President Joe Biden told key allies in June that he would maintain enough of a security presence in Afghanistan to ensure they could continue to operate in the capital following the main U.S. withdrawal, a vow made before the Taliban’s rapid final push across the country, according to a British diplomatic memo seen by Bloomberg.
Biden promised U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Cornwall, England, that “critical U.S. enablers” would remain in place to keep Kabul safe following the drawdown of NATO forces, the note said. British officials determined the U.S. would provide enough personnel to ensure that the U.K. embassy in Kabul could continue operating.
So this is where the United States starts to lose international credibility. Not just in their in ability to apparently function like a real country, but to actually keep promises. Biden's incompetence and dishonesty makes it nearly impossible for our allies to trust us, or our enemies to fear us.
Joe Biden has certainly done more than enough to make Donald Trump's relationship with our allies look like a buddy movie in comparison.
48 comments:
What I posted earlier today will draw an accurate parallel between Trump and Harry Truman, because I see them as very similar.
General Milly is the next generation.
GEORGE C. MARSHALL’s contributions to our nation and the world cannot be overstated. He was the organizer of victory and the architect of peace during and following World War II. He won the war, and he won the peace. His characteristics of honesty, integrity, and selfless service stand as shining examples for those who study the past and for those generations who will learn about him in the future. The Marshall Foundation is dedicated to celebrating his legacy.
Marshall’s career touched on many of the key events of the 20th century—as a new Army officer following the Philippine insurrection, as a member of the staff of General of the Armies John J. Pershing during World War I, as U.S. Army Chief of Staff during War World II, as Secretary of State and the architect of European economic recovery following WWII, and as Secretary of Defense during the Korean War. He is the only person to have served in these three highest positions.
During World War II, Marshall as Army Chief of Staff (1939–1945) was the most important military figure in the U.S. military establishment and of great significance in maintaining the Anglo-American coalition. After the war, he was named special ambassador to China (1945–1947), Secretary of State (1947–1949), President of the American Red Cross (1949–1950), and Secretary of Defense (1950–1951). In 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in proposing, encouraging legislative action, and supporting the European Recovery Program (known as the Marshall Plan). For nearly 20 years he was a major U.S. leader, militarily, politically and morally, and he is still widely admired today.
He got us into NATO despite isolationist Republicans. Eisenhower continued to start the cold war, and we avoided another World War with The Soviet Union.
He understands that we have lost every war since 1945
And will eventually get us out of Afghanistan
Following orders by the President.
Some of the right wing nutcase websites say that our allies are no longer interested in being allies.
But in the end it will be seen as successful. Consider that we lost the war in Afghanist.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/07/09/is-biden-haunted-by-vietnam-should-he-be/
And it's a good reason to keep the nutcase Republicans from firing General Milly..
rrb wants him executed
This is the difference between liberals and conservatives.
General Milley is incompetent. This he has proven with this Afghanistan fiasco. There can be no question at this point that he should be fired based purely on his job performance. Nobody this incompetent at their job would make it in the real world. Especially when the criticism of Milley is that they pay too much attention to things outside of the job. His job is to prepare the military for exactly these types of military situations. Military, which involves guns, and tanks, and planes and such. His job is not to push politics.
But somehow, liberals believe he is the "future" of the military?
So I guess our "future" is to award people who are incompetent, but show the correct political opinions.
Yeah... you and I will disagree on this one.
I think that the right wing media websites have convicted you to believe it.
You probably believe that he's a woke philosophy man.
You have been trying to discredit the reaction to the murder of George Floyd Floyd until today.
We disagree on almost everything.
His job is not to push politics.
Is all over the right wing media websites like Redstate etc.
His history is very successful on military issues. Under President Trump!
Why didn't he fire him???
I believe that General Willy understands the separation of politics and militarily issues.
But the right wing media has convinced you otherwise.
Whatever Roger...
I don't need another website to convince me that the job of the top General in our country should be to make sure our military is prepared. Do you have a reasonable argument that the nation's top General should not make sure our military is prepared?
Or are you just flailing?
Politics has absolutely ZERO place in the military. People's lives depend on our military. How many people have died, have been beaten, are currently stranded in Afghanistan right now? That is a FAILURE of our military as much as a failure of Biden, since it was the idiot Milley who provided much of the advice that the Afghan forces would be able to resist (or at least that is is public persona).
So I get it Roger...
If a country has to implode. If American overseas have to suffer, be beaten, be outcast, or even killed... because our Military is incapable... then that is perfectly acceptable to you.
As long as the military is woke, huh?
I can't wait to see how crazy the right wing media websites will respond to this report today about Olinski Obama.
The day after former President Barack Obama’s foundation began groundbreaking on a $700 million presidential center on an historic Chicago green space, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett cleared the final hurdle that stood in the way of its construction on Frida
I believe that General Willy understands the separation of politics and militarily issues.
Cognitive dissonance.
The guy has been politically critical of a former CIC for absolutely zero reasons other than pure partisan politics. He has pushed a political agenda on the military. If you believe that any of that actually helps make the military a better more competent organization.
Then you are a fucking idiot.
Again agreeing or disagreeing with politics is irrelevant.
The military has one fucking job. Being politically correct in many ways runs 180 degrees counter to that.
This was General Milley's first "real test" as the top guy.
How do you think it is going, huh Roger????
Now being reported that Americans having their passports confiscated and being beaten. No one will forget any of this. Fire up that 25th amendment.
Balls...
None of that matters.
General Woke, Roger's hero and future of the military told us the Islamic extremists are not a threat. The real threat is white rage. If General Milley says the real threat is White Rage, then Roger and others will believe him.
Just wait, balls. Milley might not have anyone prepared to take on the Taliban. But he has that "white rage" under control. Roger believes that is more important than the lives of citizens in Afghanistan.
You believe the CRT is going to result in a communist government if the Democrats win the Senate majority and House majority again.
A former Pence adviser said Trump had 4 years to help Afghan allies leave the country but Stephen Miller's 'racist hysteria' blocked it from happening
Kelsey Vlamis
11 hours ago
A former national security adviser to Mike Pence blasted Donald Trump and Stephen Miller Friday.
She claimed the pair actively worked against the visa process for Afghans who helped US troops.
The US is now working to evacuate tens of thousands of Afghan allies.
A former national security official blamed the Trump administration and Stephen Miller's "racist hysteria" for impeding the visa application process for Afghans who worked with the US.
Olivia Troye worked as the homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. In a Twitter thread Friday, she blasted the Trump administration for its handling of the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programs that provide a path to US residency for locals who worked with the US government in Afghanistan.
"There were cabinet mtgs about this during the Trump Admin where Stephen Miller would peddle his racist hysteria about Iraq & Afghanistan. He & his enablers across government would undermine anyone who worked on solving the SIV issue by devastating the system at DHS & State," Troye wrote.
Since the Taliban swiftly seized control of Afghanistan Sunday, the US has been struggling to evacuate Americans as well as tens of thousands of Afghan allies who have worked with the US over the past two decades.
The Biden administration has come under sharp criticism from both sides of the aisle for its handling of the US troop withdrawal and subsequent evacuations. But criticism has also been aimed at the Trump administration, including Miller in particular.
Troye said she worked on the SIV issue but got "nowhere" because allies of President Donald Trump and Miller at the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and other security agencies "made an already cumbersome SIV process even more challenging."
She said many people within the administration believed the matter was urgent but that many were afraid to oppose the president's allies, adding that there were "many closed door meetings" strategizing how to address the issue.
"Trump had FOUR years-while putting this plan in place-to evacuate these Afghan allies who were the lifelines for many of us who spent time in Afghanistan," she said. "The process slowed to a trickle for reviews/other "priorities"-then came to a halt."
An Afghanistan War veteran told CNN this week that Miller
"should be held accountable for war crimes"
for opposing the resettlement of endangered Afghans,
and that he was "complicit" in their deaths.
Miller is an advocate for strict immigration limits.
In an appearance on Fox News Tuesday night, Miller said "those advocating for mass Afghan resettlement are doing so for political and not humanitarian reasons," adding that it would also be too expensive.
"The United States of America never, ever, made a promise, written or unwritten, to the people of Afghanistan that if after 20 years, they were unable to secure their own country, that we would take them to ours. That is nonsense. That has never been US government policy," Miller said.
___
NO? I THOUGHT WE PROMISED THEM THAT IF THEY WORKED WITH US, WE WOULD LOOK OUT FOR THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES. DIDN'T WE PROMISE THEM THAT? ____
Insider has reached out to Trump's office and Troye for comment. Stephen Miller could not immediately be reached for comment.
I am a white male. I am a racist oppressor
My boss is a black woman. She is oppressed. By me I guess. Gotta love CRT logic.
The post above I got from Insider.
What is your answer to it, Ch?
LOL
Balls should have read the article before he commented.
Good one, Honest Pilgrim!
Even crazier is the the deep state have taken control over Sleepy Joe Biden.
Up to now, however elliptically, Biden “has treated and talked about” the deep state as either willing accomplices in his Afghanistan withdrawal, or as dithering, indecisive actors who could not form a consensus capable of assisting his decision making. Unwilling and unable to have its “elite” status as “experts” in foreign affairs questioned—let alone criticized—the deep state grabbed the hammer, broke the glass, and hit the red button to launch a “Code Red” on Biden.
In the current hue and cry, note how many propagators of the “Russian collusion” lie are now the staunchest proponents of the narrative that Biden dismissed the deep state’s advice and, subsequently, instigated the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle. Their source for this information? Their contacts in the “intelligence community.”
Yes, as president, Biden ultimately is responsible for this unconscionable disaster. The buck stops there. But who put in their two cents to help place it there? The thought of Biden unilaterally overriding the unanimous opposition of his entire administration—deep state included—beggars belief. Biden is simply too senile to have done so. So, who abetted and instructed his decision?
Unfortunately, submerged beneath the swamp’s swirling eddies, we may never know the truth about the people responsible for the debacle in Afghanistan. But for the mockingbird media the math is rudimentary: these spoon-fed propagandists must sing for their supper or the deep state will cut them off. Turning on Biden is a small price to pay, really. Even if the Big Guy has to go through the 25th Amendment, a progressive will take his place. And, while the mockingbird media is a core constituency for Biden, it is a captive of the deep state.
Equally, many members of Congress—some captives of the deep state, others not—are well aware that Senator Schumer’s caution also applies to them. Hence the strongly worded tweets, press releases, and flustered cable TV appearances; hence the pounding of desks demanding talking points, if not answers; hence the outraged importuning for hearings; hence the same old song and dance while Afghanistan burns and consumes America’s honor and security.
In this divisive time, many on the Right—including some who rightly denounced the deep state’s attacks on President Trump—will take a guilty pleasure in watching the deep state and its minions come for the Big Guy. It is all too human. Still, try to remember that within Senator Schumer’s warning is a point to which he, and far too many others, are oblivious:
The deep state’s ability and willingness to attack a president of either party with impunity is not just a problem for that politician; it constitutes a peril for our free republic.
Loony toons have taken over the Republican party of Abraham Lincoln and replaced it with Trump or his fellow Trumpets like DeSantis.
https://amgreatness.com/2021/08/20/the-deep-state-comes-for-the-big-guy/
Lol. Look at Roger and James trying hard to change the narrative.
And my remarks still stand.
This story is heartbreaking because if the Republicans get power again it's over forever.
Blogger Roger Amick said...
I think that the right wing media websites have convicted you to believe it.
You probably believe that he's a woke philosophy man.
You have been trying to discredit the reaction to the murder of George Floyd Floyd until today.
We disagree on almost everything.
Word salad
WTF does George Floyd have to do with this
GO OUTSIDE
BWAAAAAAAAA!!! Again the Ball Less wonder shows us why he slurps trump.....Got nothing to say or add to anything as he tries to change the narrative!!!!!!!! LLOLOLOLO
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will not spend the weekend at his home in Delaware after all.
The White House said Saturday that Biden would no longer travel to Wilmington as planned. No immediate explanation was given.
I went to the gym yesterday and the guy here said I looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger
Why is the airport closed, again?
Your a Sweden diatribes were fake news new.
A year and a half after Sweden decided not to lock down, its COVID-19 death rate is up to 10 times higher than its neighbors
Sweden's state epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell.
Getty
Sweden decided not to implement a full-scale lockdown during the pandemic.
It now has up to 10 times as many COVID-19 deaths per capita as its Nordic neighbors.
Sweden also didn't fare much better economically, suggesting its gamble didn't pay off.
See more stories on Insider's business page.
Months before the first COVID-19 cases were detected, public-health experts ranked Sweden as one of the most prepared countries to handle a pandemic. But in March 2020, Swedish health authorities surprised the world with their unorthodox approach: Rather than locking down and requiring masks, as many countries did, Sweden let residents decide individually whether to take those precautions.
The gamble, Swedish authorities predicted, would pay off in the long run. Ideally, vulnerable people would choose to stay home, the economy wouldn't suffer too much, and healthy people might get mild COVID-19 cases that ultimately contributed to the population's collective immunity.
But a year and a half into the pandemic, it's clear that bet was wrong.
You have very predictable.
Pence Aide Blames Stephen Miller for Fewer Afghan Visas
Olivia Troye, a former aide to former Vice President Mike Pence, blamed racist views of Stephen Miller for the inability of many translators and other allies to get out of Afghanistan before the U.S. withdrew troops, USA Today reports.
Troye said Miller teamed up with “enablers” to undermine anyone trying to get the allies out by “devastating” the special immigrant visa system at the departments of State and Homeland Security.
She added that Pence was “fully aware of the problem.”
U.S. Afghanistan Exit Plan Unravels
“The nation’s top national security officials assembled at the Pentagon early on April 24 for a secret meeting to plan the final withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. It was two weeks after President Biden had announced the exit over the objection of his generals, but now they were carrying out his orders,” the New York Times reports.
“Four months later, the plan is in shambles as Mr. Biden struggles to explain how a withdrawal most Americans supported went so badly wrong in its execution.”
“Interviews with key participants in the last days of the war show a series of misjudgments and the failure of Mr. Biden’s calculation that pulling out American troops — prioritizing their safety before evacuating American citizens and Afghan allies — would result in an orderly withdrawal.”
The Spectator
Biden’s press conference was a feast of disinformation
Americans are forming the indelible impression that this president is incompetent
August 20, 2021 | 5:14 pm
Written by:
Charles Lipson
Joe Biden emerged from his cave, saw his shadow, and told us there will be three more years of winter.
That winter, descending on America’s position in the world, was on public view at Biden’s Friday press conference about Afghanistan.
Standing behind him was the Vice President, the secretary of defense, the secretary of state and the national security adviser, a stark contrast to the sad photo of Biden alone on a video call from Camp David with those advisers. Why have them stand there, mute? To convey to the public that the administration was united…and to convey to his advisers that they were all on this sinking ship together.
They will respond privately by calling their media contacts and saying, ‘Do not say this came from me, but this disaster was all the President’s fault. It was his decision. I told him not to do it.’
As for the press conference itself, it was a tissue of, let’s put this delicately, demonstrable falsehoods.
He said there is no al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. That’s wrong.
He said al-Qaeda and the Taliban are enemies. That’s wrong.
He said almost no one thought the Afghan army would fall apart this quickly. That’s wrong.
He said our Nato allies agreed that his decision to withdraw was wise and that they agreed with it. That’s wrong. In fact, our most important allies have taken the rare step of publicly blaming Biden.
He said we won’t have trouble knowing about any terrorist formation in Afghanistan because we have ‘over the horizon’ capabilities. That’s mostly wrong. We need resources on the ground to know that, and we don’t have those resources anymore. We pulled our people out and abandoned those who worked with us.
He said the only reason American soldiers had been safe is because the Taliban abided by their agreement with Trump about safe withdrawal. That’s possible but unlikely. The better reason is that they were not engaged in door-to-door combat. They were giving local forces intelligence support and air cover. Missing that backbone, the Afghan forces fell apart.
How bad was Biden’s misinformation to the American public? Dreadful. The best assessment comes from Jennifer Griffin, a very experienced Pentagon reporter who spent years in Afghanistan. She said couldn’t fact-check the misstatements fast enough in real time. There were just so many falsehoods. She’s a thorough-going professional, but you could see her genuine anger burning through as she said that.
How bad is the mess? So bad and so obvious that even the mainstream media was asking Biden tough questions. The question now is whether they will follow up and report on the deceptions, as well as the incompetence and bad judgment.
Yesterday, Juan Williams said the American people will soon forget this failure in Afghanistan. Not very likely. That’s not because they wanted to stay there. It is because they are forming the indelible impression that this president is incompetent, a bottomless cup of bad ideas. As for the horrific images coming out of Kabul, a friend rendered a much more profound judgment. ‘People cannot unsee images.’
--Charles Lipson is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Chicago and a contributor to The Spectator.
On topic.
Biden needs to reassure worried allies.
Former government officials have expressed concerns about how the situation in Afghanistan might hurt America’s standing on the world stage and relationship with allies, particularly those where the U.S. has a military presence.
Since he took office, Biden has been trying to repair foreign ties and bolster alliances after four years of tumult and uncertainty under former President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.
“I think we’re going to have to restore some credibility with our allies who had raised questions about whether or not they could trust Trump,” said Leon Panetta, who served as Defense secretary during the Obama administration. “When something like this happens, it does raise questions. And I think there’s some repair work that has to be done here with our allies because protecting our allies is absolutely critical to our ability to be a world leader.”
Biden has insisted he sees no detrimental impact on U.S. credibility. Biden and the other leaders of Group of Seven countries will meet virtually next week to discuss Afghanistan. In recent days, Biden has spoken with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
“I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world,” Biden said on Friday.
Some argue that while in the near term the U.S. is grappling with the situation in Afghanistan, withdrawing from the 20-year war will ultimately allow the U.S. to focus on more urgent strategic challenges.
“The U.S. has a history of going through painful strategic realignments that hurt in the short run and work to the country’s advantage in the long run, and what we’re seeing today in Afghanistan is just that,” said Charles Kupchan, who served as a special assistant to former President Obama and senior director for European affairs on the National Security Council.
-----
The G7 will meet in the White House for the first time in four years. Unlike Trump he doesn't want Russia to be counted as number 8
I went to the gym yesterday and the guy here said I looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger,
the 2021 version I suspect!
Roger...
I posted the actual numbers from Sweden.
0.5 deaths a day since July 1st for a 12 million person country
But rather...
You ignore the statistics and empirical data and cut and paste from someone who supplied literally no data to compare them with other European neighbors (where they are doing quite well).
This is why nobody takes you serious and why Indy calls you an idiot and Sean Trende said you ruined my blog!
I posted the actual numbers from Sweden.
BWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! And you advocated their method of addressing covid.....Sorry sport....you took it up the ass again with your inability to think anymore!!!!! Seems to me you ignored what the swede said and data presented.....Looks to me like a fail on your part!!! What ruined your blog are idiots like the injun cunt, rat and the goat fucker posting their drivel....Roger on the other hand does write as well as you and actually thinks, something lost on you!!!!!
“The U.S. has a history of going through painful strategic realignments that hurt in the short run and work to the country’s advantage in the long run, and what we’re seeing today in Afghanistan is just that.”
It seems to me this is a well considered article on Sweden not doing so well regarding the pandemic, with plenty of facts and figures to back it up.
https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-covid-no-lockdown-strategy-failed-higher-death-rate-2021-8
Bidens state department is under a crippling cyber attacks.
Today’s Republican Party is behind what historians regard as the biggest attack on voting rights since Jim Crow, but the media frames this as a right-versus-left battle that’s just politics as usual. Equating the two sides is false and dangerous.
Or compare the coverage of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, on one hand, with the coverage of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar on the other. You’d think they were all equally out of the mainstream, some on the extreme right, some on the extreme left. That’s bunk.
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, in addition to spreading dangerous conspiracy theories, harassing colleagues, and promoting bigotry, don’t actually legislate or do anything for their constituents. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar both organize to help everyday people, deliver for their constituents, and have pushed legislation to provide universal school meals, expand affordable housing, and combat the climate crisis.
Equating all these lawmakers suggests that the responsible position is halfway between hateful, delusional conspiracy theories on the one hand, and efforts to fight white supremacy, save the planet, and empower working people on the other.
It’s similar to what the media did following Donald Trump’s infamous condemnation of “both sides” after the deadly violence sparked by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. In the ensuing weeks, America’s six top mainstream newspapers used just as much space condemning anti-Nazi counter-protesters as they did actual neo-Nazis.
But research shows white supremacists pose a significantly graver threat than those trying to stop them. White supremacists are animated by racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of bigotry, violence and hate.
Battling white supremacy is not the same as advocating it. Passing laws to prevent voter suppression is not the same as passing laws to suppress votes. Fighting for our democracy is not the same as seeking to destroy it.
The media equating both sides, one “left” and one “right,” suggests there’s a moderate middle between hate and inclusion, between democracy and proto-fascism.
This is misleading, dangerous, and morally wrong. Don’t fall for it.
Guys, when I posted the post that exposed his lie about Sweden I knew it would trigger another attack on me!
This is why nobody takes you serious and why Indy calls you an idiot and Sean Trende said you ruined my blog!
That happened years ago.
People who are paranoid schizophrenic find enemies to attack, because they see them as their enemies..
There is a poll about me..
And every few days he posts attacks and claims that I'm demented. Or even makes me the enemy with a post.
But the fact is that people who are confronted by a superior intelligent person, they attack them.
I have done a lot of research on this issue.
I enjoy this because it keeps me thinking about shit.
https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-covid-no-lockdown-strategy-failed-higher-death-rate-2021-8
I said that You have very predictable.
LMAO
C.H. TruthAugust 21, 2021 at 4:13 PM
Roger...
I posted the actual numbers from Sweden.
0.5 deaths a day since July 1st for a 12 million person country
But rather...
You ignore the statistics and empirical data and cut and paste from someone who supplied literally no data to compare them with other European neighbors (where they are doing quite well).
This is why nobody takes you serious and why Indy calls you an idiot and Sean Trende said you ruined my blog!
How many years ago???
Recovery is very similar to Alcoholics
How is paranoid personality disorder treated?
People with PPD often do not seek treatment on their own because they do not see themselves as having a problem. The distrust of others felt by people with PPD also poses a challenge for health care professionals because trust is an important factor of psychotherapy (a form of counseling). As a result, many people with PPD do not follow their treatment plan and may even question the motives of the therapist.
When a patient seeks treatment for PPD, psychotherapy is the treatment of choice. Treatment likely will focus on increasing general coping skills, especially trust and empathy, as well as on improving social interaction, communication, and self-esteem.
Medication generally is not used to treat PPD. However, medications—such as anti-anxiety, antidepressant, or anti-psychotic drugs—might be prescribed if the person’s symptoms are extreme, or if he or she also suffers from an associated psychological problem, such as anxiety or depression.
You have almost zero empathy.
It took me a near death experience before I admitted that I am an alcoholic.
People with PPD often do not seek treatment on their own because they do not see themselves as having a Problem.
This is enough of this story
But you should get help
Sure Roger...
Says the guy living in an assisted living community. My mother was fairly incompetent and still lived in the Independent living side of that senior home. It was only after she was almost incapable of dressing herself or going to the bathroom on her home did she move to the "assisted living" portion of the building. So I understand what "assisted living means".
It means you can no longer actually take care of yourself.
Sorry Roger. It's a sad place to be and I feel for you.
But at the end of the day... I am the guy holding down a high level job, in the process of moving across the country, getting along with my own children, seeing my youngest almost every day, and doing perfectly well!
But you are correct...
One of us "needs help"!
Might just be the one requiring "assistance" to live.
Ch, you went off the deep end over Sweden. See the next thread up.
Thread topic:
The U.S. ignored corruption within the Afghan government. Did that lead to its fall?
PUBLIC RADIO:Aug 20, 2021 6:45 PM EDT
As the Taliban faces protests and dissent across Afghanistan, William Brangham explores the collapse of the country's government — built and supported by the U.S. and allies for 20 years. For a deeper perspective, Brangham speaks with Sarah Chayes, who covered the fall of the Taliban after 9/11 for NPR and served as advisor to several senior U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan.
We return now to our top story, as the Taliban struggles to rule amid protests and dissent in Kabul and across the country.
William Brangham explores the collapse of the country's government, which was built and supported by the U.S. and its allies for 20 years.
William Brangham:
For some deeper perspective on how we got here, I'm joined now by someone who's had years-long involvement in Afghanistan.
Sarah Chayes covered the fall of the Taliban after 9/11 for NPR. She then started and ran several NGOs in the country. She served as adviser to several senior U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan and then to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
She is the author of several books. The most recent is "On Corruption in America: And What Is at Stake." And she joins us now from Paris.
Sarah Chayes, great to have you back on the "NewsHour."
You recently published an essay called "The Ides of August," and, in it, you laid out several factors that you argue helped get us where we are today. And the first element was corruption that you pointed to.
Can you explain the mechanism? How is it that corruption leads to the fall of the Afghan government?
Sarah Chayes:
In simple terms, why would a population take risks to fight the Taliban on behalf of a government that is treating them almost as badly as the Taliban do?
So, Afghan government officials would shake people down at every interaction. The massive international funding that was arriving in the country was being siphoned off or captured by government officials and their cronies.
And from Afghans' perspective, it almost looked like the United States was in favor of this system, because our officials were always seen partnering with these venal Afghan leaders. And no matter how much the population complained, they really couldn't get us to address the issues seriously.
William Brangham:
What role did the U.S.' actions play in this? Did we hinder the corruption? Did we help the corruption? Did we try to stop the corruption?
Sarah Chayes:
I have to say, on balance, we enormously helped the corruption, as I say, first of all, by allowing local strongmen to capture the revenue streams.
So, for example, you would have one local strongman who is providing security at that — at a U.S. base, and then he would only allow his people in to our contracting conferences, for example. We never held any of the officials that we were partnering with to account.
I would say that, toward 2009-2010, we began to catch on to this as a serious issue. And so a decision was made to do a test case, with plenty of evidence. It was brilliantly mounted, and it had to do with a haul of approximately $900 million in Kabul Bank, right?
So we're talking a significant issue here. And the person targeted who was taking a bribe was in the palace, was close to President Karzai. Well, as soon as President Karzai threw a fit about the arrest from his henchman, Washington executed a U-turn, and the U.S. never took corruption seriously after that. That was in 2010.
In 2011, when I was working with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, there was an interagency policy process that would arrive at a determination, how was the United States going to address corruption? And, explicitly, it was decided that we were not going to focus on any of the high-level corruption, only — quote — "street-level" police corruption, which, of course, was the purview of the military.
So, from my perspective, there was a real dereliction of duty on the part of civilian leaderships in the United States.
William Brangham:
Another factor in the essay that you posted was the role that Pakistan played in all of this.
--Can you explain? For people who are not familiar with the dynamics between the two nations, what role did Pakistan play?
Sarah Chayes:
The Taliban did not initially arise inside Afghanistan the way we have often heard, in 1994.
The Taliban were, in fact, basically concocted across the border in Pakistan. At that time, Afghanistan was a pretty chaotic, violent place, because it was after the Soviets had withdrawn and there were a lot of different PTSD-suffering militia commanders who were shooting at each other.
And Pakistan was very interested in the long-distance trade routes that crossed Afghanistan. And it was really hard to get convoys, get goods across the country. And so their idea for how to secure their own interests, which both were in trade and were in having some what is often called strategic depth with respect to India, right?
Like, India is their big rival, and they wanted a little bit of room behind them and control over territory and population. So they came up with this idea of Taliban. And they actually market-tested it. And I know this from interviews with locals over a number of years.
Golly, wouldn't you — how would you feel about some religious students coming to bring this violence to a stop? And, frankly, people said, anything, you know?
William Brangham:
This was Pakistani military intelligence doing this?
Sarah Chayes:
That's exactly right.
And then, in 2003, I watched them begin reconstituting the Taliban. So, Pakistan was playing — or the Pakistani military intelligence agency was playing this remarkable double game with the United States, where they were playing at being our ally and helping us conduct operations, but they were also essentially arming, equipping, training, and directing the Taliban.
And if you look today at the reactions from Pakistani officials, I mean, they are crowing about the current results, the current outcome.
William Brangham:
Your essay also touches on the role that former Afghan President Hamid Karzai played in this eventual undoing that we have witnessed. Again, how so?
Sarah Chayes:
Again, it's very counterintuitive, but it was Karzai who initially negotiated the entry of the Taliban into Kandahar back in 1994.
He was basically operating on behalf to have the Pakistani military intelligence agency. Karzai got into a fight with his father about it. Others disagreed with him about it. But that was the role he played. And so, again, it stunned me when I learned this, that our choice to be the first president of Afghanistan was the very one who had ushered the Taliban into power in the first place.
And, today, we see him again emerging as the head of some coordinating committee. And so it makes me ask myself, has he not been conducting this type of negotiations, just like he did back in 1994, with the leaders of the northern cities, who all surrendered almost in unison, and all the other kind of local power brokers that we saw surrender in such quick succession?
That doesn't just happen by itself. That was prepared.
William Brangham:
Sarah Chayes, always great to see you.
Your latest book is "On Corruption in America."
Thank you so much for joining us.
Sarah Chayes:
Thanks for having me, William.
I'm here voluntarily. I'm not having any mental issues. This is a temporary process. In fact I had PTSD symptoms and I admitted problems. I almost fell off the wagon but I didn't! You have no idea how difficult it was to go through three near death zones. But I came out the other side!
Most of the people here have serious problems. Sometimes just age related problems. It's very difficult to see people who have alzheimers symptoms including rational behavior but then two minutes later they are irrational.
I wouldn't work here. You witnessed it with your mother.
I dress myself and shower and enjoy going to the gym! Because I'm not locked down like your mother went through.
A lovely woman who was normal most of the time, but in just a month or so she has to be escorted to eat meals.
This is not a nursing home, non or the people are registered nurses.
I'm not going into detail about my near future.
But quit acting irrationally and again angry with me when you lose the argument.
Roger Amick said...
This is not a nursing home, non or the people are registered nurses.
I'm not going into detail about my near future.
But quit acting irrationally and again angry with me when you lose the argument.
Good Lord
I already answered this word salad on the current thread.
I'm not sure why CHT bothers to put up with you
Get help.
And face where you are in life
honestly
If you can't be honest with yourself you should just hang it up
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