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Afghan chaos undercuts Biden's promise of competence


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2021 Aug 18, 2:48pm   163,928 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

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996   BeneTiberCato   2023 Nov 14, 9:34pm  

Patrick says





(1) I predict that those who actually voted for Biden in 20 will magically do so again in 24. I think their 2024 votes already exist digitally, and are just waiting to be manifested. The voter will not be consulted, does not need to leave their couch.
(2) If there was justice, those who voted for Biden/Harris in 20 should have to keep their bumper stickers and yard signs up in perpetuity, so we can always know who they are. Many of them wear masks outside or when driving by themselves, so that does make it easier.
1005   DOGEWontAmountToShit   2023 Nov 25, 7:14am  

Hamas didn't release any American hostages despite Biden saying so.

Jimmy Carter 2.0
1007   Patrick   2023 Nov 27, 11:14am  




Is he even aware that the whole world knows he's a pedo?
1015   DOGEWontAmountToShit   2023 Nov 28, 5:21pm  

Patrick says






Turns put this a real photo...except for the gas cans in the background.

Some idiot thought it would be a good idea to actually light 81 candles on that cake:
https://twitter.com/marcthiessen/status/1727078934569734469
1017   Patrick   2023 Nov 29, 7:13pm  

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12806741/Joe-Biden-nuclear-code-blow-world-congressman-trump.html


Joe Biden, 81, jokes he has a code to 'blow up the world' and appears to think Donald Trump is a congressman in gaffe-strewn visit to windmill factory

Joe Biden bragged that he had a 'code to blow up the world' as he chatted about nuclear weapons on a visit to the world's largest windmill factory.

The president went on to mistakenly call his predecessor 'Congressman Trump' in a gaffe-strewn appearance.

As he approached three yellow-vested workers at the facility in Colorado one of them appeared to ask the president an inaudible question.

Biden responded: 'Now look, my, my marine carries that. It has a code to blow up the world. That doesn't, this is not....nuclear weapons is it....alright, ok...you think I'm kidding.' ...

In a subsequent speech at CS Wind in Pueblo, Colorado, Biden attacked cuts he said 'Congressman Trump and Boebert want to do.'

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