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Afghan chaos undercuts Biden's promise of competence


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2021 Aug 18, 2:48pm   117,535 views  1,137 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

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524   Patrick   2022 Oct 2, 2:36pm  

https://slaynews.com/news/accuser-bidens-bring-back-some-decency-speech-you-sexually-assaulted-me/


Tara Reade worked for Biden in the 1990s when he served as a Delaware senator.

She accused Biden of sexual assault and said back in 1993 that Biden pushed her up against the wall and forcibly penetrated her with his fingers.

Reade alleges that Joe Biden used his resources to silence her and that “there has never been a proper investigation” into what happened.

After videos of Biden’s Friday remarks emerged on social media, Reade fired back.

“You sexually assaulted me when I worked as your staffer Joe Biden in 1993 then used your power and resources to silence me,” she said in a post on Twitter.
527   PeopleUnited   2022 Oct 3, 11:50am  

While it is possible that Russia uses nukes against the USA, it would likely only do so if they can do it without us knowing. Covertly where the culprit is unknown or ambiguous. Nuking us would lead to bigger loses for them, and they don’t seem to have a death wish. Mutually assured destruction is a real thing.

Israel however, I could see them nuking Iran to destroy their nukes preemptively. Iran might not care about mutually assured destruction.
528   Eric Holder   2022 Oct 3, 12:40pm  

PeopleUnited says

While it is possible that Russia uses nukes against the USA, it would likely only do so if they can do it without us knowing. Covertly where the culprit is unknown or ambiguous.


The very second Ruscists nukes move an inch the USA will know.
530   AD   2022 Oct 3, 11:09pm  

Reade waited too long, even though she waited cause when Biden was picked to be Obama's VP, she was too afraid to speak out.

And it did not help that Reade was publicly a supporter of Biden's opponent Bernie Sanders.

Reade got crushed cause the Dem Party put all their support behind Biden.

.
531   PeopleUnited   2022 Oct 4, 5:41am  

Eric Holder says



The very second Ruscists nukes move an inch the USA will know.


Don’t be so sure. Nobody is good enough to catch everything every time. And would we even be able to believe them if they told us it was Russia? They told us for 4 years that Russia/trump stole the 2016 election, and that was a bold faced lie.

But as far as nukes go all it would take is a submarine parked off a major city that snuck in unawares. Like I said, they (people watching for foreign subs) may be good but they are not perfect.
532   Eric Holder   2022 Oct 4, 10:51am  

PeopleUnited says

Don’t be so sure. Nobody is good enough to catch everything every time.


We know where theirs are and they know where ours are. The delivery platforms are not easy to move w/o being traced either. I know it's fashionable to proclaim that "nobody can know where the enemy are and what are they doing" (and it might be true in case of Rucists completely missing Ukie pre-offensive build-up), but nuke stuff is monitored very well.
534   PeopleUnited   2022 Oct 4, 7:43pm  

Eric Holder says

We know where theirs are and they know where ours are.


That is hubris. With club K and submarines there is plenty that is not known about the location of every warhead. Russia and China have thousands and thousands of nukes. But there is simply no way all of them are tracked by western spooks with no mistakes ever made or evasive maneuvers by the Russians or Chinese. China probably has a few hundred nukes in shipping containers around the world near us bases. Perhaps even on American soil.
539   Patrick   2022 Oct 8, 11:18am  


Glenn Beck
@glennbeck
21h
Um, why did Biden's HHS just spend $300 million on anti-radiation poisoning medication — that only has a shelf life of 18 MONTHS? Do they know something that we don't?
545   richwicks   2022 Oct 10, 11:21am  

PeopleUnited says

Israel however, I could see them nuking Iran to destroy their nukes preemptively. Iran might not care about mutually assured destruction.


Iran doesn't have any nuclear weapons. They are a signatory to the NNPT and regularly are inspected by the IAEA. To make a nuclear weapon - for uranium they would have to purify up to 97% which is not trivial, or to have an operating breeder reactor to make plutonium.

Iran should work with Russia to develop Thorium reactors. They CANNOT melt down, and they are cheaper to operate, and FAR safer to operate, but they aren't breeder reactors. Nobody can bitch about them making that, AND, it would put them at the forefront of energy production. Thorium reactors can also be taken on and offline far more quickly than uranium or plutonium can be.

Israel isn't really concerned about Iran making a nuclear weapon, they are concerned about Iran becoming a greater regional power. This is about economics, not about security.
546   richwicks   2022 Oct 10, 11:25am  

Patrick says

Um, why did Biden's HHS just spend $300 million on anti-radiation poisoning medication — that only has a shelf life of 18 MONTHS? Do they know something that we don't?


Kickbacks.

If we go to nuclear war, one thing we don't have to worry much about is radiation poisoning. What we DO need to worry about would be complete economic collapse.
548   Patrick   2022 Oct 10, 7:19pm  

https://slaynews.com/news/top-economist-dooms-joe-biden-sees-totally-avoidable-recession-ahead-mischaracterizing-inflation-as-transitory/


Top Economist Dooms Biden, Warns ‘Totally Avoidable’ Recession Ahead

Renowned economist Mohamed El-Erian has doomed Democrat President Joe Biden, warning that America is heading for a recession that was “totally avoidable.”

El-Erian, the chief economic adviser for multinational financial services company Allianz, hammered Biden’s handling of inflation during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“I fear that we risk a very high probability of a damaging recession that was totally avoidable,” El-Erian said.

“One is mischaracterizing inflation as transitory.

“By that, they meant it is temporary, it’s reversible, don’t worry about it.

“That was mistake number one,” he noted.

“And then mistake number two, when they finally recognized that inflation was persistent and high.

“They didn’t act. They didn’t act in a meaningful way.

“Even Federal Reserve Chair Powell has gone from looking for a soft landing to soft-ish landing to now talking about pain.

“And that is the problem. That is the cost of a Federal Reserve being late. Not only does it have to overcome inflation, but it has to restore its credibility.”
549   Patrick   2022 Oct 10, 7:55pm  




@TPostMillennial
Did Biden sniff her?


Yes, he did. Biden is a creepy old pervert.
559   Patrick   2022 Oct 14, 5:13pm  



Kitschy but true.

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