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Afghan chaos undercuts Biden's promise of competence


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2021 Aug 18, 2:48pm   163,972 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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877   Patrick   2023 Jul 11, 11:53am  




Lol, even the extreme left NYT recognizes Pedo Joe's hypocrisy.
878   richwicks   2023 Jul 12, 1:16am  

Patrick says




Lol, even the extreme left NYT recognizes Pedo Joe's hypocrisy.


True:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/opinion/hunter-biden-child.html
879   Patrick   2023 Jul 12, 7:48pm  

https://nypost.com/2023/07/12/biden-calls-zelensky-vladimir-during-nato-remarks/


Biden calls Zelensky ‘Vladimir’ during NATO remarks in latest gaffe


Bidet is a deep embarrassment to America.
880   Patrick   2023 Jul 18, 6:56am  

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/known-facts-monday-july-17-2023-c


Ironically, the same day as Auntie Kamala talked about reducing population — for the kids — Sniffy Joe tried to eat a terrified baby on camera:

https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1680209371429519360

Don’t miss the final hair sniff. Whatever Joe has, it’s getting worse.
882   richwicks   2023 Jul 18, 12:17pm  

Patrick says

https://nypost.com/2023/07/12/biden-calls-zelensky-vladimir-during-nato-remarks/



Biden calls Zelensky ‘Vladimir’ during NATO remarks in latest gaffe


Bidet is a deep embarrassment to America.


This is the least of his mistakes. Volodymyr and Vladimir are easy to confuse. Biden talked about enjoying kids pet his leg hair in the pool, and enjoying kids jumping in his lap, and that was before he was elected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DbE2SmV2bs

The man was fucking out of his mind before he was "elected". I have the full video if you need it.
884   Misc   2023 Jul 24, 2:23am  

So by now they should have tracked down, and demoted all those officers that made the $6.2 billion dollar mistake on the amount weapons we sent to the Ukraine.

There are repercussions for making that big of a fuckup, right?????

----- Government employees giggle at that.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagons-ukraine-accounting-error-revised-up-62-billion-2023-06-20/
890   Patrick   2023 Jul 28, 11:03am  

https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/no-way-out/

Podcaster Scott Adams spun out an elegantly macabre possible scenario about how this works out which is worth repeating here: The House moves to impeach… Joe Biden retaliates by threatening the entire Deep State Blob with revealing a whole lot of dark info on their dastardly secrets, their sexual proclivities and adventures (think: the Epstein client list), and other incriminating deets-and-receipts that would, theoretically, bring ruin to scores of political celebrities. In which case, the Blob just up and offs dumb-ass “Joe Biden,” using their cunning ways of arranging for him to die in his sleep… because, he was old… and it was his time…. Salutes to you, Scott, for that one! (And then, of course, there is all that follows that).
897   richwicks   2023 Aug 1, 9:06pm  

Patrick says






If those are the companies being killed, I support Bidenomics.
902   Patrick   2023 Aug 5, 2:07pm  

https://notthebee.com/article/biden-has-officially-passed-365-days-of-vacation-since-taking-office-25-years-ago


Biden has officially passed 365 days of vacation since taking office 2.5 years ago. People have thoughts.



903   Patrick   2023 Aug 7, 1:47pm  

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/succeeding-backwards-monday-august


🚀 The Wall Street Journal ran a story yesterday headlined, “Russia and China Sent Large Naval Patrol Near Alaska.”

In what is being called a “historic first,” last week Russian and Chinese naval vessels patrolled international waters together just off the coast of Alaska. They were shadowed by four U.S. destroyers and Poseidon aircraft until they left the area.

On Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry explained that Russian and Chinese vessels had carried out drills involving communications training, helicopter landings and takeoffs from the decks of each other’s ships, and a joint anti-submarine exercise in the southwestern part of the Bering Sea where a mock target was detected and destroyed.

According to the Journal, Russian and Chinese exercises have increased significantly over the last year, but last week’s operation was historic in that it included the largest such group to ever approach American shores.

I suppose improved Russia-China relations is another success story for which we can thank Joe Biden.
904   Patrick   2023 Aug 8, 9:24am  

https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1688758843096907776


@greg_price11
Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a Marine who survived the explosion in Kabul that killed 13 Americans, says that when Joe and Jill Biden came to his hospital room, the president reached out to shake his hand even though his arm was gone, immediately started talking about his son, and then leaned into his face and asked him "what do you want."


908   Patrick   2023 Aug 17, 11:55am  

https://www.businessinsider.com/war-in-ukraine-russia-richer-millionaires-billionaires-uhnw-wealth-ubs-2023-8


Russians got richer last year even as the war in Ukraine raged on, while the US and Europe lost trillions of dollars, UBS reported.

Russia added $600 billion of total wealth, the Swiss bank found in its annual Global Wealth Report, published Tuesday.

The number of Russian millionaires also rose by about 56,000 to 408,000 in 2022, while the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals — people worth over $50 million — jumped by nearly 4,500.

But the US lost more wealth than any other country last year, shedding $5.9 trillion, while North America and Europe combined got $10.9 trillion poorer, UBS reported.

There were also 1 million fewer American millionaires by the end of 2022, although the US still accounted for over 50% of the world's ultra-high-net-worth individuals, the bank said.

Russia's wealth gains came despite its invasion of Ukraine in February, which has led to the West imposing sanctions on the Kremlin that led to its economy shrinking and triggered a slump for Moscow-listed stocks.

UBS acknowledges that "wealth trends in Russia are difficult to determine at this time," but did highlight it as one of a handful of countries that had gotten richer in 2022.

Rising oil prices could be one factor behind the wealth increase, with exports of the commodity a key economic engine for Russia. The cost of a barrel of benchmark Urals crude jumped by about $7 last year, data from Refinitiv indicated.

Mexico, India, and Brazil all also added significant amounts of wealth in 2022, UBS's report suggested, while the US, Japan, China, Canada, and Australia lost the most.

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