Taliban took Afghanistan but face cash squeeze
Posted By: earlybird, 8/20/2021 7:14:37 PM
The Taliban face a frontal challenge in cementing control of Afghanistan: Money. Despite their dominant military blitz over the past week, the Taliban lack access to billions of dollars from their central bank and the International Monetary Fund that would keep the country running during a turbulent shakeup. Those funds are largely controlled by the U.S. and international institutions, a possible leverage point as tense evacuations proceed from the airport in the capital of Kabul.
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After Robert Reeder was arrested in February and charged with four misdemeanors for his involvement in the Capitol protest on January 6, he lost his job as a truck driver for FedEx. “As a result of his arrest in this matter, he has been placed on administrative leave/has been terminated,” Reeder’s attorney wrote(snip)“He has not been able to secure steady employment since being charged in this matter.”
Reeder, like many Americans who attended Donald Trump’s speech then walked to Capitol Hill, went alone. He is a registered Democrat but supported some of Trump’s policies. The Maryland resident decided to travel to Washington on the morning of January 6,
The Deep State Comes for the Big Guy
7 replies
Throughout his candidacy, presidency, and reelection campaign, Donald Trump was targeted by the deep state, which undertook to subvert, defeat, and destroy him. (snip)
Unlike so many of Biden’s open supporters(snip), it is impossible to quantify how much the deep state contributed to him. But it is indisputable the deep state is part of Biden’s core constituency.
To date, Biden has handsomely rewarded these constituencies, and damn near everyone else, with your tax dollars, executive orders, and whatnot—except for one. And this core constituency he not only stiffed, he screwed. This explains why the mockingbird media has begun to turn on Biden, and a Democratic-controlled Congress is scheduling hearings and demanding answers
Assabiya Wins Every Time
3 replies
Democrats and Republicans are right to blame each other for the fall of Kabul. It’s a loss for America’s bipartisan foreign policy establishment as a whole. For nearly two decades Washington sent thousands of Americans to their deaths and spent trillions of taxpayer dollars to wage a strategically pointless war. And because both sides of the political divide should be held accountable, military as well as civilian officials, too, it is unlikely that anyone ever will be. Since everyone is to blame, holding anyone accountable implicates everyone.
On Aug. 12, the U.S. Census Bureau released detailed redistricting data that states will use to draw their congressional lines. These new maps are important because they will not only help determine which party has an advantage moving into the 2022 midterms, but also influence whether members of the U.S. House of Representatives seek reelection,(snip)
complications from redistricting may have influenced two Democratic House members in highly competitive seats to announce their exits recently, portending trouble for their party in next year’s midterm elections. Perhaps most notably, longtime Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind announced on Aug. 10 that he wouldn’t seek reelection. With Kind retiring, it will be challenging for
The United States Supreme Court on Friday blocked the reinstatement of the “Remain in Mexico” program, intervening just hours before President Joe Biden’s administration would have had to restart the policy.
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(snip)
Alito issued the order after the U.S. government filed an emergency motion with the nation’s top court. He said he was blocking the lower court ruling so that the full
Ex-ambassador to Afghanistan: 'I'm left
with some grave questions' about
Biden's ability to lead 6 replies
with some grave questions' about
Biden's ability to lead 6 replies
Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said Friday that he has “some grave questions” about President Biden’s “ability to lead our nation as commander-in-chief” after the Taliban seized control of the country following U.S. troop withdrawal.
“I’m left with some grave questions in my mind about his ability to lead our nation as commander-in-chief,” Crocker, who led the U.S. Embassy in Kabul from 2002 to 2003, then again from 2011 to 2012, told The Spokesman-Review.
“To have read this so wrong – or, even worse, to have understood what was likely to happen and not care,” he added.
Crocker, who also represented the U.S. in Afghanistan under the Bush administration from
The Taliban face a frontal challenge in cementing control of Afghanistan: Money.
Despite their dominant military blitz over the past week, the Taliban lack access to billions of dollars from their central bank and the International Monetary Fund that would keep the country running during a turbulent shakeup. Those funds are largely controlled by the U.S. and international institutions, a possible leverage point as tense evacuations proceed from the airport in the capital of Kabul.
Minutes after President Biden on Friday said the mission to destroy Al Qaeda in Afghanistan was a success and that he knew of no circumstances where Americans had been unable to reach Kabul airport, he was flatly contradicted by the Pentagon.
Al Qaeda remains present in Afghanistan, said Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby during a briefing, and yes, he was aware of reports of Americans being beaten by the Taliban as they tried to reach safety.
The contradiction will raise further doubt about whether Biden is in control of the White House messaging operation, let alone the chaotic effort to bring Americans home.
DETROIT – General Motors on Friday said it is expanding its recent recall of Chevrolet Bolt EVs to newer models of the electric car due to potential fire risks.
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About 73,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada are being added to the recall from the 2019-2022 model years, including a recently launched larger version of the car called the Bolt EUV. The former recall involved about 69,000 of the cars globally, including nearly 51,000 in the U.S.
President Joe Biden vowed Friday to get Americans and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan and took questions from White House reporters - on a pre-approved list - for the first time in nine days.
'Let me be clear, any American who wants to come home, we will get you home,'
(Snip)The U.S. embassy in Kabul had sent out an alert Wednesday warning Americans that it could not assure them safe passage to the airport.
(Snip) CNN's Clarissa Ward stated, 'I've covered all sorts of crazy situations. This was mayhem. This was nuts.'
'This was impossible for an ordinary civilian - even if they have their paperwork. No way they're
California’s Dixie Fire has achieved a staggering distinction by becoming the first wildfire in history to burn clear across the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
It’s the first known fire to start in the range’s western foothills, burn up and over the crest and then descend into the eastern valleys, said Thom Porter, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.
“We don’t have any record of that happening before,” he said during a press conference Wednesday.
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President Joe Biden’s administration cannot, for now, curtail arrests of illegal immigrants, a federal judge ruled on Thursday, delivering another setback to the White House’s immigration agenda.
U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump nominee, granted a preliminary injunction sought by the states of Texas and Louisiana against two memorandums issued by Biden administration officials earlier this year that sought to “prioritize” certain categories of illegal immigrants.
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US general tells British special forces:
Stop rescuing people in Kabul,
you're making us look bad 47 replies
Stop rescuing people in Kabul,
you're making us look bad 47 replies
I understand that the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division has told the commander of the British special forces at the Kabul airport to cease operations beyond the airport perimeter.
Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue has told his British Army counterpart, a high-ranking field-grade officer of the British army's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment, that British operations were embarrassing the United States military in the absence of similar U.S. military operations. I understand that the British officer firmly rejected the request.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Tells Biden in
Video, ‘You’re Not a President,
You’re a Piece of Sh*t’ 39 replies
Video, ‘You’re Not a President,
You’re a Piece of Sh*t’ 39 replies
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) posted a video on social media on Wednesday in which she called President Joe Biden “a piece of sht.”
The video was posted on Gettr, a new social media platform launched by former Donald Trump adviser Jason Miller.
“Joe Biden, you’re not a president,” she said in the 17-second video filmed at a gym. “You’re a piece of sht. Thousands of Americans are stuck over there in Afghanistan and you’re letting the Taliban kick your ass while you’re lecturing governors about masks and vaccines. Do your job. Bring these Americans home.”
The cop who fatally shot US Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt as she stormed the building was exonerated after an internal police investigation, according to a report Friday. “No further action will be taken” in the use-of-force probe of the United States Capitol Police officer, whose name has not been released, NBC reported, citing an internal memo from the department. The Capitol Police’s report clearing him concludes the last remaining law enforcement investigation into the shooting, according to the outlet.(Snip)The internal investigation backs up a statement by the Justice Department in April declaring that no charges will be brought against the cop, who is reportedly a “high ranking”
The Biden administration on Thursday struggled to speed up evacuations of as many as 80,000 Americans and Afghan allies — with the suddenly pressing effort being marred by obstacles ranging from red tape and visa paperwork problems to massive crowds and often violent Taliban checkpoints that barred entry.Even American citizens with valid passports fear making the perilous journey to the airport for fear of the armed Taliban fighters who surround the Kabul airport.David Marshall Fox, an American who moved to Afghanistan in 2013, told The Post on Thursday that he’s abandoned hope of getting onto an evacuation flight, saying the danger of his young son getting shot
Is Biden okay?
31 replies
Jim Geraghty’s written two posts today making the case that something is up. I’m not sold on his first post. His second is more persuasive.
The first post argues that Biden’s chat with George Stephanopoulos was filled with enough contradictions and awkward stammering that, paired with his low visibility lately, we might reasonably conclude that his health has become an issue. Whether you agree comes down to a gut check on how you felt about the interview. I didn’t see it as out of the ordinary for Biden. His answers were emphatically not good but he didn’t seem checked out to me. If anything, he was combative
Incredibly cynical and depressing. And quite possibly correct.
“The public opinion is pretty damn clear that Americans wanted out of the ongoing war and don’t want to get back in. It’s true today and it’s going to be true in six months,” said one Biden ally. “It isn’t about not caring or being empathetic about what’s going on over there, but worrying about what’s happening in America.”…
White House officials believe Americans’ horror over graphic images of the chaos in Kabul and pleas from Afghans who fear they will be killed
Earlier in the week, it was reported the Taliban now controls approximately 174 humvees, 10,000 rockets and 6 light attack aircraft. (Photo/Info) But it is much worse than that. A report from Fox News on Saturday highlighted the scope of the crisis unfolding in Afghanistan as the network claims the Taliban now control 75,000 vehicles, 200 aircraft, 600,000 weapons, and $85 billion in funding.This is like Obama’s Fast and Furious gun-running scandal on steroids. (Tweet)
This past week, Lt. Col. and President of the London Center for Policy Research, claimed that former Attorney General Bill Barr told him to stop looking into the transfer of ballots from New York to Pennsylvania he uncovered after the 2020 Election.
LtCol Anthony (Tony) Shaffer (retired), is the President of the London Center for Policy Research, a New York Times bestselling author, and CIA trained intelligence operations officer with 35 years of experience in global and national security. After the 2020 Election Shaffer was one of many Americans who offered to help investigate the results of the 2020 Election.
The Taliban has seized US weapons left in Afghanistan worth billions — possibly including 600,000 assault rifles, some 2,000 armored vehicles, and 40 aircraft, including Black Hawks, according to reports.
The US gave the Afghan military an estimated $28 billion in weaponry between 2002 and 2017 — including seven brand new helicopters delivered to Kabul just a month ago.
During the presidential campaign, the Biden administration introduced a new word into the lexicon: a “lid.” His campaign has called a lid countless times without explanation, meaning it was cutting off all media appearances for that day.
Joe Biden went on vacation to Camp David just before Afghanistan fell to the Taliban and gave no public remarks on the matter until more than 24 hours after the fall of Kabul. That was a speech Biden delivered from the White House Monday, after which he took no questions from the media.
He went silent again, then delivered another speech on Wednesday, this time on COVID. He took no media questions
I doubt the left will stop obsessing over January 6th even as Afghanistan burns. Sources told Reuters the FBI has not found much evidence that proves anyone coordinated the Capitol Hill riot: Though federal officials have arrested more than 570 alleged participants, the FBI at this point believes the violence was not centrally coordinated by far-right groups or prominent supporters of then-President Donald Trump, according to the sources, who have been either directly involved in or briefed regularly on the wide-ranging investigations.
As we approach the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks it is interesting to look back and see how American culture has changed in that two-decade time span. Back then mainstream culture (sorta) rallied around God and country against our enemy, the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Today the culture sees those same people that believe in God and country as bad or worse than the Taliban.
Comments:
Larry Kudlow touched on this this evening. Obviously not a permanent situation, but could be beneficial for now...