Aftermath of an Afghanistan Debacle
Posted By: GustoGrabber, 8/22/2021 7:23:36 AM
In Afghanistan, the mission failure appears complete. The trillion-dollar project to plant Western democracy in a Muslim nation historically fabled for driving out imperial intruders has crashed and burned after 20 years, and the Taliban are suddenly back in power. After investing scores of billions in training and arming a force of 350,000 Afghani troops, the U.S. could not stand up an army and a government that could survive our departure. And the final U.S. departure from Hamid Karzai International Airport may become, like JFK’s Bay of Pigs, a synonym for American debacle.
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Aftermath of an Afghanistan Debacle
10 replies
In Afghanistan, the mission failure appears complete.
The trillion-dollar project to plant Western democracy in a Muslim nation historically fabled for driving out imperial intruders has crashed and burned after 20 years, and the Taliban are suddenly back in power.
After investing scores of billions in training and arming a force of 350,000 Afghani troops, the U.S. could not stand up an army and a government that could survive our departure.
And the final U.S. departure from Hamid Karzai International Airport may become, like JFK’s Bay of Pigs, a synonym for American debacle.
Amid disagreement among Catholic leaders over whether there is a moral obligation to receive a coronavirus vaccine, board members at the National Catholic Bioethics Center have told CNA that Blase Cardinal Cupich has urged that the center retract its guidance against mandated immunization.
One board member told CNA that Cardinal Cupich has been “leaning hard” on the bishops and some prominent lay board members, but did not elaborate on specific names.The NCBC board members spoke with CNA on the condition they not be identified by name.
The Archdiocese of Chicago did not respond to CNA’s request for comment.
Silenced! What’s Happening Now in Cuba?
7 replies
Are they still protesting in Cuba?
I don’t know.
The Cuban government has shut off the Cuban people’s internet.
The big demonstrations began four weeks ago, sparked, curiously, by a rap song. The key lyric is: “Freedom! No more Doctrine!”
“Doctrine” refers to the “constant cycle of propaganda” from the government, explains Cuban emigre Alian Collazo in my newest video.
Sadly, silly TV reporters in America claimed the protests were about “hunger, pandemic restrictions and the lack of COVID vaccinations,” or, according to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “food and fuel shortages.”
Another day, another instance of a Big Tech company censoring content it doesn’t like.
This time, YouTube—owned by Google—took down a video by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in which he discusses face masks and COVID-19. YouTube also banned Paul from its platform for a week.
“We removed content from Senator Paul’s channel for including claims that masks are ineffective in preventing the contraction or transmission of COVID-19, in accordance with our COVID-19 medical misinformation policies,” YouTube said in a public statement.
Notably, YouTube’s policy cites the World Health Organization and “local authorities” as its source of what’s correct about COVID-19.
THOUSANDS of Marines and sailors are taking part in the US Navy's largest war games in 40 years as Washington "prepares" for a future world war amid rising tensions with Russia and China. Fleets began the Large Scale Exercise on Tuesday and the drills across 17 time zones will continue until August 16. Forces will participate in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the exercises are designed to show the US' "readiness" for a potential global conflict. Marines’ ability to conduct operations in difficult environments will be tested during the drills, according to Military.com.
Nic spent most of her childhood avoiding people. She was raised by a volatile father and a mother who transferred much of the trauma she’d experienced onto her daughter. The combination left Nic fearful and isolated. “My primitive brain was programmed to be afraid of everybody, because everybody’s evil and they’re gonna hurt you,” she told me. (Nic asked to be referred to by only her first name to protect her privacy.)
Nic’s fear isn’t uncommon in a country where valid lessons about “stranger danger” can cast all people you don’t know as threats to be feared, but she recognized it was unhealthy
U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, on Wednesday called a bipartisan infrastructure bill a “historic investment” that will “help Utah rebuild its roads, mitigate drought conditions, fulfill critical water needs, and prepare for and respond to wildfires.”
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a nearly $1 trillion investment bill. The Senate voted 67-32 on Wednesday to take the first proceeding step toward debating the bill, which is supported by President Joe Biden.
According to Reuters, the bill is supported by 48 Democrats, two independents and 17 Republicans, including Romney.
Irish Ice Hockey Star Resigns
in Protest Over Vaccine Passports,
'Total Government Control' 13 replies
in Protest Over Vaccine Passports,
'Total Government Control' 13 replies
Irish ice hockey star Niall McEvoy announced to his coaches and teammates that he was resigning, explaining he could no longer represent a country that requires vaccine passports.
The Irish government passed a bill in the last two days that will require proof of vaccination if customers want to dine in restaurants, pubs and cafes indoors.
A "vaccine passport," either paper documentation or an EU digital COVID-19 certificate, will very soon be required for people to enter all indoor establishments in Ireland, according to BBC.
Herd Immunity to Herd Mentality
17 replies
When my family and I contracted COVID last November and December, we sighed that at least we wouldn’t need to get vaccinated. We need not worry about investigating which of the experimental vaccines we might reluctantly consider injecting into our bodies, especially the non-conventional mRNA-based vaccines (i.e., Pfizer and Moderna), which are quite new and quite concerning. But hey, at least we were contributing to the herd immunity that the nation and world were eagerly racing toward. (Yes, you can thank us for our suffering.)
Trump Winds and Biden Whirlwinds
9 replies
Victimizers quickly becoming victims is a recurrent theme of Thucydides’ history. In his commentary on the so-called stasis at Corcyra, he offers his most explicit warning about the long-term dangers of destroying legal institutions, customs, and traditions that serve the common good for short-term gain.
The historian notes that in the inevitable yin and yang of politics, the destroyers inevitably will seek, but do so in vain, refuge in what they have destroyed.
There is no “party in the back” on Kim Jong-un’s watch.
The North Korean dictator has outlawed mullets and skinny jeans in an attempt to cut off “decadent” western-style fashion trends, according to a report.
The tubby tyrant has approved only 15 official “non-socialist” haircuts — and the long-in-the-back look isn’t up to snuff, according to The Daily Express.
He also ordered a bizarre crackdown on ripped jeans, sloganed T-shirts and nose and lip piercings, according to the outlet, which cited North Korea’s The Rondong Sinmun newspaper.
The superintendent of schools in Cherokee County issued the latest volley against a perceived threat that has drawn the attention of the state’s Republican leadership, saying an academic construct known as “critical race theory” will not be taught in classrooms.
In a meeting that drew hundreds, with hundreds left outside after the school board meeting room reached capacity, Superintendent Brian Hightower addressed a local debate of an issue that has flared up across the country. The school board voted 4-1, with two abstentions, to approve a resolution to prohibit implementation of critical race theory and the 1619 Project, a New York Times project that put slavery and Black contributions
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GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger rips into Trump
and Mike Pompeo for 'getting rolled'
by the Taliban 57 replies
and Mike Pompeo for 'getting rolled'
by the Taliban 57 replies
Rep. Adam Kinzinger slammed the former Trump administration's deal with the Taliban, saying on Sunday that it set the stage for the current failure in Afghanistan. The Illinois Republican said former President Donald Trump and his then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are at fault for America's "disastrous" withdrawal from the country. "Donald Trump was publicly saying, 'We have to get out of Afghanistan at all costs. It's not worth it.' Mike Pompeo meets with the Taliban and tries to 'negotiate' something," Kinzinger said during an appearance on CNN. "They ended up getting rolled almost as bad as Neville Chamberlain," he
A retired top US military general and former CIA chief sparked outrage over the weekend by comparing supporters of former President Donald Trump to the Taliban and calling a suggestion to send 'the MAGA wearing unvaxxed' to Afghanistan a 'good idea.' Retired four-star Air Force General Michael Hayden on Thursday retweeted a split image of armed militants in a caravan of white pickup trucks with the caption 'Their Taliban.' Under that was a picture of cars adorned with Trump 2020 and American flags along a highway.
(Snip)He was first appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as Director of the National Security Agency.
“When can we go back to Starbucks?” My brother, Anmol, asks me that question every time I’m home for a visit. ...unvaccinated Americans need to get their shots. The sooner they do, the sooner I can take Anmol to Starbucks. America, please help me fulfill his simple wish. It’s our tradition.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken didn't deny on Sunday that the U.S. has to ask the Taliban for permission to get Americans out of Afghanistan as the developing situation in Kabul continues to present obstacles for evacuations.'Someone in our audience might listen to you, Mr. Secretary, and say, 'Oh, so we have to ask the Taliban for permission for American citizens to leave.' True or not true?' CBS News' Face the Nation fill in host Major Garrett asked Blinken of the 'agreement' between the Islamic militant group and Washington.'They are in control of Kabul. That is the reality,' Blinken responded
The majority of Americans no longer believe President Joe Biden is competent in his role as the Commander-in-Chief, according to a CBS News poll.
Fifty-one percent of the respondents said Biden is not competent in his position as president. This is compared to only 49 percent who said he is.
Additionally, the poll found that 52 percent of the respondents did not feel the president has been focused.
The poll was taken during and after the fall of the now-Taliban-controlled Kabul, Afghanistan, when Biden botched the U.S. troops’ withdrawal from the country. With that, 53 percent of the respondents said they disagree with the way Biden withdrew the troops.
Texas gubernatorial candidate Allen West's wife has been arrested for allegedly driving under the influence on Friday night.
West is said to be 'beyond livid' with the Dallas Police Department for the arrest which he insists was wrongful and that his wife was sober at the time. Angela Graham-West, 61, was driving home from dinner at P.F. Changs with her three-month-old grandson, Jaxton, when she was pulled over for a traffic violation at around 8.45p.m. Friday night in Dallas County, leading to an officer to suspect that she was intoxicated before performing a field sobriety test on her.(Snip)On Sunday, West posted a photo
Rep. Liz Cheney said President Biden should have ignored his predecessor’s negotiated May 1 withdrawal deadline with the Taliban and disregarded the advice of military leaders—decisions she claimed has led to Americans “probably being held hostage” in war-torn Afghanistan. “President Biden is the president of the United States and he’s had no problem in reversing course on other things. He decided he’s going to rejoin the JCPOA. He decided he’s going to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. He’s reversed a number of decisions of the Trump administration,” Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” referring to the formal name of the Iran
President Joe Biden hailed the FDA's approval of the Pfizer vaccine as the 'moment you’ve all been waiting'–as he urged Americans who have been sitting on the fence to get their vaccine shots 'today' but dodged comment on Afghanistan. It was a welcome moment of good news for an administration battered by weeks of negative headlines, from spiking cases of COVID-19 to the collapse of the Afghan government and plunging poll numbers. And Biden, speaking at the White House, portrayed it as a huge victory even though it will be of limited practical value months after the vaccination received emergency approval.
The U.S. Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6 during the insurrection was cleared Monday after an internal review concluded the action may have spared the lives of lawmakers and staffers who had barricaded themselves inside the building.
"The officer’s actions were consistent with the officer’s training and (U.S. Capitol Police) policies," the agency's inquiry found. The agency declined to identify the officer.
Federal prosecutors decided in April not to pursue criminal charges in the case.
Some who supported the Capitol siege by rioters angry about the outcome of the presidential election cast Babbitt as a martyr to the conservative cause.
Democratic nominee for Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe on Monday called on all employers in his state to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations following the Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the Pfizer vaccine.
"Today, I am calling on every Virginia employer to require all eligible employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19," the former Virginia governor said in a statement Monday afternoon. "I have long said that the best way to defeat this deadly virus, keep our students in school and keep Virginia’s economy strong is by getting every eligible Virginian vaccinated as quickly as possible."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) was seen without her mask over the weekend at a Democrat Party fundraiser event full of unmasked attendees.
The event was hosted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in Napa, California, where Pelosi was seen delivering remarks unmasked.
The event was exclusively for old white liberals at a super spreader event while their ethnic, masked staff wait on them hand and foot.
As disgraced outgoing Gov. Andrew Cuomo packed his bags and sent his belongings to his sister’s house in his last days in office, he left something very important behind—his dog. Instead, Cuomo asked staff at his Albany mansion if they want to take care of his dog, Captain, the Albany Times Union reported, citing two state police sources. The sources also told the publication an Executive Mansion worker recently took Captain home but didn’t want to take care of the canine. The pooch—a 3½-year-old Siberian-shepherd-Malamute mix—has bitten multiple people in recent years, the Times Union reported.