyadh Lajes, Azores Stuttgart 111/83 Doha Pápa 110/86 76/73 83/63 Aviano/ 88/69 Vicenza 93/70 Naples 93/74 Okinawa Morón 84/81 112/75 Sigonella Djibouti Rota 93/73 The weather is provided by the 89/69 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 101/83 81/78 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Comics/Crossword .......17 Health & Fitness ......... 13 Movies ................... 14-15 Opinion ........................ 16 Sports .................... 18-24 Video Games ............... 12 Saturday, August 14, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Richardson confirmed to lead SOUTHCOM BY COREY DICKSTEIN increased efforts to work with and 1986 and flew UH-60 Black former Defense Secretary Mark Stars and Stripes influence nations in the Western Hawks, according to her official Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, the Army Lt. Gen. Laura Richard- Hemisphere. biography. She commanded a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of son was confirmed by the Senate Richardson told senators last 101st Airborne Division aviation Staff, slow rolled their recommen- in a unanimous voice vote on week during her confirmation battalion in Iraq and has also dations of the two women for those Wednesday to become the next hearing on Capitol Hill that her served in Afghanistan. jobs until after the November 2020 commander of U.S. Southern priorities included expanding She took command of U.S. Army election, fearing the White House Command, which will make her training exercises and other secu- North at Joint Base San Antonio in might nix their selections because just the second woman in history rity cooperation operations with July 2019 after serving as the dep- of their genders. to lead a combatant command. partner nations in the region and uty commander of U.S. Army Esper, who was fired shortly af- Richardson, who now leads U.S. increasing opportunities for part- Forces Command at Fort Bragg, ter Trump’s election loss, told The Army North, will receive a fourth ner nations in the region to send N.C. Times that he and Milley agreed star before taking command of their troops to U.S. military train- Richardson could soon be fol- Richardson and Van Ovost were SOUTHCOM, which oversees ing and education programs. the best, most qualified choices lowed by the third female to lead a U.S. military operations across “We must hasten to pick up the for the positions. He confirmed combatant command. President South and Central America and pieces left by the pandemic and their recommendations were de- Joe Biden nominated Air Force the Caribbean. She will become transform our relationships to layed until after Biden had been Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost to lead just the second female four-star U.S. ARMY NORTH meet 21st-century security chal- elected. U.S. Transportation Command. general in the Army’s history. Army Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson lenges. Put simply, winning to- “They were chosen because The Senate has yet to formally Richardson will replace gether with our allies and partners they were the best officers for the SOUTHCOM’s outgoing chief, manitarian and disaster relief, matters,” Richardson told sen- consider her nomination. jobs, and I didn’t want their pro- Navy Adm. Craig Faller, who has and overseeing the controversial ators. “Whether [it is working] Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson motions derailed because some- led the combatant command detention facility at Guantanamo against [the coronavirus], trans- was the first woman to lead a com- one in the Trump White House headquartered just outside Miami Bay, Cuba. Richardson will also national criminal organizations, batant command. She led U.S saw that I recommended them or since November 2018. The De- inherit responsibility for oper- the predatory actions of China, the Northern Command from 2016 thought [the Defense Depart- fense Department has yet to set a ations in a portion of the globe that malign influence of Russia, or nat- until her retirement in 2018.