13
1

Afghan chaos undercuts Biden's promise of competence


 invite response                
2021 Aug 18, 2:48pm   163,805 views  1,308 comments

by RWSGFY   ➕follow (4)   💰tip   ignore  






....
The shambolic unravelling of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan comes from a yet to be written textbook of "how to lose at everything". Warnings hadn't been heeded, intelligence was clearly totally inadequate, planning was lamentable, execution woeful.

Let's just focus in on one thing - although there are any number that are worthy of examination.
The withdrawal came during the "fighting season" - a phrase I have to say I have always found rather odd. But in Afghanistan there is a fighting season which starts in spring - and then in winter, when the country freezes over, there is a time when the Taliban go home to their tribal homelands. Did no-one think that it might have been better to have ordered the withdrawal for the dead of winter when Taliban forces weren't there, poised to fill the vacuum?

The end result might have been the same - a Taliban takeover - but it would have almost certainly led to a more orderly drawdown. Yet the Biden administration wanted an eye-catching date. They wanted the withdrawal completed by 11 September. Twenty years on from 9/11 - an artificial, self-imposed deadline.

...

Biden's election campaign could be boiled down to three messages to distinguish himself from Donald Trump. First, he would be more empathetic. He would be more competent. And instead of "America First", it would be replaced by the mantra "America is back".
But in his address yesterday, there wasn't a whole lot of empathy towards the thousands of Afghans who've helped Americans these past 20 years. On competence, even his biggest cheerleaders would struggle to say the withdrawal of American troops has been anything other than shambolic.
And after the bewildering events of the past few days, how exactly is America back?

...

But on the policy itself, Joe Biden is utterly defiant. He summoned up his inner Harry Truman and made clear in his speech that the buck stops with him. He was, however, happy to distribute blame in much the same way that a muck spreader disperses manure in all directions. The Afghan leadership weren't up to it, the Afghan armed forces had no fight in them; Donald Trump had negotiated a bad deal.

...

A fascinating nugget from a briefing that's just been given by Joe Biden's National Security Adviser. Since the fall of Kabul, Jake Sullivan revealed, Biden hadn't spoken to another world leader. Wasn't that just a bit surprising, given that there were a lot of other nations - including Britain - who'd committed vast resources to Afghanistan?

...

When the G7 gathered in Cornwall and the Nato nations met in Brussels the sense of relief was palpable among the prime ministers and presidents that a more outward looking American president was in charge. But given what has unfolded - how America has been humiliated, how Joe Biden embarked on a policy he was cautioned against by these leaders - there is now a good deal more wariness.
And who will feel they have gained most from America's departure - apart from the Taliban, of course? Why, three countries near Afghanistan - Russia, Iran and China. I'm not sure that is what Joe Biden had in mind when he said after his inauguration that "America is back".



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58252174?source=patrick.net

« First        Comments 458 - 497 of 1,308       Last »     Search these comments

461   Patrick   2022 Aug 25, 5:08pm  

https://news3lv.com/news/local/repossession-surge-looming-as-some-new-car-owners-struggle-to-make-payments-repos-las-vegas-southern-nevada-economy-stimulus-banks-default


LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A perfect economic storm of inflation, soaring gas prices and the unintended consequences of the federal pandemic relief programs is closing in on many car owners.

“We’re talking, on average, 15,000 repos a day nationwide,” said Mark Zane, owner of a repossession company and president of the Nevada Association of Licensed Repossessors.

Zane says repossessions were all but non-existent during the pandemic because banks were working with car owners to defer payments or help them get caught up.


This is a result of Pedo Potatus' criminal level of incompetence, from shutting down Keystone Pipeline on his first day after fraudulently taking office, to shutting down the whole country for a nothingburger virus, killing millions of small businesses.
468   Patrick   2022 Sep 2, 8:58am  


Tim Graham
@TimJGraham
20h
So Biden hasn't granted an interview in 202 days...and no one in the media cares. They are all one happy Democrat family, and Biden's minders don't even want Biden interviewed ON TAPE, let alone live.
471   Patrick   2022 Sep 8, 9:27am  

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/the-missing-biden-foreign-policy/


What is Joe Biden’s foreign policy? It’s a trick question, because he has no actual policy, no plan, no careful set of chess moves a step ahead of his adversary. America suffers for it.
472   richwicks   2022 Sep 8, 9:31am  

Patrick says

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/the-missing-biden-foreign-policy/



What is Joe Biden’s foreign policy? It’s a trick question, because he has no actual policy, no plan, no careful set of chess moves a step ahead of his adversary. America suffers for it.



That's been US foreign policy since, I dunno, George H. Bush.

It's been "hey, I wonder what will happen if we beat THIS hornet's nest? Let's do it!" for 30 fucking years. Biden is no different, and foreign policy doesn't change because our presidents are PUPPETS, not presidents.
473   Patrick   2022 Sep 8, 9:59am  

https://www.infowars.com/posts/biden-monkeypox-czar-ruthlessly-mocked-online-over-old-photos-following-first-presser/

Biden's Monkeypox coordinator Demetre Daskalakis is literally and openly satanic, proudly wearing and even getting tattoed with a pentagram:





475   RWSGFY   2022 Sep 9, 10:19am  

Was the inept and botched Afghanistan withdrawal a feint? 👹
476   Patrick   2022 Sep 9, 2:25pm  

Patrick says


Biden's Monkeypox coordinator Demetre Daskalakis is literally and openly satanic, proudly wearing and even getting tattoed with a pentagram:


https://nitter.pussthecat.org/unhoodwinked/status/1567867300279193604#m


@unhoodwinked
Sep 8
Given who he serves and what aspect he’s in charge of for the govt, monkeypox, we all realize his goal is to drive this disease into the mainstream and not just keep it in the gay community, right?

His goal is to get hetero people to contract this disease.

Then sell the vaccine.
486   Patrick   2022 Sep 14, 7:56pm  

https://www.westernjournal.com/biden-boasts-inflation-reduction-act-graphic-corner-screen-humiliates-truth/?seyid=21394


As President Joe Biden addressed supporters at the White House during a celebration of the Inflation Reduction Act, reality — harsh, cold, unforgiving reality — broke through the rhetoric live on screen.

While Biden bragged on Tuesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted. It sank over 1,250 points by the end of the day, according to the Associated Press.

Twitter was quick to notice, as the major networks caught on as well.

Fox News reported on the obvious disconnect between the administration and the real world. Host Neil Cavuto stated, “Unfortunately, he never looked to the markets while this was all being planned because they were tumbling on a clear sort of refuting of all of that.”
491   AD   2022 Sep 19, 3:26pm  

All I know is the Dems don't want any appearance of Republican mandate as far as midterms election this November.

They don't want hearings and investigations into Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

They are hoping it gets placed down the memory hole along with so many other of Biden's skeletons and dirty laundry, including the use of the FBI and DOJ as the Democrat's Stasi.

.
495   Patrick   2022 Sep 21, 10:56am  

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/do-biden-words-even-matter-anymore/


Do Biden’s words even matter anymore?
As his staff once again rushes in to clarify, it isn’t clear who’s running the country

September 20, 2022

Biden has done fewer interviews than any modern president, and this week it wasn’t hard to see why. When the president was overseas attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the White House was once again scrambling to clarify who was in charge.

On the subject of Taiwan and China, Biden once again stated that Taiwan would be defended militarily should mainland China stage an invasion to reclaim the island. Before the show was even over, the White House had put out a statement saying that America’s One China policy remains unchanged.

Yet most telling was when Pelley accompanied Biden to the Detroit Auto Show, and he took note that the convention was going on without masks or social distancing or vaccine mandates. Pelley asked Biden very directly, “Is the pandemic over?” “The pandemic is over,” Biden responded. “We still have a problem with Covid. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. It’s — but the pandemic is over.” This wasn’t a gaffe. This wasn’t a slip-up. He reiterated it again in his response.

This left the White House in yet another bind on issues from student loan forgiveness to immigration restrictions to vaccine mandates, all of which to one degree or another are premised on the idea that we’re in a pandemic. Biden’s words could jeopardize legal cases his administration might be preparing. ...

... who is in charge? Is it Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff? Is it domestic policy adviser Susan Rice (who doesn’t get enough attention for her role)? Is is the White House communications team? Is it the Easter Bunny, who was called in to corral his boss during an event last Easter?
496   Eric Holder   2022 Sep 21, 11:57am  

Patrick says

Do Biden’s words even matter anymore?
...
On the subject of Taiwan and China, Biden once again stated that Taiwan would be defended militarily should mainland China stage an invasion to reclaim the island. Before the show was even over, the White House had put out a statement saying that America’s One China policy remains unchanged.


Meh, big noise about nothing: this doesn't change strategic ambiguity, if anything it makes shit even more ambiguous.
497   Patrick   2022 Sep 21, 4:25pm  

https://slaynews.com/news/rand-paul-biden-not-in-charge-white-house-his-own-wits/


Republican Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has blasted Democrat President Joe Biden over mounting concerns about who is leading the White House.

Paul argues that Biden’s recent gaffes prove that the president is not “in charge of the government” or “fully in charge of his wits.”

The senator was responding after Biden made several statements during a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that were later “corrected” by unnamed White House officials.

Biden told CBS’s Scott Pelley on Sunday that “the pandemic is over.”

However, Biden administration officials scrambled to “clarify” the president’s comment with contradictory statements after the interview was broadcast.

« First        Comments 458 - 497 of 1,308       Last »     Search these comments

Please register to comment:

api   best comments   contact   latest images   memes   one year ago   random   suggestions   gaiste