Many of the Americans left there CHOSE to stay. ____________
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day August 30, 2021 at 8:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
“The past 17 days have seen our troops execute the largest airlift in U.S. history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States. They have done it with unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve. Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended.” — President Joe Biden, in a White House statement.
Angus King Says Vaccine Saved His Life August 30, 2021 at 8:38 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Associated Press: “Sen. Angus King (I-ME) said that his breakthrough case of COVID-19 produced symptoms that were double the worst head cold he’d ever experienced, and he credited the vaccine for keeping him out of the hospital.
“The 77-year-old independent said he hopes his rough-and-tumble experience in which he received an infusion to help fight the virus will help others who might be on the fence about getting the vaccine.”
Said King: “I’m convinced the vaccine saved my life.”
Washington Examiner State Department announces joint arrangement with 97 countries to evacuate Afghan allies after deadline Kaelan Deese Sun, August 29, 2021, 12:26 PM·2 min read
The United States, in conjunction with 97 other countries, announced Sunday that it has reached an agreement with the Taliban to allow evacuations of Afghan allies after the Aug. 31 troop withdrawal deadline, according to the State Department.
"We are all committed to ensuring that our citizens, nationals and residents, employees, Afghans who have worked with us and those who are at risk can continue to travel freely to destinations outside Afghanistan," the joint statement said.
The statement follows National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's comments on Sunday reassuring that U.S. negotiations with the Taliban would be upheld. The U.S. has "considerable leverage" to "hold the Taliban to its commitments," Sullivan said Sunday on CBS News' Face the Nation.
"We have received assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from our countries will be allowed to proceed in a safe and orderly manner to points of departure and travel outside the country," the State Department added in its readout.
The Taliban's chief negotiator, Sher Mohammed Abas Stanekzai, said Friday that the group would not stop people from departing the country.
The State Department added that it will continue to issue "travel documentation to designated Afghans" and has "the clear expectation of and commitment from the Taliban that they can travel to our respective countries."
More than 5,500 U.S. citizens have been evacuated from Afghanistan since Aug. 14, including roughly 50 people in the past 24 hours, a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
Approximately 250 U.S. citizens remaining in Afghanistan have said they desire to leave the country, according to the State Department. Teams on the ground continue to coordinate assistance for those attempting to flee. There are roughly 280 people who identify as Americans in Afghanistan who remain undecided whether to exit the country or have said they DON'T intend to leave, the spokesperson added.
The State Department said that a number of individuals who at one point self-identified as Americans have been unable to make further contact this week despite multiple attempts by officials on various communication channels. The U.S. could not confirm that all the individuals in this group are U.S. citizens still in Afghanistan, as some are believed to be people in the U.S. who filled out forms to help non-citizen extended family members in the country.
WHITEHOUSE.GOV Statement by President Joe Biden AUGUST 30, 2021
I want to thank our commanders and the men and women serving under them for their execution of the dangerous retrograde from Afghanistan as scheduled – in the early morning hours of August 31, Kabul time – with no further loss of American lives. The past 17 days have seen our troops execute the largest airlift in US history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States. They have done it with unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve. Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended.
Tomorrow afternoon, I will address the American people on my decision not to extend our presence in Afghanistan beyond August 31. For now, I will report that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned. Their view was that ending our military mission was the best way to protect the lives of our troops, and secure the prospects of civilian departures for those who want to leave Afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead.
I have asked the Secretary of State to lead the continued coordination with our international partners to ensure safe passage for any Americans, Afghan partners, and foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan. This will include work to build on the UN Security Council Resolution passed this afternoon that sent the clear message of what the international community expects the Taliban to deliver on moving forward, notably freedom of travel. The Taliban has made commitments on safe passage and the world will hold them to their commitments. It will include ongoing diplomacy in Afghanistan and coordination with partners in the region to reopen the airport allowing for continued departure for those who want to leave and delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
For now, I urge all Americans to join me in grateful prayer tonight for three things.
First, for our troops and diplomats who carried out this mission of mercy in Kabul and at tremendous risk with such unparalleled results: an airlift that evacuated tens of thousands more people than any imagined possible.
Second, to the network of volunteers and veterans who helped identify those needing evacuation, guide them to the airport, and provide support along the way.
And third, to everyone who is now – and who will – welcome our Afghan allies to their new homes around the world, and in the United States.
Finally, I want to end with a moment of gratitude for the sacrifice of the 13 service members in Afghanistan who gave their lives last week to save tens of thousands:
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo, Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak and Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss.
Those half staff flags fluttering in our hearts are not just for the thirteen recently killed, but for the so very, very many over two decades who died and were wounded in this attempt to do what is right for the men and women, old and young, girls and boys, children and infants, of Afghanistan.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the task we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him and for her who shall have borne the battle, and for their spouses, and for their orphans, to do all that may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
I want to thank our commanders and the men and women serving under them for their execution of the dangerous retrograde from Afghanistan as scheduled – in the early morning hours of August 31, Kabul time – with no further loss of American lives. The past 17 days have seen our troops execute the largest airlift in US history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States. They have done it with unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve. Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended.
Tomorrow afternoon, I will address the American people on my decision not to extend our presence in Afghanistan beyond August 31. For now, I will report that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned. Their view was that ending our military mission was the best way to protect the lives of our troops, and secure the prospects of civilian departures for those who want to leave Afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead.
I have asked the Secretary of State to lead the continued coordination with our international partners to ensure safe passage for any Americans, Afghan partners, and foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan. This will include work to build on the UN Security Council Resolution passed this afternoon that sent the clear message of what the international community expects the Taliban to deliver on moving forward, notably freedom of travel. The Taliban has made commitments on safe passage and the world will hold them to their commitments. It will include ongoing diplomacy in Afghanistan and coordination with partners in the region to reopen the airport allowing for continued departure for those who want to leave and delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
For now, I urge all Americans to join me in grateful prayer tonight for three things. First, for our troops and diplomats who carried out this mission of mercy in Kabul and at tremendous risk with such unparalleled results: an airlift that evacuated tens of thousands more people than any imagined possible.
Second, to the network of volunteers and veterans who helped identify those needing evacuation, guide them to the airport, and provide support along the way.
And third, to everyone who is now – and who will – welcome our Afghan allies to their new homes around the world, and in the United States.
Finally, I want to end with a moment of gratitude for the sacrifice of the 13 service members in Afghanistan who gave their lives last week to save tens of thousands: Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo, Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak and Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss.
As US military leaves Kabul, many Americans, Afghans remain Associated Press August 30, 2021, 9:00 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the final five U.S. military transport aircraft lifted off out of Afghanistan Monday, they left behind up to 200 Americans and thousands of desperate Afghans who couldn't get out and now must rely on the Taliban to allow their departure.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. will continue to try to get Americans and Afghans out of the country, and will work with Afghanistan’s neighbors to secure their departure either over land or by charter flight once the Kabul airport reopens.
“We have no illusion that any of this will be easy, or rapid,” said Blinken, adding that the total number of Americans who are in Afghanistan and still want to leave may be closer to 100.
Speaking shortly after the Pentagon announced the completion of the U.S. military pullout Monday, Blinken said the U.S. Embassy in Kabul will remain shuttered and vacant for the foreseeable future. American diplomats, he said, will be based in Doha, Qatar.
“We will continue our relentless efforts to help Americans, foreign nationals and Afghans leave Afghanistan if they choose,” Blinken said in an address from the State Department. "Our commitment to them holds no deadline.”
Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told reporters the U.S. military was able to get as many as 1,500 Afghans out in the final hours of the American evacuation mission. But now it will be up to the State Department working with the Taliban to get any more people out.
McKenzie said there were no citizens left stranded at the airport and none were on the final few military flights out. He said the U.S. military maintained the ability to get Americans out right up until just before the end, but “none of them made it to the airport.”
“There’s a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure," said McKenzie. "We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out. But I think if we’d stayed another 10 days we wouldn’t have gotten everybody out that we wanted to get out.”
McKenzie and other officials painted a vivid picture of the final hours U.S. troops were on the ground, and the preparations they took to ensure that the Taliban and Islamic State group militants did not get functioning U.S. military weapons systems and other equipment.
The terror threat remains a major problem in Afghanistan, with at least 2,000 “hard core” members of the Islamic State group who remain in the country, including many released from prisons as the Taliban swept to control.
Underscoring the ongoing security threats, the weapon systems used just hours earlier to counter IS rockets launched toward the airport were kept operational until “the very last minute” as the final U.S. military aircraft flew out, officials said. One of the last things U.S. troops did was to make the so-called C-RAMS (Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System) inoperable.
McKenzie said they “demilitarized” the system so it can never be used again. Officials said troops did not blow up equipment in order to ensure they left the airport workable for future flights, once those begin again. In addition, McKenzie said the U.S. also disabled 27 Humvees and 73 aircraft so they can never be used again.
Throughout the day, as the final C-17 transport planes prepared to take off, McKenzie said the U.S. kept “overwhelming U.S. airpower overhead” to deal with potential IS threats.
Back at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, watched the final 90 minutes of the military departure in real time from an operations center in the basement.
According to a U.S. official, they sat in hushed silence as they watched troops make last-minute runway checks, make the key defense systems inoperable and climb aboard the C-17s. The official said you could hear a pin drop as the last aircraft lifted off, and leaders around the room breathed sighs of relief. Later, Austin phoned Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, who was coordinating the evacuation. Donahue and acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson were the last to board the final plane that left Kabul.
Officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of military operations.
“Simply because we have left, that doesn’t mean the opportunities for both Americans that are in Afghanistan that want to leave and Afghans who want to leave, they will not be denied that opportunity,” said McKenzie.
The military left some equipment for the Taliban in order to run the airport, including two firetrucks, some front-end loaders and aircraft staircases.
Blinken said the U.S. will work with Turkey and Qatar to help them get the Kabul airport up and running again.
“This would enable a small number of daily charter flights, which is a key for anyone who wants to depart from Afghanistan moving forward,” he said.
The United States ended its longest war in history, and its 20-year presence in Afghanistan, as the last U.S. aircraft took off at one minute before midnight from Kabul airport Monday carrying all remaining American troops and diplomats. “I’m here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan,” the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., said at a news conference about an hour later as the final C-17 plane cleared Afghan airspace. The last to leave, he said, were Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, the commander of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, and acting American ambassador Ross Wilson. President Biden issued a written statement saying he would address the American people Tuesday afternoon. The statement said that the decision to end the final U.S. military mission, which evacuated more than 120,000 Americans, Afghans and others over the past several weeks, was the “unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all our commanders on the ground.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a formal address, said the U.S. diplomatic mission to Afghanistan would be transferred for the time being to Doha, Qatar. From there, he said, “we will continue our relentless efforts to help Americans, foreign nationals and Afghans” at risk “to leave Afghanistan if they choose,” as well as what he said would be ongoing humanitarian and counterterrorism operations.
He said fewer than 200 American citizens are believed to still be in Afghanistan.
America’s longest war has been by any measure a costly failure, and the errors in managing the conflict deserve scrutiny in the years to come. But Joe Biden doesn’t “own” the mayhem on the ground right now. What we’re seeing is the culmination of 20 years of bad decisions by U.S. political and military leaders. If anything, Americans should feel proud of what the U.S. government and military have accomplished in these past two weeks. President Biden deserves credit, not blame.
Unlike his three immediate predecessors in the Oval Office, all of whom also came to see the futility of the Afghan operation, Biden alone had the political courage to fully end America’s involvement. Although Donald Trump made a plan to end the war, he set a departure date that fell after the end of his first term and created conditions that made the situation Biden inherited more precarious. And despite significant pressure and obstacles, Biden has overseen a military and government that have managed, since the announcement of America’s withdrawal, one of the most extraordinary logistical feats in their recent history. By the time the last American plane lifts off from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 31, the total number of Americans and Afghan allies extricated from the country may exceed 120,000.
Florida Defunds Two School Districts Over Masks August 30, 2021 at 11:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Florida’s Department of Education announced Monday it has withheld funds from two districts that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) order banning mask mandates in schools, Axios reports.
ABC, NBC, CBS all reporting Americans trying to get out of Afghanistan and abandoned by this administration. And plenty of articles to read about this as well. But James doesn't read any of that. He only reads taegan Goddard. He might learn a few things if he just tried.
The seeds of the United States' eventual failure in Afghanistan were planted as early as 2002.
Moreover, the population of Afghanistan was considerably larger than that of any other country involved in a post–World War II U.S. intervention: in 2001, Afghanistan had almost twice as many people as wartime South Vietnam. Typically, the troop-to-population ratio is an important determinant of the success of a stabilization operation. Two years before the invasion of Afghanistan, in 1999, the United States and its NATO allies had deployed 50,000 troops to stabilize Kosovo, a country of 1.9 million. Afghanistan’s population in 2001 was 21.6 million—yet by the end of 2002, there were only around 8,000 U.S. troops in a country that was more than ten times Kosovo’s size and had no army or police force of its own. There simply weren’t enough U.S. boots on the ground to secure the country the United States had captured.
One reason for the relatively small deployment was that the Bush administration did not intend for U.S. forces to assume peacekeeping or public security responsibilities—rather, they focused exclusively on tracking down residual al Qaeda elements, at the expense of the foundational security required to build a functioning state. The Bush administration also neglected to commit the necessary financial resources to the Afghan stabilization effort. In Bosnia, the United States and other donors had provided economic assistance amounting to $1,600 per inhabitant per year for the first several years after that war. The comparable figure in Afghanistan amounted to $50 per person—a paltry sum.
FATAL MISCALCULATIONS
The Bush administration made other critical mistakes that limited the possibility of a successful stabilization. There were no substantial early efforts to build a national Afghan army or police force, which left security in the hands of predatory local warlords and made confronting returning Taliban fighters more difficult. There was no single point of leadership for the international reconstruction effort, which consequently lacked coherence. And, perhaps most significantly, it took U.S. officials several years to realize that although Pakistan had withdrawn its support for the Taliban government, it hadn’t abandoned the Taliban as an organization. After they were routed from Afghanistan, the Taliban’s leadership and the group’s remaining members were given sanctuary in Pakistan, where they recuperated, retrained, resupplied, and later restarted an insurgency in Afghanistan.
Given these miscalculations, the prospects for success in Afghanistan had diminished significantly by early 2003. And then, of course, the Bush administration invaded Iraq, a country as large as Afghanistan, with even more internal conflicts and with even more hostile neighbors, and where Bush and his officials similarly underestimated the scale of the postconflict stabilization and reconstruction effort they would be taking on. Violent resistance to the U.S. invasion materialized much faster in Iraq, and U.S. forces were under severe pressure there by the time the Taliban reemerged as a serious threat in Afghanistan. This remained the case throughout Bush’s time in office, hamstringing the United States’ ability to stabilize Afghanistan and allowing the Taliban to regain footholds there.
Failure to limit the resurgence of the Taliban and to build institutional capacity in Afghanistan was by no means inevitable. Had the United States devoted the resources required for a stabilization and reconstruction effort in a country of Afghanistan’s size and location, it would have stood a better chance of leaving the country gracefully, with a functioning state in place. But eventually, Washington’s early unforced errors created a situation in which it faced a choice not between winning or losing but between losing or not losing. Washington could hang on at a modest cost in order to keep the Taliban at bay, retain a competent counterterrorism partner in the Afghan government, and safeguard the political and social advances that many Afghans enjoyed, or it could leave and acknowledge its failure to help build a lasting state—and a lasting future for the Afghan people. Three presidents successively wrestled with the dilemma that Bush left behind. Barack Obama and Donald Trump gestured toward ending the war but ultimately decided not to lose on their watch. Biden finally cut the cord and chose to lose
Defeat Wasn’t Inevitable, but Early Mistakes Made Success Unlikely https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2021-08-30/afghanistan-was-lost-long-ago
Myballs got his ears pinned back when he tried to say that I knew nothing by saying that there are Americans in Afghanistan who have CHOSEN to stay there.
That is the simple truth, and I made him face up to it.
He could very well wish that he had a pastor who would tell him the truth instead of the rightwing claptrap he prefers to hear.
Good grief. James is delusional. You couldn't best me on your best day.
There are Americans still there trying to get out. Even CNN is reporting it! All you're doing is giving the board the Joe Biden style of argument. Ignore facts and reality and just keep ignorantly reposting what you wish to be true. You need to stop digging. You're in a hole you already can't climb out of.
And btw, I'm not the one who only gets his news from a single website. We all know you do. Even dopey is better read than you are.
Trump Heads to Iowa August 31, 2021 at 6:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Politico: “Former President Donald Trump plans to hold a rally in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa as he continues to tease a third run for the White House. Details for Trump’s trip are still being worked out.” _________
Trump heads to Iowa and the GOP heads to hell.
The GOP is being dragged down with him. He's the stinking dead albatross hanging around the GOP's neck, and he won't let go.
Decent minded Republicans are in despair.
Ch is too, but he won't admit it because he gave up being a decent minded Republican some time ago.
Balls, I get my information from numerous sources. Even T. Goddard cites NUMEROUS sources and besides, I sometimes get articles from RealClearPolitics, CBS, NBC, ABC, etc., etc., etc.
Don't try to pull that lie on us, because it's clear that it is just that: A lie.
POLITICO REPORT5: Trump Acolytes Poised to Push Out Senate Dealmakers August 31, 2021 at 6:36 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
“If Senate Republicans seem conservative now, just wait until next year. The 2022 midterms could usher in a wave of full-spectrum MAGA supporters who would turn the GOP conference an even deeper shade of red — and make the Senate a lot more like the fractious House,” Politico reports.
“In the five states where Republican senators are retiring, the primary election fields to succeed them are crowded with Donald Trump supporters who have made loyalty to the former president a cornerstone of their campaigns.” ________
Right now, Trump is the biggest enemy the GOP has, and so many of them are too stupid to see that.
JAMES SAID:. Balls, I get my information from numerous sources.
COMMONSENSE SAID: And yet they all repeat the same narrative. I don't have to cut and paste someone else's opinion. I have enough intellectual power to express my own. ____________
JAMES SAID: You lie, Commonsense, and you know it.
Goddard at politicalwire.com published NUMEROUS opinion pieces CRITICAL of Biden recently, and I put them here.
AND I often add on my own opinion. AND I sometimes express nothing but my own opinion.
Defeat Wasn’t Inevitable, but Early Mistakes Made Success Unlikely https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2021-08-30/afghanistan-was-lost-long-ago
JAMES SAID: Balls, I get my information from numerous sources.
COMMONSENSE SAID: And yet they all repeat the same narrative. I don't have to cut and paste someone else's opinion. I have enough intellectual power to express my own.
JAMES SAID: You lie, Commonsense, and you know it.
Goddard at politicalwire.com recently published SEVERAL opinion pieces CRITICAL of Biden, and I put them here.
AND I often add on my own opinion. AND I frequently express nothing but my own opinion.
In the five states where Republican senators are retiring, the primary election fields to succeed them are crowded with Donald Trump who have made loyalty to the former president a cornerstone of their campaigns.”
Guess Donald Trump is popular with the Republican base. And most likely popular in the entire state.
Right now, Trump is the biggest enemy the GOP has, and so many of them are too stupid to see that.
Which GOP are you referring to. Because the base is more or less with Trump. You don't know much about politics. You sure as hell don't know much about GOP politics.
This is why the Republicans will fail to blame Biden for Afghanistan.
U.S. stock futures edged higher Tuesday, suggesting that the S&P 500 is on course to eke out a third consecutive record close.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 ticked up less than 0.1% a day after the broad index closed at an all-time high. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the technology-heavy Nasdaq-100 rose 0.1% Tuesday.
Stocks have climbed since Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated Friday that the timing of scaling back on bond purchases—which is likely to begin later this year—won’t have any bearing on subsequent decisions to raise interest rates. Meanwhile, concerns about the elevated number of Covid-19 cases are providing a lift to technology stocks because investors are renewing bets on companies that would benefit from lockdowns and people working from home.
“The fact that the Fed is willing to start to taper in the face of this Delta variant coming through does suggest they have confidence that the economy is going to stand on its own two feet,” said Peter Langas, chief portfolio strategist at Bessemer Trust.
Good grief. James is delusional. You couldn't best me on your best day.
BWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! He kicks your old white ass daily!!!!!! BTW.....those Americans you claim as left behind did so on their own choice.....just like the unvaxed idiots in this country!!!!! They had weeks to get out and did not....I feel sympathy for them, but they all did it to themselves....Aren't you one who preaches personal responsibility?????
COMMONSENSE SAID: Which GOP are you referring to. Because the base is more or less with Trump. You don't know much about politics. You sure as hell don't know much about GOP politics.
JAMES SAYS: I guess Commonsense thinks Trump's base is YUGE.
Which GOP are you referring to. Because the base is more or less with Trump. You don't know much about politics. You sure as hell don't know much about GOP politics.
Pedo can only parrot what others tell him. He’s not bright
COMMONSENSE SAID: Which GOP are you referring to. Because the base is more or less with Trump. You don't know much about politics. You sure as hell don't know much about GOP politics.
JAMES SAYS: I guess Commonsense thinks Trump's base is YUGE.
The claim that all Americans still in Afghanistan want to be there is a lie. Snd a disgusting one at that. James is either embarrassed st the foolish lievge is embracing, or he is even more bewildered than we thought. Either way, he had no respect left here.
Bottom line: The airlift is a major logistical achievement. Tragically, in exiting a war like this, some chaos and deaths were inevitable. But getting out was right – and long overdue.
He can start rebuilding the trust among our allies, within days. He will address the nation today.
And as the chaos goes away peacefully, our allies will also recognize that it was the right thing to do.
Pedo can only parrot what others tell him. He’s not bright
Wow shorty.......your gibberish and stupidity is awesome!!!!!!! Once again you prove nothing but your inability to post a single cogent thought, just insults to make you feel big......BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
What does the stock market have to do with inflation.
The humiliation and loss of stature in the world.
The loss of good paying jobs in the energy sector due to Biden policies.
The shortage of oil and gas the US is force to import because Biden shut down domestic production and made the country energy dependent instead of energy. Independent.
All in the name of Global Warming (which is still warming,as the real contributor, China is still pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere).
You know climate activist are not serious people when they demand restrictions on countries with the cleanest economy (the US being number one) and give the actual polluters a free pass.
Some of the Americans who choose to remain in Afghanistan have families in Afghanistan and want to stay there and hope that the Taliban live up to their commitments to women getting an education and lower resolution on clothing restrictions.
The Taliban militants are trying to actually govern a country, instead of fighting a 40 year civil war.
If they succeed, it will again show that the President made the correct decisions.
in exiting a war like this, some chaos and deaths were inevitable.
No it wasn't inevitable. It was due to the total fuck up that left military forces in the indefensible Kabul airport instead of the more secure and defensible Bagram air base.
But getting out was right – and long overdue.
If you considered giving terrorist an unfettered sanctuary in which to plan and train for attacks on the US homeland I guess, to you, it was the right thing to do.
But you don't like America very much and wouldn't mind seeing a terrorist attack on the homeland.
The Pentagon spokesman said that the vast majority of armed vehicles have been disabled by our soldiers. The same thing applies to high tech weapons and other security services.
You people tend to forget that the previous President used guided missiles to attack ISIS and other terrorists organization and the leader of the Iranian armed forces.
President Biden will probably use the same path, because it won't put troops in harm's way.
He can start rebuilding the trust among our allies, within days.
Nigel Farage:
“When Boris Johnson made a desperate phone call to Biden he didn’t get a response for 40 hours…
The result of this is any new military engagements that they want us to engage in we simply will not do with this man in charge… I can’t even see a future for NATO…
I would not trust America under this administration.”
The ruling class is angry that the people demanded an end to their idiotic, life-wasting failed experiment. They’re embarrassed at having been exposed as fools and failures. Some are bitter that the war-profiteering gravy train that kept them so well-fed for so long has come to an abrupt and ignominious end.
Instead of taking stock and asking themselves tough, necessary questions, they’re lashing out. They want to punish us for our justified doubts and lack of enthusiasm. They want to deflect blame for their own failure. They know, or should, that taking in refugees from a very poor, very tribal, very backward, very extremist society is a recipe for disaster. But they also know that none of these “refugees,” you can bet, will be settled in Cambridge, or the Vineyard, or the Upper West Side, or Georgetown, or Chevy Chase or McLean, or Berkeley or Palo Alto, or Santa Monica or Silverlake.
No, they’ll be going to heartland communities where what’s left of the middle class lives, to put stress on local schools, hospitals, police departments and other social services. And allowed to live as they damned-well please, free of the laws and regulations that tie honest citizens in knots, that are only enforced against us.
It’s hard not to conclude that our government hates us. That conclusion, at any rate, fits the observable facts of its actual behavior.
https://americanmind.org/salvo/importing-enemies/
Importing enemies. As if enough of them don't already reside in the US, starting with President Dementia Boy, and his humiliating surrender to stone age savages.
If the goal was to get our cold civil war to go hot, congratulations ruling class, your dreams are about to come true.
Myballs said... James is lying again. He's been posting that Americans still in Afghanistan choose to be there. James should shut the hell up and start behaving like he still has an ounce of dignity left. His lies are not fooling anyone here.
JAMES PATIENTLY REPLIES: It is balls who lies. I quote from what I posted at 9:30PM above. Pay attention to the italics:
"Approximately 250 U.S. citizens remaining in Afghanistan have said they desire to leave the country, according to the State Department. Teams on the ground continue to coordinate assistance for those attempting to flee. There are roughly 280 people who identify as Americans in Afghanistan who remain undecided whether to exit the country or have said they DON'T intend to leave, the spokesperson added.
That is simple truth, a simple fact. Not a lie. Why does Balls feel HE has to lie?
Blogger Roger Amick said... Some of the Americans who choose to remain in Afghanistan have families in Afghanistan and want to stay there and hope that the Taliban live up to their commitments to women getting an education and lower resolution on clothing restrictions.
You're delusional right? Action speaks louder than words and every action they do says they are going to enforce the strict 6th century sharia law. If I was a woman, I would fear for my life in the Taliban Afghanistan.
The Taliban militants are trying to actually govern a country, instead of fighting a 40 year civil war. If they succeed, it will again show that the President made the correct decisions.
The Taliban is creating a terrorist state that's still at war with the United States.
The war is not over, the field of battle has just been changed to the US homeland.
Biden will go down as the most infamously bad president in US history.
I don't trust the Taliban either, but some of their leaders are facing the difficult task of trying to rule a nation that mistrusts them, and are promising that they have changed and will treat women well.
It may well be in their own self interest to do that, but I believe Biden has said he will believe it only when he sees it.
I guess Roger missed the video of the Taliban hanging a man from a U.S. helicopter.
No doubt taegan Goddard missed it too.
And that was just a preview of coming attractions. Get ready for the videos of Americans being beheaded, a la Daniel Pearl and James Foley.
The pederast and the alky will be ejaculating all over themselves.
Make no mistake, our allies are angry and disgusted and we will not be trusted again until the fucking scumbags who occupy our government leadership are gone.
And military recruiters are about to become the loneliest folks in America. No one wants to work for a fucking TRAITOR Commander-in-Chief.
Btw, Afghanistan is not America's longest war. The one against the American Indians is.
Interesting parallel. You almost had to annihilate the American Indians to make the country safe for European Americans. (for some reason the American Indian was cool to the idea of being displaced and headed to reservations.)
Annihilation of the Taliban and preventing Afghanistan from being a terrorist sanctuary should have been the strategic goal of the US.
Jimmy Hitler Jr. just woke up with a hangover and again started his hated for the militarily and the State Department, just like his hero Adolf Hitler in a 30s.
It’s worth noting that the man placed in charge of security in and around Kabul is Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s deputy commander. The Haqqani network — of which he is the apparent leader — is one of the most violent terrorist networks anywhere. (There is a conflicting report that names Khalil Haqqani as the security chief. He has a $5 million FBI bounty on his head for terrorism. Not that it matters who it is. The Haqqani are fungible terrorists.)
Whoever he is, it’s the guy Team Biden trusted to screen out terrorists who wanted to attack the airport from which we were evacuating people. It’s no wonder that the Thursday suicide bomber reached one of the airport gates and succeeded in killing our troops and Afghan allies.
More incompetence was reflected in Biden’s Thursday statement that, “There has been complete unanimity from every commander on the objectives of this mission and the best way to achieve those objectives.”
That is a perfect condemnation of Biden’s generals. According to that statement, every military commander has agreed to:
Abandon Bagram Air Base, from which evacuations could have taken place from a more secure and better prepared setting;
Withdraw the troops before American civilians were evacuated;
Not blow up our multi-billion-dollar embassy so that Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan can reverse-engineer our cybersecurity and other defensive systems;
Trust the Taliban and the Haqqani network to help us get people to the airport and prevent terrorist attacks on the airport;
Stick with the arbitrary August 31 deadline regardless of how many U.S. civilians and Afghan allies are left behind; and
Not leave behind enough air power, special operations troops, and intelligence assets to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven from which terrorists can attack us and our allies.
If Biden’s statement was true, every military officer and Pentagon civilian who participated in the discussions with Biden — or who prepared their superiors for those discussions — should be fired for incompetence.
On Saturday, the Pentagon announced that it was beginning to withdraw our troops from the airport. Evacuation flights are winding down. At some point, the Taliban will have effective control of the airport while the last of our troops and aircraft are trying to flee. If they succeed in cratering the airport’s single runway, our people could face the same sort of devastation that Travis, Bowie, and Crockett faced at the Alamo.
Biden lied, Americans died. More may die because of other terrorist attacks before the last aircraft flies out of Kabul. Many will be left behind. And Biden is just fine with that.
It is a bitter experience to have to sit by and watch a man govern our nation who has no regard for the fate of his fellow Americans and who is so incompetent in every aspect of his job.
Vaccine Hesitancy Drops Amid Delta Surge August 31, 2021 at 8:53 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
A new Axios-Ipsos poll finds vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. is showing signs of crumbling.
“Fewer adults than ever now say they won’t take the shot, and in the past two weeks there has been a sharp increase in the share of parents who plan to get their younger kids vaccinated as soon as it’s allowed.”
“The 20% who say they’re either not very likely (6%) or not at all likely (14%) comprise a new low in the survey, and down from a combined 34% in March and 23% two weeks ago.”
Biden Seeks to Move Past Afghanistan August 31, 2021 at 8:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 47 Comments Politico: “Despite the mounting challenges, there’s a belief in Bidenworld that time is on their side. Midterm campaigns are still a year from heating up, giving the president room to accelerate a vaccination campaign, allay concerns about inflation and message legislative wins — should they come to fruition."
Taliban Seeks Friendly Ties with U.S. August 31, 2021 at 8:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 34 Comments
A Taliban spokesman claimed that the Taliban is seeking “good and diplomatic relationship with the Americans,” Bloomberg reports.
But he quickly added: “We highlight to every occupier that whoever sees Afghanistan with an evil eye will face the same fate as the Americans have faced… We’ve never given up to pressure or force, and our nation has always sought freedom.”
The Afghanistan War In One Sentence August 31, 2021 at 8:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 33 Comments
Associated Press: “The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, some barely older than the war.”
How are the Taliban going to attack our homeland, Commonsense?
In answer to your fatuous question. They will slip across the porous southern boarder and attack US civilian target either by suicide bombing, Rocket attacks on airlines. Or one of the truly frightening scenarios, a tactical suitcase nuclear weapon or a biological attack.
This is going to be the next tirade by Scott Johnson MD
A group of 87 retired US military generals called for the resignations of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley in an open letter on Monday over what they described as a "disastrous" withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The letter was written by a group called "Flag Officers 4 America," which describes itself as "retired US generals and admirals defending the Constitution." The group previously wrote another open letter in May, appearing to advance a false conspiracy theory by questioning the results of the 2020 election, as well as President Joe Biden's physical and mental health.
In the group's latest letter, it said that Milley and Austin showed "negligence in performing their duties" for the swift exit from Afghanistan, which has left Americans and Afghans loyal to the US stranded in Afghanistan and "de facto hostages of the Taliban."
Unlearning the Lessons of 9/11 August 31, 2021 at 7:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 29 Comments
Mike Gerson: “The United States now enters a high-stakes race between its over-the-horizon technologies and the talent of terrorists. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, may be right that ‘the relevant terrorist groups in Afghanistan do not possess advanced external plotting capabilities.’
But in that country, al-Qaeda is not a parasite feeding off the Taliban; it is an integral part of the regime. The United States’ capitulation to the Taliban is sure to encourage a new generation of young, bright and ambitious mass murderers. And when a terrorist group is hosted by a nation, capacities may be quickly gained.
“As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, unlearning its lessons would be a dangerous way to honor it.”
Ross Douthat: “A set of moods that flourished after 9/11: a mix of cable-news-encouraged overconfidence in American military capacities, naïve World War II nostalgia and crusading humanitarianism in its liberal and neoconservative forms.
Like most Americans, I shared in those moods once; after so many years of failure, I cannot imagine indulging in them now. But it’s clear from the past few weeks that they retain an intense subterranean appeal in the American elite, waiting only for the right circumstances to resurface.”
Fighting Terrorism Will Be Harder Now August 31, 2021 at 7:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 45 Comments
Wall Street Journal: “As a chaotic and deadly U.S. evacuation winds up, the U.S. has lost many of its key assets for tracking violent militants and their plots.”
“Gone are the military bases and other infrastructure that provided a platform for operatives from the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies. Gone is the U.S.-backed Afghan government and its intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, which worked closely with American spy services. Gone, evacuated or scattered are Afghan agents and troops who fed on-the-ground information to the CIA.
“U.S. officials acknowledge the military has lost 90% of the intelligence collection capabilities it had using drones before the drawdown of forces began in May.”
Walter Russell Mead: “Instead of freeing it to think about Afghanistan less, the messy withdrawal means that for the foreseeable future the White House will have to care more about what happens there but with fewer tools to manage the situation.”
“Fewer adults than ever now say they won’t take the shot, and in the past two weeks there has been a sharp increase in the share of parents who plan to get their younger kids vaccinated as soon as it’s allowed.”
94 comments:
Well now, you see, the problem
is this:
When you criticize Biden for doing
something Trump did,
it's gets pretty doggone difficult
to avoid POINTING THAT OUT!
_____
Not to mention that Trump
often did it
ABOUT A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE!
Trump didn't do this shit. This is an outrage. You applaud leaving Americans there to be executed.
Many of the Americans left there CHOSE to stay.
____________
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
August 30, 2021 at 8:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
“The past 17 days have seen our troops execute the largest airlift in U.S. history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States. They have done it with unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve. Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended.”
— President Joe Biden, in a White House statement.
Angus King Says Vaccine Saved His Life
August 30, 2021 at 8:38 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Associated Press:
“Sen. Angus King (I-ME) said that his breakthrough case of COVID-19 produced symptoms that were double the worst head cold he’d ever experienced, and he credited the vaccine for keeping him out of the hospital.
“The 77-year-old independent said he hopes his rough-and-tumble experience in which he received an infusion to help fight the virus will help others who might be on the fence about getting the vaccine.”
Said King:
“I’m convinced the vaccine saved my life.”
Bullshit. Even CBS news is reporting on those abandoned there. How you can defend this, I truly don't know.
Washington Examiner
State Department announces joint arrangement with 97 countries to evacuate Afghan allies after deadline
Kaelan Deese
Sun, August 29, 2021, 12:26 PM·2 min read
The United States, in conjunction with 97 other countries, announced Sunday that it has reached an agreement with the Taliban to allow evacuations of Afghan allies after the Aug. 31 troop withdrawal deadline, according to the State Department.
"We are all committed to ensuring that our citizens, nationals and residents, employees, Afghans who have worked with us and those who are at risk can continue to travel freely to destinations outside Afghanistan," the joint statement said.
The statement follows National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's comments on Sunday reassuring that U.S. negotiations with the Taliban would be upheld. The U.S. has "considerable leverage" to "hold the Taliban to its commitments," Sullivan said Sunday on CBS News' Face the Nation.
"We have received assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from our countries will be allowed to proceed in a safe and orderly manner to points of departure and travel outside the country," the State Department added in its readout.
The Taliban's chief negotiator, Sher Mohammed Abas Stanekzai, said Friday that the group would not stop people from departing the country.
The State Department added that it will continue to issue "travel documentation to designated Afghans" and has "the clear expectation of and commitment from the Taliban that they can travel to our respective countries."
More than 5,500 U.S. citizens have been evacuated from Afghanistan since Aug. 14, including roughly 50 people in the past 24 hours, a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
Approximately 250 U.S. citizens remaining in Afghanistan have said they desire to leave the country, according to the State Department. Teams on the ground continue to coordinate assistance for those attempting to flee. There are roughly 280 people who identify as Americans in Afghanistan who remain undecided whether to exit the country or have said they DON'T intend to leave, the spokesperson added.
The State Department said that a number of individuals who at one point self-identified as Americans have been unable to make further contact this week despite multiple attempts by officials on various communication channels. The U.S. could not confirm that all the individuals in this group are U.S. citizens still in Afghanistan, as some are believed to be people in the U.S. who filled out forms to help non-citizen extended family members in the country.
Balls must not read much.
WHITEHOUSE.GOV
Statement by President Joe Biden
AUGUST 30, 2021
I want to thank our commanders and the men and women serving under them for their execution of the dangerous retrograde from Afghanistan as scheduled – in the early morning hours of August 31, Kabul time – with no further loss of American lives. The past 17 days have seen our troops execute the largest airlift in US history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States. They have done it with unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve. Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended.
Tomorrow afternoon, I will address the American people on my decision not to extend our presence in Afghanistan beyond August 31. For now, I will report that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned. Their view was that ending our military mission was the best way to protect the lives of our troops, and secure the prospects of civilian departures for those who want to leave Afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead.
I have asked the Secretary of State to lead the continued coordination with our international partners to ensure safe passage for any Americans, Afghan partners, and foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan. This will include work to build on the UN Security Council Resolution passed this afternoon that sent the clear message of what the international community expects the Taliban to deliver on moving forward, notably freedom of travel. The Taliban has made commitments on safe passage and the world will hold them to their commitments. It will include ongoing diplomacy in Afghanistan and coordination with partners in the region to reopen the airport allowing for continued departure for those who want to leave and delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
For now, I urge all Americans to join me in grateful prayer tonight for three things.
First, for our troops and diplomats who carried out this mission of mercy in Kabul and at tremendous risk with such unparalleled results: an airlift that evacuated tens of thousands more people than any imagined possible.
Second, to the network of volunteers and veterans who helped identify those needing evacuation, guide them to the airport, and provide support along the way.
And third, to everyone who is now – and who will – welcome our Afghan allies to their new homes around the world, and in the United States.
Finally, I want to end with a moment of gratitude for the sacrifice of the 13 service members in Afghanistan who gave their lives last week to save tens of thousands:
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover,
Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo, Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee,
Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez,
Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page,
Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui,
Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak
and Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss.
Come together with pride, America!
Those half staff flags fluttering in our hearts are not just for the thirteen recently killed, but for the so very, very many over two decades who died and were wounded in this attempt to do what is right for the men and women, old and young, girls and boys, children and infants, of Afghanistan.
With malice toward none,
with charity for all,
with firmness in the right
as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish
the task we are in,
to bind up the nation's wounds,
to care for him and for her
who shall have borne the battle,
and for their spouses,
and for their orphans,
to do all that may achieve and cherish
a just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations.
Statement by President Joe Biden
AUGUST 30, 2021
I want to thank our commanders and the men and women serving under them for their execution of the dangerous retrograde from Afghanistan as scheduled – in the early morning hours of August 31, Kabul time – with no further loss of American lives. The past 17 days have seen our troops execute the largest airlift in US history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States. They have done it with unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve. Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended.
Tomorrow afternoon, I will address the American people on my decision not to extend our presence in Afghanistan beyond August 31. For now, I will report that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned. Their view was that ending our military mission was the best way to protect the lives of our troops, and secure the prospects of civilian departures for those who want to leave Afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead.
I have asked the Secretary of State to lead the continued coordination with our international partners to ensure safe passage for any Americans, Afghan partners, and foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan. This will include work to build on the UN Security Council Resolution passed this afternoon that sent the clear message of what the international community expects the Taliban to deliver on moving forward, notably freedom of travel. The Taliban has made commitments on safe passage and the world will hold them to their commitments. It will include ongoing diplomacy in Afghanistan and coordination with partners in the region to reopen the airport allowing for continued departure for those who want to leave and delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
For now, I urge all Americans to join me in grateful prayer tonight for three things.
First, for our troops and diplomats who carried out this mission of mercy in Kabul and at tremendous risk with such unparalleled results: an airlift that evacuated tens of thousands more people than any imagined possible.
Second, to the network of volunteers and veterans who helped identify those needing evacuation, guide them to the airport, and provide support along the way.
And third, to everyone who is now – and who will – welcome our Afghan allies to their new homes around the world, and in the United States.
Finally, I want to end with a moment of gratitude for the sacrifice of the 13 service members in Afghanistan who gave their lives last week to save tens of thousands:
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover,
Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo, Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee,
Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez,
Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page,
Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola,
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui,
Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak
and Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss.
As US military leaves Kabul, many Americans, Afghans remain
Associated Press
August 30, 2021, 9:00 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the final five U.S. military transport aircraft lifted off out of Afghanistan Monday, they left behind up to 200 Americans and thousands of desperate Afghans who couldn't get out and now must rely on the Taliban to allow their departure.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. will continue to try to get Americans and Afghans out of the country, and will work with Afghanistan’s neighbors to secure their departure either over land or by charter flight once the Kabul airport reopens.
“We have no illusion that any of this will be easy, or rapid,” said Blinken, adding that the total number of Americans who are in Afghanistan and still want to leave may be closer to 100.
Speaking shortly after the Pentagon announced the completion of the U.S. military pullout Monday, Blinken said the U.S. Embassy in Kabul will remain shuttered and vacant for the foreseeable future. American diplomats, he said, will be based in Doha, Qatar.
“We will continue our relentless efforts to help Americans, foreign nationals and Afghans leave Afghanistan if they choose,” Blinken said in an address from the State Department. "Our commitment to them holds no deadline.”
Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told reporters the U.S. military was able to get as many as 1,500 Afghans out in the final hours of the American evacuation mission. But now it will be up to the State Department working with the Taliban to get any more people out.
McKenzie said there were no citizens left stranded at the airport and none were on the final few military flights out. He said the U.S. military maintained the ability to get Americans out right up until just before the end, but “none of them made it to the airport.”
“There’s a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure," said McKenzie. "We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out. But I think if we’d stayed another 10 days we wouldn’t have gotten everybody out that we wanted to get out.”
McKenzie and other officials painted a vivid picture of the final hours U.S. troops were on the ground, and the preparations they took to ensure that the Taliban and Islamic State group militants did not get functioning U.S. military weapons systems and other equipment.
The terror threat remains a major problem in Afghanistan, with at least 2,000 “hard core” members of the Islamic State group who remain in the country, including many released from prisons as the Taliban swept to control.
Underscoring the ongoing security threats, the weapon systems used just hours earlier to counter IS rockets launched toward the airport were kept operational until “the very last minute” as the final U.S. military aircraft flew out, officials said. One of the last things U.S. troops did was to make the so-called C-RAMS (Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System) inoperable.
McKenzie said they “demilitarized” the system so it can never be used again. Officials said troops did not blow up equipment in order to ensure they left the airport workable for future flights, once those begin again. In addition, McKenzie said the U.S. also disabled 27 Humvees and 73 aircraft so they can never be used again.
Throughout the day, as the final C-17 transport planes prepared to take off, McKenzie said the U.S. kept “overwhelming U.S. airpower overhead” to deal with potential IS threats.
Back at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, watched the final 90 minutes of the military departure in real time from an operations center in the basement.
According to a U.S. official, they sat in hushed silence as they watched troops make last-minute runway checks, make the key defense systems inoperable and climb aboard the C-17s. The official said you could hear a pin drop as the last aircraft lifted off, and leaders around the room breathed sighs of relief. Later, Austin phoned Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, who was coordinating the evacuation. Donahue and acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson were the last to board the final plane that left Kabul.
Officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of military operations.
“Simply because we have left, that doesn’t mean the opportunities for both Americans that are in Afghanistan that want to leave and Afghans who want to leave, they will not be denied that opportunity,” said McKenzie.
The military left some equipment for the Taliban in order to run the airport, including two firetrucks, some front-end loaders and aircraft staircases.
Blinken said the U.S. will work with Turkey and Qatar to help them get the Kabul airport up and running again.
“This would enable a small number of daily charter flights, which is a key for anyone who wants to depart from Afghanistan moving forward,” he said.
Ch failed math earlier today.
The United States ended its longest war in history, and its 20-year presence in Afghanistan, as the last U.S. aircraft took off at one minute before midnight from Kabul airport Monday carrying all remaining American troops and diplomats.
“I’m here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan,” the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., said at a news conference about an hour later as the final C-17 plane cleared Afghan airspace. The last to leave, he said, were Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, the commander of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, and acting American ambassador Ross Wilson.
President Biden issued a written statement saying he would address the American people Tuesday afternoon. The statement said that the decision to end the final U.S. military mission, which evacuated more than 120,000 Americans, Afghans and others over the past several weeks, was the “unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all our commanders on the ground.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a formal address, said the U.S. diplomatic mission to Afghanistan would be transferred for the time being to Doha, Qatar. From there, he said, “we will continue our relentless efforts to help Americans, foreign nationals and Afghans” at risk “to leave Afghanistan if they choose,” as well as what he said would be ongoing humanitarian and counterterrorism operations.
He said fewer than 200 American citizens are believed to still be in Afghanistan.
Fuck off pederast
Biden deserves credit not blame for Afghanistan.
America’s longest war has been by any measure a costly failure, and the errors in managing the conflict deserve scrutiny in the years to come. But Joe Biden doesn’t “own” the mayhem on the ground right now. What we’re seeing is the culmination of 20 years of bad decisions by U.S. political and military leaders. If anything, Americans should feel proud of what the U.S. government and military have accomplished in these past two weeks. President Biden deserves credit, not blame.
Unlike his three immediate predecessors in the Oval Office, all of whom also came to see the futility of the Afghan operation, Biden alone had the political courage to fully end America’s involvement. Although Donald Trump made a plan to end the war, he set a departure date that fell after the end of his first term and created conditions that made the situation Biden inherited more precarious. And despite significant pressure and obstacles, Biden has overseen a military and government that have managed, since the announcement of America’s withdrawal, one of the most extraordinary logistical feats in their recent history. By the time the last American plane lifts off from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 31, the total number of Americans and Afghan allies extricated from the country may exceed 120,000.
Usually politicians are guttlus self centered people like Trump.
Biden alone had the political courage.
He risked his political future to save America lives and billions of dollars. Better spent here.
Florida Defunds Two School Districts Over Masks
August 30, 2021 at 11:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Florida’s Department of Education announced Monday it has withheld funds from two districts that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) order banning mask mandates in schools, Axios reports.
I am damn glad James is not my pastor.
ABC, NBC, CBS all reporting Americans trying to get out of Afghanistan and abandoned by this administration. And plenty of articles to read about this as well. But James doesn't read any of that. He only reads taegan Goddard. He might learn a few things if he just tried.
https://twitter.com/DeptofDefense/status/1432492782837501956?t=a_A2inQUahq1VpiAS2ddPA&s=19
The last soldier to leave Afghanistan.
The seeds of the United States' eventual failure in Afghanistan were planted as early as 2002.
Moreover, the population of Afghanistan was considerably larger than that of any other country involved in a post–World War II U.S. intervention: in 2001, Afghanistan had almost twice as many people as wartime South Vietnam. Typically, the troop-to-population ratio is an important determinant of the success of a stabilization operation. Two years before the invasion of Afghanistan, in 1999, the United States and its NATO allies had deployed 50,000 troops to stabilize Kosovo, a country of 1.9 million. Afghanistan’s population in 2001 was 21.6 million—yet by the end of 2002, there were only around 8,000 U.S. troops in a country that was more than ten times Kosovo’s size and had no army or police force of its own. There simply weren’t enough U.S. boots on the ground to secure the country the United States had captured.
One reason for the relatively small deployment was that the Bush administration did not intend for U.S. forces to assume peacekeeping or public security responsibilities—rather, they focused exclusively on tracking down residual al Qaeda elements, at the expense of the foundational security required to build a functioning state. The Bush administration also neglected to commit the necessary financial resources to the Afghan stabilization effort. In Bosnia, the United States and other donors had provided economic assistance amounting to $1,600 per inhabitant per year for the first several years after that war. The comparable figure in Afghanistan amounted to $50 per person—a paltry sum.
FATAL MISCALCULATIONS
The Bush administration made other critical mistakes that limited the possibility of a successful stabilization. There were no substantial early efforts to build a national Afghan army or police force, which left security in the hands of predatory local warlords and made confronting returning Taliban fighters more difficult. There was no single point of leadership for the international reconstruction effort, which consequently lacked coherence. And, perhaps most significantly, it took U.S. officials several years to realize that although Pakistan had withdrawn its support for the Taliban government, it hadn’t abandoned the Taliban as an organization. After they were routed from Afghanistan, the Taliban’s leadership and the group’s remaining members were given sanctuary in Pakistan, where they recuperated, retrained, resupplied, and later restarted an insurgency in Afghanistan.
Given these miscalculations, the prospects for success in Afghanistan had diminished significantly by early 2003. And then, of course, the Bush administration invaded Iraq, a country as large as Afghanistan, with even more internal conflicts and with even more hostile neighbors, and where Bush and his officials similarly underestimated the scale of the postconflict stabilization and reconstruction effort they would be taking on. Violent resistance to the U.S. invasion materialized much faster in Iraq, and U.S. forces were under severe pressure there by the time the Taliban reemerged as a serious threat in Afghanistan. This remained the case throughout Bush’s time in office, hamstringing the United States’ ability to stabilize Afghanistan and allowing the Taliban to regain footholds there.
Failure to limit the resurgence of the Taliban and to build institutional capacity in Afghanistan was by no means inevitable. Had the United States devoted the resources required for a stabilization and reconstruction effort in a country of Afghanistan’s size and location, it would have stood a better chance of leaving the country gracefully, with a functioning state in place. But eventually, Washington’s early unforced errors created a situation in which it faced a choice not between winning or losing but between losing or not losing. Washington could hang on at a modest cost in order to keep the Taliban at bay, retain a competent counterterrorism partner in the Afghan government, and safeguard the political and social advances that many Afghans enjoyed, or it could leave and acknowledge its failure to help build a lasting state—and a lasting future for the Afghan people. Three presidents successively wrestled with the dilemma that Bush left behind. Barack Obama and Donald Trump gestured toward ending the war but ultimately decided not to lose on their watch. Biden finally cut the cord and chose to lose
Defeat Wasn’t Inevitable, but Early Mistakes Made Success Unlikely https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2021-08-30/afghanistan-was-lost-long-ago
Myballs got his ears pinned back when he tried to say that I knew nothing by saying that there are Americans in Afghanistan who have CHOSEN to stay there.
That is the simple truth, and I made him face up to it.
He could very well wish that he had a pastor who would tell him the truth instead of the rightwing claptrap he prefers to hear.
Good grief. James is delusional. You couldn't best me on your best day.
There are Americans still there trying to get out. Even CNN is reporting it! All you're doing is giving the board the Joe Biden style of argument. Ignore facts and reality and just keep ignorantly reposting what you wish to be true. You need to stop digging. You're in a hole you already can't climb out of.
And btw, I'm not the one who only gets his news from a single website. We all know you do. Even dopey is better read than you are.
Trump Heads to Iowa
August 31, 2021 at 6:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Politico:
“Former President Donald Trump plans to hold a rally in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa as he continues to tease a third run for the White House. Details for Trump’s trip are still being worked out.”
_________
Trump heads to Iowa and the GOP heads to hell.
The GOP is being dragged down with him. He's the stinking dead albatross hanging around the GOP's neck, and he won't let go.
Decent minded Republicans are in despair.
Ch is too, but he won't admit it because he gave up being a decent minded Republican some time ago.
Balls, I get my information from numerous sources. Even T. Goddard cites NUMEROUS sources and besides, I sometimes get articles from RealClearPolitics, CBS, NBC, ABC, etc., etc., etc.
Don't try to pull that lie on us, because it's clear that it is just that: A lie.
POLITICO REPORT5:
Trump Acolytes Poised to Push Out Senate Dealmakers
August 31, 2021 at 6:36 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
“If Senate Republicans seem conservative now, just wait until next year. The 2022 midterms could usher in a wave of full-spectrum MAGA supporters who would turn the GOP conference an even deeper shade of red — and make the Senate a lot more like the fractious House,” Politico reports.
“In the five states where Republican senators are retiring, the primary election fields to succeed them are crowded with Donald Trump supporters who have made loyalty to the former president a cornerstone of their campaigns.”
________
Right now, Trump is the biggest enemy the GOP has, and so many of them are too stupid to see that.
President Biden will speak today and his words will have a healing effect on our nation.
His polling will continue to recover.
The economy will continue to improve.
The dead weight of Afghanistan will no longer be hanging over us.
Prediction: Biden's polling will continue to improve.
See this and then keep checking back later.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president-biden-job-approval-7320.html
Meanwhile, Trump has NEVER ONCE even gotten to 45% approval on the RCP aggregate polling averages.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/trump_favorableunfavorable-5493.html
Biden deserves credit not blame for Afghanistan.
Who wrote that sycophantic nonsense?
A lot of people deserve blame
for Afghanistan.
The question is,
who will deserve more credit
or more blame?
Biden got us out,
something Trump promised to do.
AM
Blogger JamesNewLeaf said...
Balls, I get my information from numerous sources.
And yet they all repeat the same narrative.
I don't have to cut and paste someone else's opinion.
I have enough intellectual power to express my own.
Prediction: Biden's polling will continue to improve.
Kerry in a landslide.
COMMONSENSE:
"Biden deserves credit not blame for Afghanistan."
Who wrote that sycophantic nonsense?
JAMES:
A lot of people
deserve blame for Afghanistan.
The question is,
who deserves more credit,
and who deserves more blame?
Biden got us out.
Something Trump promised to do.
lOL i never said kerry in a landslide.
Given the attention span of most Americans, and if the economy continues to grow, attention will focus on the future not the past
JAMES SAID:.
Balls, I get my information from numerous sources.
COMMONSENSE SAID:
And yet they all repeat the same narrative.
I don't have to cut and paste someone else's opinion.
I have enough intellectual power to express my own.
____________
JAMES SAID:
You lie, Commonsense, and you know it.
Goddard at politicalwire.com published NUMEROUS opinion pieces CRITICAL of Biden recently, and I put them here.
AND I often add on my own opinion.
AND I sometimes express nothing but my own opinion.
Defeat Wasn’t Inevitable, but Early Mistakes Made Success Unlikely https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/afghanistan/2021-08-30/afghanistan-was-lost-long-ago
JAMES SAID:
Balls, I get my information from numerous sources.
COMMONSENSE SAID:
And yet they all repeat the same narrative.
I don't have to cut and paste someone else's opinion.
I have enough intellectual power to express my own.
JAMES SAID:
You lie, Commonsense, and you know it.
Goddard at politicalwire.com recently published SEVERAL opinion pieces CRITICAL of Biden,
and I put them here.
AND I often add on my own opinion.
AND I frequently express nothing but my own opinion.
In the five states where Republican senators are retiring, the primary election fields to succeed them are crowded with Donald Trump who have made loyalty to the former president a cornerstone of their campaigns.”
Guess Donald Trump is popular with the Republican base. And most likely popular in the entire state.
Right now, Trump is the biggest enemy the GOP has, and so many of them are too stupid to see that.
Which GOP are you referring to. Because the base is more or less with Trump. You don't know much about politics. You sure as hell don't know much about GOP politics.
This is why the Republicans will fail to blame Biden for Afghanistan.
U.S. stock futures edged higher Tuesday, suggesting that the S&P 500 is on course to eke out a third consecutive record close.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 ticked up less than 0.1% a day after the broad index closed at an all-time high. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the technology-heavy Nasdaq-100 rose 0.1% Tuesday.
Stocks have climbed since Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated Friday that the timing of scaling back on bond purchases—which is likely to begin later this year—won’t have any bearing on subsequent decisions to raise interest rates. Meanwhile, concerns about the elevated number of Covid-19 cases are providing a lift to technology stocks because investors are renewing bets on companies that would benefit from lockdowns and people working from home.
“The fact that the Fed is willing to start to taper in the face of this Delta variant coming through does suggest they have confidence that the economy is going to stand on its own two feet,” said Peter Langas, chief portfolio strategist at Bessemer Trust.
Good grief. James is delusional. You couldn't best me on your best day.
BWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! He kicks your old white ass daily!!!!!! BTW.....those Americans you claim as left behind did so on their own choice.....just like the unvaxed idiots in this country!!!!! They had weeks to get out and did not....I feel sympathy for them, but they all did it to themselves....Aren't you one who preaches personal responsibility?????
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stock-markets-dow-update-08-31-2021-11630396190?st=q4y30i2cbcx78ch&reflink=share_mobilewebshare
COMMONSENSE SAID:
Which GOP are you referring to. Because the base is more or less with Trump. You don't know much about politics. You sure as hell don't know much about GOP politics.
JAMES SAYS:
I guess Commonsense thinks Trump's base
is YUGE.
It isn't.
Which GOP are you referring to. Because the base is more or less with Trump. You don't know much about politics. You sure as hell don't know much about GOP politics.
Pedo can only parrot what others tell him. He’s not bright
COMMONSENSE SAID:
Which GOP are you referring to. Because the base is more or less with Trump. You don't know much about politics. You sure as hell don't know much about GOP politics.
JAMES SAYS:
I guess Commonsense thinks Trump's base
is YUGE.
It isn't.
Goddard at politicalwire.com recently published SEVERAL opinion pieces CRITICAL of Biden,
They had no choice. Biden fucked up so bad they couldn't defend and cover for him without compromising their intellectual integrity.
AND I often add on my own opinion.
AND I frequently express nothing but my own opinion
You mean the gibberish you type in bold caps? They are nothing more than primal screams.
Cali owes it to all little children to report me to the authorities because he claims I am a pedophile.
Why doesn't he do that?
Because he knows he would
1. be laughed at uproarously.
2. face legal problems.
The claim that all Americans still in Afghanistan want to be there is a lie. Snd a disgusting one at that. James is either embarrassed st the foolish lievge is embracing, or he is even more bewildered than we thought. Either way, he had no respect left here.
Sometimes I use CAPs.
Sometimes I don't.
In both cases I make more sense than you do.
Myballs lies again.
I never said that ALL Americans who are still in Afghanistan WANT to be there.
I correctly pointed out that there are some who have CHOSEN to remain. That is fact, reported in articles I put above.
Despite all the chaos.
Bottom line: The airlift is a major logistical achievement. Tragically, in exiting a war like this, some chaos and deaths were inevitable. But getting out was right – and long overdue.
He can start rebuilding the trust among our allies, within days. He will address the nation today.
And as the chaos goes away peacefully, our allies will also recognize that it was the right thing to do.
See, for example, 9:30 PM above.
Pedo can only parrot what others tell him. He’s not bright
Wow shorty.......your gibberish and stupidity is awesome!!!!!!! Once again you prove nothing but your inability to post a single cogent thought, just insults to make you feel big......BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
What does the stock market have to do with inflation.
The humiliation and loss of stature in the world.
The loss of good paying jobs in the energy sector due to Biden policies.
The shortage of oil and gas the US is force to import because Biden shut down domestic production and made the country energy dependent instead of energy. Independent.
All in the name of Global Warming (which is still warming,as the real contributor, China is still pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere).
You know climate activist are not serious people when they demand restrictions on countries with the cleanest economy (the US being number one) and give the actual polluters a free pass.
A major reason is that the Republicans are not in control of the house of Representatives.
They can't create another Benghazi vs and make it public every day.
And like I said.
And as the chaos goes away peacefully, our allies will also recognize that it was the right thing to do.
James is lying again. He's been posting that Americans still in Afghanistan choose to be there.
James should shut the hell up and start behaving like he still has an ounce of dignity left. His lies are not fooling anyone here.
Some of the Americans who choose to remain in Afghanistan have families in Afghanistan and want to stay there and hope that the Taliban live up to their commitments to women getting an education and lower resolution on clothing restrictions.
The Taliban militants are trying to actually govern a country, instead of fighting a 40 year civil war.
If they succeed, it will again show that the President made the correct decisions.
in exiting a war like this, some chaos and deaths were inevitable.
No it wasn't inevitable. It was due to the total fuck up that left military forces in the indefensible Kabul airport instead of the more secure and defensible Bagram air base.
But getting out was right – and long overdue.
If you considered giving terrorist an unfettered sanctuary in which to plan and train for attacks on the US homeland I guess, to you, it was the right thing to do.
But you don't like America very much and wouldn't mind seeing a terrorist attack on the homeland.
The Pentagon spokesman said that the vast majority of armed vehicles have been disabled by our soldiers. The same thing applies to high tech weapons and other security services.
You people tend to forget that the previous President used guided missiles to attack ISIS and other terrorists organization and the leader of the Iranian armed forces.
President Biden will probably use the same path, because it won't put troops in harm's way.
He can start rebuilding the trust among our allies, within days.
Nigel Farage:
“When Boris Johnson made a desperate phone call to Biden he didn’t get a response for 40 hours…
The result of this is any new military engagements that they want us to engage in we simply will not do with this man in charge… I can’t even see a future for NATO…
I would not trust America under this administration.”
What right wing nutcase websites provided your stupid trolling?
Nigel Farage is a member of the British parliament. So what???
The ruling class is angry that the people demanded an end to their idiotic, life-wasting failed experiment. They’re embarrassed at having been exposed as fools and failures. Some are bitter that the war-profiteering gravy train that kept them so well-fed for so long has come to an abrupt and ignominious end.
Instead of taking stock and asking themselves tough, necessary questions, they’re lashing out. They want to punish us for our justified doubts and lack of enthusiasm. They want to deflect blame for their own failure. They know, or should, that taking in refugees from a very poor, very tribal, very backward, very extremist society is a recipe for disaster. But they also know that none of these “refugees,” you can bet, will be settled in Cambridge, or the Vineyard, or the Upper West Side, or Georgetown, or Chevy Chase or McLean, or Berkeley or Palo Alto, or Santa Monica or Silverlake.
No, they’ll be going to heartland communities where what’s left of the middle class lives, to put stress on local schools, hospitals, police departments and other social services. And allowed to live as they damned-well please, free of the laws and regulations that tie honest citizens in knots, that are only enforced against us.
It’s hard not to conclude that our government hates us. That conclusion, at any rate, fits the observable facts of its actual behavior.
https://americanmind.org/salvo/importing-enemies/
Importing enemies. As if enough of them don't already reside in the US, starting with President Dementia Boy, and his humiliating surrender to stone age savages.
If the goal was to get our cold civil war to go hot, congratulations ruling class, your dreams are about to come true.
Myballs said...
James is lying again. He's been posting that Americans still in Afghanistan choose to be there.
James should shut the hell up and start behaving like he still has an ounce of dignity left. His lies are not fooling anyone here.
JAMES PATIENTLY REPLIES:
It is balls who lies. I quote from what I posted at 9:30PM above. Pay attention to the italics:
"Approximately 250 U.S. citizens remaining in Afghanistan have said they desire to leave the country, according to the State Department. Teams on the ground continue to coordinate assistance for those attempting to flee. There are roughly 280 people who identify as Americans in Afghanistan who remain undecided whether to exit the country or have said they DON'T intend to leave, the spokesperson added.
That is simple truth, a simple fact. Not a lie. Why does Balls feel HE has to lie?
Blogger Roger Amick said...
Some of the Americans who choose to remain in Afghanistan have families in Afghanistan and want to stay there and hope that the Taliban live up to their commitments to women getting an education and lower resolution on clothing restrictions.
You're delusional right? Action speaks louder than words and every action they do says they are going to enforce the strict 6th century sharia law. If I was a woman, I would fear for my life in the Taliban Afghanistan.
The Taliban militants are trying to actually govern a country, instead of fighting a 40 year civil war.
If they succeed, it will again show that the President made the correct decisions.
The Taliban is creating a terrorist state that's still at war with the United States.
The war is not over, the field of battle has just been changed to the US homeland.
Biden will go down as the most infamously bad president in US history.
He posted a tweet showing Taliban militants walking into a facility where the vehicles are helicopters had already been dismantled by our troops.
Btw, Afghanistan is not America's longest war. The one against the American Indians is.
I guess Roger missed the video of the Taliban hanging a man from a U.S. helicopter.
No doubt taegan Goddard missed it too.
That is simple truth, a simple fact. Not a lie.
One thing you can depend on Biden state department is that it will lie with impunity.
Which means there are several thousand Americans in country that are desperate to get out.
I don't trust the Taliban either, but some of their leaders are facing the difficult task of trying to rule a nation that mistrusts them, and are promising that they have changed and will treat women well.
It may well be in their own self interest to do that, but I believe Biden has said he will believe it only when he sees it.
I say the same.
Roger Amick Kerry in a landslide in 2004.
Senseless in 2021 Biden will go down as the most infamously bad president in US history
LMAO at you
How are the Taliban going to attack our homeland, Commonsense?
Will they come in
submarines
canoes
airplanes
on camels
how?
There are approximately one to two hundred Americans left behind by President Biden.
Not thousands you find on right wing nutcase websites
Anonymous Myballs said...
I guess Roger missed the video of the Taliban hanging a man from a U.S. helicopter.
No doubt taegan Goddard missed it too.
And that was just a preview of coming attractions. Get ready for the videos of Americans being beheaded, a la Daniel Pearl and James Foley.
The pederast and the alky will be ejaculating all over themselves.
Make no mistake, our allies are angry and disgusted and we will not be trusted again until the fucking scumbags who occupy our government leadership are gone.
And military recruiters are about to become the loneliest folks in America. No one wants to work for a fucking TRAITOR Commander-in-Chief.
The president and his Democratic allies are looking to return their focus to their legislative agenda and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Politico reports that the hesitancy on immunization vaccine is going down.
If more people understand and get the vaccine, the infection rate will drop very quickly.
And don't forget that his approval ratings are very good.
Btw, Afghanistan is not America's longest war. The one against the American Indians is.
Interesting parallel. You almost had to annihilate the American Indians to make the country safe for European Americans. (for some reason the American Indian was cool to the idea of being displaced and headed to reservations.)
Annihilation of the Taliban and preventing Afghanistan from being a terrorist sanctuary should have been the strategic goal of the US.
Americans are abandoned and roger posts about poll numbers. Oh my.
Blogger JamesNewLeaf said...
How are the Taliban going to attack our homeland, Commonsense?
Will they come in
submarines
canoes
airplanes
on camels
how?
US military transport planes. We just imported thousands. Completely un-vetted
Jimmy Hitler Jr. just woke up with a hangover and again started his hated for the militarily and the State Department, just like his hero Adolf Hitler in a 30s.
It’s worth noting that the man placed in charge of security in and around Kabul is Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban’s deputy commander. The Haqqani network — of which he is the apparent leader — is one of the most violent terrorist networks anywhere. (There is a conflicting report that names Khalil Haqqani as the security chief. He has a $5 million FBI bounty on his head for terrorism. Not that it matters who it is. The Haqqani are fungible terrorists.)
Whoever he is, it’s the guy Team Biden trusted to screen out terrorists who wanted to attack the airport from which we were evacuating people. It’s no wonder that the Thursday suicide bomber reached one of the airport gates and succeeded in killing our troops and Afghan allies.
More incompetence was reflected in Biden’s Thursday statement that, “There has been complete unanimity from every commander on the objectives of this mission and the best way to achieve those objectives.”
That is a perfect condemnation of Biden’s generals. According to that statement, every military commander has agreed to:
Abandon Bagram Air Base, from which evacuations could have taken place from a more secure and better prepared setting;
Withdraw the troops before American civilians were evacuated;
Not blow up our multi-billion-dollar embassy so that Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan can reverse-engineer our cybersecurity and other defensive systems;
Trust the Taliban and the Haqqani network to help us get people to the airport and prevent terrorist attacks on the airport;
Stick with the arbitrary August 31 deadline regardless of how many U.S. civilians and Afghan allies are left behind; and
Not leave behind enough air power, special operations troops, and intelligence assets to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven from which terrorists can attack us and our allies.
If Biden’s statement was true, every military officer and Pentagon civilian who participated in the discussions with Biden — or who prepared their superiors for those discussions — should be fired for incompetence.
On Saturday, the Pentagon announced that it was beginning to withdraw our troops from the airport. Evacuation flights are winding down. At some point, the Taliban will have effective control of the airport while the last of our troops and aircraft are trying to flee. If they succeed in cratering the airport’s single runway, our people could face the same sort of devastation that Travis, Bowie, and Crockett faced at the Alamo.
Biden lied, Americans died. More may die because of other terrorist attacks before the last aircraft flies out of Kabul. Many will be left behind. And Biden is just fine with that.
It is a bitter experience to have to sit by and watch a man govern our nation who has no regard for the fate of his fellow Americans and who is so incompetent in every aspect of his job.
https://spectator.org/biden-lied-americans-died/
Vaccine Hesitancy Drops Amid Delta Surge
August 31, 2021 at 8:53 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
A new Axios-Ipsos poll finds vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. is showing signs of crumbling.
“Fewer adults than ever now say they won’t take the shot, and in the past two weeks there has been a sharp increase in the share of parents who plan to get their younger kids vaccinated as soon as it’s allowed.”
“The 20% who say they’re either not very likely (6%) or not at all likely (14%) comprise a new low in the survey, and down from a combined 34% in March and 23% two weeks ago.”
Biden Seeks to Move Past Afghanistan
August 31, 2021 at 8:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 47 Comments
Politico:
“Despite the mounting challenges, there’s a belief in Bidenworld that time is on their side. Midterm campaigns are still a year from heating up, giving the president room to accelerate a vaccination campaign, allay concerns about inflation and message legislative wins — should they come to fruition."
Taliban Seeks Friendly Ties with U.S.
August 31, 2021 at 8:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 34 Comments
A Taliban spokesman claimed that the Taliban is seeking “good and diplomatic relationship with the Americans,” Bloomberg reports.
But he quickly added: “We highlight to every occupier that whoever sees Afghanistan with an evil eye will face the same fate as the Americans have faced… We’ve never given up to pressure or force, and our nation has always sought freedom.”
The Afghanistan War In One Sentence
August 31, 2021 at 8:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 33 Comments
Associated Press: “The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America’s longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, some barely older than the war.”
How are the Taliban going to attack our homeland, Commonsense?
In answer to your fatuous question. They will slip across the porous southern boarder and attack US civilian target either by suicide bombing, Rocket attacks on airlines. Or one of the truly frightening scenarios, a tactical suitcase nuclear weapon or a biological attack.
This is going to be the next tirade by Scott Johnson MD
A group of 87 retired US military generals called for the resignations of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley in an open letter on Monday over what they described as a "disastrous" withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The letter was written by a group called "Flag Officers 4 America," which describes itself as "retired US generals and admirals defending the Constitution." The group previously wrote another open letter in May, appearing to advance a false conspiracy theory by questioning the results of the 2020 election, as well as President Joe Biden's physical and mental health.
In the group's latest letter, it said that Milley and Austin showed "negligence in performing their duties" for the swift exit from Afghanistan, which has left Americans and Afghans loyal to the US stranded in Afghanistan and "de facto hostages of the Taliban."
Unlearning the Lessons of 9/11
August 31, 2021 at 7:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 29 Comments
Mike Gerson:
“The United States now enters a high-stakes race between its over-the-horizon technologies and the talent of terrorists. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, may be right that ‘the relevant terrorist groups in Afghanistan do not possess advanced external plotting capabilities.’
But in that country, al-Qaeda is not a parasite feeding off the Taliban; it is an integral part of the regime. The United States’ capitulation to the Taliban is sure to encourage a new generation of young, bright and ambitious mass murderers. And when a terrorist group is hosted by a nation, capacities may be quickly gained.
“As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, unlearning its lessons would be a dangerous way to honor it.”
Ross Douthat:
“A set of moods that flourished after 9/11:
a mix of cable-news-encouraged overconfidence in American military capacities,
naïve World War II nostalgia
and crusading humanitarianism
in its liberal and neoconservative forms.
Like most Americans, I shared in those moods once;
after so many years of failure, I cannot imagine indulging in them now.
But it’s clear from the past few weeks that they retain an intense subterranean appeal in the American elite, waiting only for the right circumstances to resurface.”
Fighting Terrorism Will Be Harder Now
August 31, 2021 at 7:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 45 Comments
Wall Street Journal: “As a chaotic and deadly U.S. evacuation winds up, the U.S. has lost many of its key assets for tracking violent militants and their plots.”
“Gone are the military bases and other infrastructure that provided a platform for operatives from the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies. Gone is the U.S.-backed Afghan government and its intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, which worked closely with American spy services. Gone, evacuated or scattered are Afghan agents and troops who fed on-the-ground information to the CIA.
“U.S. officials acknowledge the military has lost 90% of the intelligence collection capabilities it had using drones before the drawdown of forces began in May.”
Walter Russell Mead:
“Instead of freeing it to think about Afghanistan less, the messy withdrawal means that for the foreseeable future the White House will have to care more about what happens there but with fewer tools to manage the situation.”
1:30 PM ET
President Biden Delivers Remarks on Ending the War in Afghanistan
The White House.gov
Watch his handlers call a lid right after.
And funny how every other president speaks in prime time.
Number of calls for biden to resign for abandoning U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is growing.
Same for blinkin and the two generals.
“Fewer adults than ever now say they won’t take the shot, and in the past two weeks there has been a sharp increase in the share of parents who plan to get their younger kids vaccinated as soon as it’s allowed.”
Good News No?
Yes. Good news.
So why did Trump get booed in Alabama for advising people to get vaccinated?
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