She sure is a piece of something4th and Inches said:Joy Reid is a piece of work..Jack Bauer said:KANDAHAR JOY: MSNBC's Joy Reid gushes over the Biden WH's handling of Afghanistan, saying "it's been remarkable to see daily press conferences & demands for oversight & constant information flowing[.]"
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 19, 2021
She then COMPLAINS not enough focus has been on far-right terrorism. pic.twitter.com/wQgureUo8L
Afghanistan What a tragedy!
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Last: 2 mo ago by Harrison Bergeron
Jack Bauer said:
For you youngins, go look up Ronald Reagan foreign policy speeches on YouTube and you will be blown away.
Ah yes the Russian boogeymen. I remember.
Winning by cheating is just as impressive as winning fairly, probably even more so. Your opponent was better than you in every way, and you beat them with your brain.
Frankly, I'm surprised there hasn't been more violence amidst the chaos. But like the sword of Damocles, August 31 approaches. That's likely when the real "fun" begins.
China's military nuclear orders rise fourfold in push to catch up with USGoldMind said:Jack Bauer said:
For you youngins, go look up Ronald Reagan foreign policy speeches on YouTube and you will be blown away.
Ah yes the Russian boogeymen. I remember.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3145851/chinas-military-nuclear-orders-rise-fourfold-push-catch-us
“It is impossible to get a man to understand something if his livelihood depends on him not understanding.” ~ Upton Sinclair
What's stopping Trump now? I loved to hear some off the cuff.4th and Inches said:Basement Biden only does scripted Q&AJacques Strap said:One corporate press stenographer changed up his pre-approved question. Biden literally answered, "I thought the question was," before attempting to answer the new question.
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.substack.com (@JordanSchachtel) August 20, 2021
Insane. Clown regime stuff.Once the NPR reporter went off script Biden ended the briefing.
— Beverly Hallberg (@BeverlyHallberg) August 20, 2021
I dare his handlers to let him to do a Trump style off the cuff Q&A
oh i dont know, maybe the fact he would be arm chair quarterbacking with no authority which isnt helpful and media sensorship.. he could actually hurt the efforts due to peoples TDSWaco1947 said:What's stopping Trump now? I loved to hear some off the cuff.4th and Inches said:Basement Biden only does scripted Q&AJacques Strap said:One corporate press stenographer changed up his pre-approved question. Biden literally answered, "I thought the question was," before attempting to answer the new question.
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.substack.com (@JordanSchachtel) August 20, 2021
Insane. Clown regime stuff.Once the NPR reporter went off script Biden ended the briefing.
— Beverly Hallberg (@BeverlyHallberg) August 20, 2021
I dare his handlers to let him to do a Trump style off the cuff Q&A
NEW: Every morning this week, a newly established “war room” convened at the White House.
— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) August 21, 2021
Its focus isn’t Afghanistan but Biden’s domestic agenda — the administration’s top priority & focus, even as other challenges flare up.
w @Noahbierman https://t.co/qhG7MnPtsk
Taliban with their new American gear.
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) August 21, 2021
(pic: @AsaadHannaa) pic.twitter.com/CJFnpLMU5X
Why blame the people for toppling and exposing the house of cards rather than the people who built the house of cards in the first place? The house of cards isn't going to become any more structurally sound by continuing to try to keep building it taller and taller.
Wow.NeonBU said:NEW: Every morning this week, a newly established “war room” convened at the White House.
— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) August 21, 2021
Its focus isn’t Afghanistan but Biden’s domestic agenda — the administration’s top priority & focus, even as other challenges flare up.
w @Noahbierman https://t.co/qhG7MnPtsk
That is appalling. Can't even believe what I'm reading there.
New video out of Kabul Airport. #Afghanistan
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) August 21, 2021
pic.twitter.com/sDBMeugCEo
"This is the worst day by far."@ramsaysky says the situation at Kabul's airport is "utterly horrendous", and that 'hardened soldiers' told him its the "worst thing they have ever seen in their entire career" pic.twitter.com/dQwo47HMiQ
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 21, 2021
Regardless of how you feel about the War on Terror, the US/NATO role in Afghanistan the last 20 years or political parties, I would hope any thinking person would agree this is an absurd mess that was, and continues to be, incredibly mismanaged by the United States, the Pentagon and the White House.
Not so much the Pentagon. The last three presidents, yes. They've used policy and directives for political opportunity. The Pentagon has to take its lead from the President, and follow his orders, no matter how poorly thought out. Neither Obama, Trump and Biden had/have enough sense to follow the Pentagons's advice on how to execute whatever policy objectives a president determines. In this case, Biden should have followed their advice on how to withdraw. This fiasco rests on Biden's shoulders alone. IMO he decided to withdraw in this manner to appear decisive for his own political gain, and it backfired on him.303Bear said:
Regardless of how you feel about the War on Terror, the US/NATO role in Afghanistan the last 20 years or political parties, I would hope any thinking person would agree this is an absurd mess that was, and continues to be, incredibly mismanaged by the United States, the Pentagon and the White House.
“It is impossible to get a man to understand something if his livelihood depends on him not understanding.” ~ Upton Sinclair
Any house will come down if you drive a bulldozer through it.jupiter said:
Why blame the people for toppling and exposing the house of cards rather than the people who built the house of cards in the first place? The house of cards isn't going to become any more structurally sound by continuing to try to keep building it taller and taller.
“It is impossible to get a man to understand something if his livelihood depends on him not understanding.” ~ Upton Sinclair
Ground Report: Kabul Airport Gates Are Closed, Taliban Confiscating U.S. Passports
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/21/kabul-airport-gates-closed-taliban-confiscating-u-s-passports/
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/21/kabul-airport-gates-closed-taliban-confiscating-u-s-passports/
Afghanistan shows you can't bail out a bad strategic decision with lots of good tactical decisions or vice versa. Ultimately you still have to get both the strategic and tactical decisions right together.
I hope our military is ready to flatten that country if any of our fellow Americans are killed
Our military is, the President and the National Excuse Advisor, probably not.BornAgain said:
I hope our military is ready to flatten that country if any of our fellow Americans are killed
That which does not kill me, will try again and get nastier
The president is definitely not.Oldbear83 said:Our military is, the President and the National Excuse Advisor, probably not.BornAgain said:
I hope our military is ready to flatten that country if any of our fellow Americans are killed
“It is impossible to get a man to understand something if his livelihood depends on him not understanding.” ~ Upton Sinclair
"We were never that great anyway."TexasScientist said:The president is definitely not.Oldbear83 said:Our military is, the President and the National Excuse Advisor, probably not.BornAgain said:
I hope our military is ready to flatten that country if any of our fellow Americans are killed
--Andrew Cuomo
I would add the Chair of the Joint Chiefs as well as the Sec of Defense to that "unprepared list".Oldbear83 said:Our military is, the President and the National Excuse Advisor, probably not.BornAgain said:
I hope our military is ready to flatten that country if any of our fellow Americans are killed
Go get the First Sergeants and their grunts and turn them loose. The "higher brass" needs to sit this next one out, except for maybe Jim Mattis. Then again, he's a Marine.
POLITICO Playbook: A reality check on Biden's presser
In his speech on Friday afternoon, President JOE BIDEN sought to project stability and competence, and to persuade both the U.S. and its allies that after days of chaos in Kabul, he finally had the situation in Afghanistan under control.
But as of Saturday morning, there appears to be quite a distance between reality as Biden described and, well reality a credibility gap that is dominating the coverage right now and could threaten Biden's standing with the public as the crisis stretches into its second week.
Here's a breakdown of the most yawning gaps between rhetoric and reality
What Biden said: "We have no indication that [Americans] haven't been able to get in Kabul through [to] the airport. Thus far, [the Taliban have] allowed them to go through."
But just minutes later, that claim was contradicted by Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN, who told House lawmakers in a Friday afternoon briefing that some Americans trying to flee Afghanistan "have been harassed and even beaten" by Taliban fighters a reality Austin called "unacceptable." More on that from Andrew Desiderio, Heather Caygle and Lara Seligman
This morning, the State Department sent out a security alert "advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport," citing "potential security threats outside the gates."
What Biden said: "I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world."
Germany: "For those who believed in democracy and freedom, especially for women, these are bitter events," Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL said this week. The man she's endorsed as her successor, CDU leader ARMIN LASCHET, called the withdrawal "the biggest debacle that NATO has suffered since its founding."
U.K.: "It's sad that the West has done what it's done," said Defense Minister BEN WALLACE. From the same article: "[Biden] hasn't just humiliated America's Afghan allies," said RORY STEWART, a former British cabinet minister. "He's humiliated his Western allies by demonstrating their impotence."
France: In a call with Biden, President EMMANUEL MACRON emphasized that NATO has a "moral responsibility" to evacuate its Afghan allies a phrase found in the French readout of the call, but omitted from the U.S. readout, reports The Guardian's Joan Greve.
It's perhaps unsurprising that America's NATO partners might feel burned. Bloomberg's Alberto Nardelli reports that "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." That no longer appears to be the case.
"This looks like 'America First,' except that its officials can speak French," a former U.S. intelligence officer told FT's Edward Luce. He writes that the execution of the withdrawal has caused a "blurring between Biden and Trump" in the eyes of much of the international community.
It all amounts to a growing credibility problem. The White House has long portrayed Biden as supremely competent and a straight-shooter, especially compared to the bumbling and lies of his predecessor. But the current reality in Afghanistan undercuts both aspects of that image of Biden.
WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT? You might imagine that the crisis in Afghanistan is the Biden administration's top priority at the moment. But it isn't at least according to senior White House adviser NEERA TANDEN.
"The No. 1 priority for our cabinet overall, from our perspective here, is to build support throughout the [August] recess process for the legislative agenda," she told the L.A. Times' Eli Stokols and Noah Bierman, who have a great writeup about the White House's continued focus on domestic priorities over all else.
"Every morning this week at 8:45, a newly established 'war room' has convened at the White House, with about 20 staffers logging onto a Zoom call to coordinate messaging and deployment of critical resources," they report. "The operation has nothing to do with the crisis in Afghanistan it's about keeping President Biden's big infrastructure push on track," and the war room is overseen by Tanden.
In his speech on Friday afternoon, President JOE BIDEN sought to project stability and competence, and to persuade both the U.S. and its allies that after days of chaos in Kabul, he finally had the situation in Afghanistan under control.
But as of Saturday morning, there appears to be quite a distance between reality as Biden described and, well reality a credibility gap that is dominating the coverage right now and could threaten Biden's standing with the public as the crisis stretches into its second week.
Here's a breakdown of the most yawning gaps between rhetoric and reality
What Biden said: "We have no indication that [Americans] haven't been able to get in Kabul through [to] the airport. Thus far, [the Taliban have] allowed them to go through."
But just minutes later, that claim was contradicted by Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN, who told House lawmakers in a Friday afternoon briefing that some Americans trying to flee Afghanistan "have been harassed and even beaten" by Taliban fighters a reality Austin called "unacceptable." More on that from Andrew Desiderio, Heather Caygle and Lara Seligman
This morning, the State Department sent out a security alert "advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport," citing "potential security threats outside the gates."
What Biden said: "I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world."
Germany: "For those who believed in democracy and freedom, especially for women, these are bitter events," Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL said this week. The man she's endorsed as her successor, CDU leader ARMIN LASCHET, called the withdrawal "the biggest debacle that NATO has suffered since its founding."
U.K.: "It's sad that the West has done what it's done," said Defense Minister BEN WALLACE. From the same article: "[Biden] hasn't just humiliated America's Afghan allies," said RORY STEWART, a former British cabinet minister. "He's humiliated his Western allies by demonstrating their impotence."
France: In a call with Biden, President EMMANUEL MACRON emphasized that NATO has a "moral responsibility" to evacuate its Afghan allies a phrase found in the French readout of the call, but omitted from the U.S. readout, reports The Guardian's Joan Greve.
It's perhaps unsurprising that America's NATO partners might feel burned. Bloomberg's Alberto Nardelli reports that "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." That no longer appears to be the case.
"This looks like 'America First,' except that its officials can speak French," a former U.S. intelligence officer told FT's Edward Luce. He writes that the execution of the withdrawal has caused a "blurring between Biden and Trump" in the eyes of much of the international community.
It all amounts to a growing credibility problem. The White House has long portrayed Biden as supremely competent and a straight-shooter, especially compared to the bumbling and lies of his predecessor. But the current reality in Afghanistan undercuts both aspects of that image of Biden.
WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT? You might imagine that the crisis in Afghanistan is the Biden administration's top priority at the moment. But it isn't at least according to senior White House adviser NEERA TANDEN.
"The No. 1 priority for our cabinet overall, from our perspective here, is to build support throughout the [August] recess process for the legislative agenda," she told the L.A. Times' Eli Stokols and Noah Bierman, who have a great writeup about the White House's continued focus on domestic priorities over all else.
"Every morning this week at 8:45, a newly established 'war room' has convened at the White House, with about 20 staffers logging onto a Zoom call to coordinate messaging and deployment of critical resources," they report. "The operation has nothing to do with the crisis in Afghanistan it's about keeping President Biden's big infrastructure push on track," and the war room is overseen by Tanden.
Reporter: "It has gone from bad to worse here... I'm almost speechless... I don't know what they are gonna do about it."
Sky's @ramsaysky reports from Kabul airport where people are being crushed to death amid the desperate scramble to flee Taliban rule.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 21, 2021
Soldiers have been rescuing people from the crowds and treating those who are injured.
More on #Afghanistan here: https://t.co/3a12IIfg41 pic.twitter.com/o0Xm5Lv6w2
NEW: @LucasFoxNews confirms a new threat from the Islamic State's Afghanistan branch prompted warning from US embassy for Americans not to come to the airport. “There are other terrorists groups we are concerned about as well,” one official said.
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 21, 2021
The Brits appear to be furious--and if what they've been saying is true, they have every right to be https://t.co/iMCInGTJ1T
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) August 20, 2021
NEW - The Pentagon has told US airlines that it could order them to help in the Afghanistan evacuation as part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF).
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) August 21, 2021
CRAF was created after the Berlin Airlift to ensure aviation resources are available for emergencieshttps://t.co/RmLQqT9t0c
Thousands of desperate people. As time passes and the crowd grows the chances of a wall breach grow.
It's happening @joejglenton.
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) August 21, 2021
A breach is occurring https://t.co/23eLRqZu7h
The mother went into labor started to crash due to low blood pressure en route. The pilot had to descend in order to increase the air pressure in the cabin and help stabilize the mother. (H/t @ellee_watson) #kabul https://t.co/XxXEzWphHU
— Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) August 21, 2021
Hard to imagine this kind of desperation.
Mothers sending the father to the airport to try and turn their child over to strangers in the hope of saving them from the Taliban.
Mothers sending the father to the airport to try and turn their child over to strangers in the hope of saving them from the Taliban.
Quote:
Women aren't allowed outside so they send their husbands with babies to the airport to at least get one person out of the country.
We have heard reports of women not being let through… https://t.co/jrmqvaz6B7
— Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) August 21, 2021
each video sadder than the previous one.
A message from one of the many Afghans I have been hopelessly, infuriatingly unable to help….
— Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) August 21, 2021
“Thank you sister. Have a good life. Not same like our.” https://t.co/w0mJ7aXpEP
“Other senior Taliban leaders seen in the capital in recent days include Khalil Haqqani — one of America’s most wanted terrorists with a $5 million bounty on his head for links to al-Qaeda.” https://t.co/Qp8uPieAll
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 21, 2021
The Senate Majority Leader is dancing while the chaos in Kabul continues, and a congressional aide texts me wondering, “would it kill anybody in Washington to at least pretend to give a fuck?” https://t.co/W6lQX8weQP
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 21, 2021
Back in the good ole days when we had intelligence, we would have dropped a few dozen bombs on this location and sent these goat ****ers a one way ticket to meet Allah. Those days are gone.Jacques Strap said:“Other senior Taliban leaders seen in the capital in recent days include Khalil Haqqani — one of America’s most wanted terrorists with a $5 million bounty on his head for links to al-Qaeda.” https://t.co/Qp8uPieAll
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 21, 2021
"Never underestimate Joe's ability to **** things up!"
-- Barack Obama
-- Barack Obama