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Afghan chaos undercuts Biden's promise of competence


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2021 Aug 18, 2:48pm   163,710 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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122   Patrick   2021 Oct 26, 12:03pm  

https://notthebee.com/article/maskless-biden-coughs-into-hand-shaking-peoples-hands-

Maskless Biden coughed into his hand and immediately started shaking people's hands
123   Blue   2021 Oct 26, 2:42pm  

Patrick says
https://babylonbee.com/news/americans-still-trapped-in-afghanistan-told-by-washington-post-to-lower-their-expectations




Not sure anyone realized when you hear "Americans" that is Afghans who are/will be entering illegally. Corrupt politicians blurred the notion of citizenship vs illegal.
125   Patrick   2021 Nov 30, 11:10pm  

https://notthebee.com/article/covert-taliban-agents-spent-years-infiltrating-afghan-government-universities-businesses-to-eventually-sieze-kabul-other-afghan-cities


WHOA: The Taliban had secretly infiltrated "every organization and department" inside Afghanistan's government and universities YEARS before Kabul
128   richwicks   2021 Dec 3, 5:00am  

Patrick says
WHOA: The Taliban had secretly infiltrated "every organization and department" inside Afghanistan's government and universities YEARS before Kabul


It seems to be largely unknown that the Taliban have always been students. It literally means "student".
130   HeadSet   2021 Dec 5, 6:44am  

Patrick says
Biden claims to have served as a 'liaison' during Six-Day War despite still being in law school at the time

Yes, and even then he was plagiarizing a paper.
137   Patrick   2021 Dec 8, 10:46am  

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/bidens-diplomacy-disaster-iran/?source=patrick.net


In their colossal self-regard, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his chief negotiator Robert Malley promised Iran what it wanted — sanctions relief and an open path to the Bomb — before the negotiations had even begun. Naturally, the Iranians pushed for more, played for time and prepared for the day of victory. And now, to the shock of the State Department, they’ve announced a new set of demands that undo the hypothetical progress achieved in the previous six rounds of talks.

Checkmate. Now, it is possible that the US will surrender and get some kind of deal that John Kerry will call a return to the JCPOA of 2015. But this will be an exercise in face-saving — and it will only happen if the Iranians let it happen. If I were them, I’d keep pushing. Iran is now not just on the threshold of nuclear weapons; it’s on the threshold of finally defeating the Great Satan, expelling the US from the Middle East and Central Asia, establishing an empire over the Arabs and nuclear-tipped intimidation over Turkey and the Europeans.
138   Patrick   2021 Dec 8, 11:07am  

https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-warns-russia-that-if-they-invade-ukraine-america-will-evacuate-haphazardly-and-leave-86-billion-of-weapons-behind?source=patrick.net





WASHINGTON, D.C.—As Russia appears poised to invade Ukraine, Biden today issued a forceful statement warning Putin that if he does, America will evacuate haphazardly and leave $86 billion in weapons behind.

"Listen, folks...for real this time...no joke... I ain't kiddin' around here," said Biden to a gelatinous puddle of quivering goo on the ground he mistook for the press. "If Russia invades Ukraine, we will send a bunch of troops. And then we will immediately pull those troops out and leave all our state-of-the-art weapons behind. I'm not even messing around, Jack!"

General Milley confirmed that this tactic was a proven battlefield strategy used in Afghanistan and has promised to use it without remorse should Russia ever cross the United States. "If Russia invades, they will face the consequences," said General Milley, "in the form of billions of dollars worth of rifles, machine guns, night-vision goggles, and Black Hawk helicopters, left just for them."

"I'm warning them. And by that I mean, I will call Russia first and warn them," he said.
139   richwicks   2021 Dec 8, 12:32pm  

Patrick says
WASHINGTON, D.C.—As Russia appears poised to invade Ukraine,


Just so people know, Russia isn't about to invade Ukraine. The United States has been expanding NATO Eastward for the last 30 years. That's PART of the reason the US engineered a coup d'etat in Ukraine.
140   Eric Holder   2021 Dec 8, 12:48pm  

richwicks says
The United States has been expanding NATO Eastward for the last 30 years.


So what? If a country wants to join a defence treaty why the fuck some FSB midged is supposed to have a veto power on it? It's not right neither legally nor morally.

Why the fuck should Poland/Lithuania/Estonia/Latvia/Hungary pass up the opportunity to secure itself from another occupation by the fucks hellbent on restoring Russian Empire?

The bullshit about Russia being afraid of being attacked by the West is just that - bullshit. If the West didn't attack them in the 90s when they were literally in shambles, it's not happening now, period. Who exactly is planning to attack them? Merkel? Makron? Please!

The West has been bending over backwards to disarm Russia's neighbors: took Ukraine's and Kazakhstan's nuclear weapons in exchange of "assurances of territorial integrity", pressed Ukraine into scrapping their missiles and strategic bombers, encouraged selling off tanks and artillery pieces, even took last stockpile of enriched Uranium from them during Obama administration. The whole "orchestrated coup" is a pile of Russian propaganda horseshit. Russia is not a victim here, no matter how loud their whining and crocodile tears.
141   richwicks   2021 Dec 8, 2:11pm  

Eric Holder says
richwicks says
The United States has been expanding NATO Eastward for the last 30 years.


So what? If a country wants to join a defence treaty why the fuck some FSB midged is supposed to have a veto power on it? It's not right neither legally nor morally.


Because part of the agreement with taking down the Berlin Wall so that German reunification could happen, was to stop NATO expansion. East Berlin was existed as an outpost into the the West.

The Warsaw Pact was dissolved when the USSR (thankfully) collapsed on December 26, 1991 - what is the purpose of NATO now? It's to waste money and to threaten Russia and to cause problems. It's part of the military industrial complex.

Eric Holder says
Why the fuck should Poland/Lithuania/Estonia/Latvia/Hungary pass up the opportunity to secure itself from another occupation by the fucks hellbent on restoring Russian Empire?


The only threat of occupation these nations now face, is occupation by the EU. Europe is trying to dump in refugees that the United States is creating into these nations, against the will of the citizens of those nations.

Eric Holder says
The bullshit about Russia being afraid of being attacked by the West is just that - bullshit. If the West didn't attack them in the 90s when they were literally in shambles, it's not happening now, period. Who exactly is planning to attack them? Merkel? Makron? Please!


Large wars are about economics, not actually defense. The West is fucking bankrupt, the assholes that have stolen everything and bankrupted the West need some excuse to explain the poverty they've caused. Any war that the assholes get us into are NOT meant for the US to win. Haven't you realized that by now? The US has bombed 7 nations over the last 20 years - can you even name them? What are these wars for? Out of sight out of mind.

When the USSR collapsed, the US was fine with it, as long as Yeltsin was their fucking traitorous slave, and they controlled the banking system there. Putin wasn't a problem either until he placed state control over the banking system in Russia. Part of the reason Ukraine was overthrown is that Russia gave Ukraine a better deal on loans than the ECB did. Also to stop the Nordstream II. Also to control the Nordstream I. Also to expand NATO.

The fucks controlling the United States right now are TOTAL FUCKING assholes. They don't represent us or you. Why do you defend them? These TOTAL FUCKING ASSHOLES need some excuse to get the sheep to rally around them, so they're always attempting to start wars and make up threats, they pit us continually against one another - do you really think the DNC gives a FUCK about Drag Queen Story Hour or the Republican leadership cares about the legality of abortion or not? It's just to piss people off, that's the ONLY reason they constantly change the rules. Don't you realize this yet?

Eric Holder says
The West has been bending over backwards to disarm Russia's neighbors: took Ukraine's and Kazakhstan's nuclear weapons in exchange of "assurances of territorial integrity",


You mean steal purified uranium?

Who gives a shit? If some small nation launches a nuclear weapon (and that includes Israel), they will be a parking lot the next day.

Eric Holder says
The whole "orchestrated coup" is a pile of Russian propaganda horseshit.


You are on the fucking internet.

You can talk to ANYBODY on this fucking planet now. That includes UKRAINIANS. It's easy to use translation programs as well.

Ви бачите, як легко говорити українською?

I'm so fucking sick and tired of people that, DESPITE knowing they've been lied to into the Iraq War, the Syrian War, the bombing of Libya, this fake BULLSHIT "pandemic" still are talking like anything this FUCKING government says is true. WHEN, WHEN do you lose your fucking faith, your stupid childish trust? WHEN? Is it possible? What the FUCK DOES IT TAKE?

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST ON A STICK, what the FUCK does it take? What must be done before you fucking stupid assholes can grasp the simple OBVIOUS fact that there is no goddamned fucking news in the West and there hasn't been for 2 decades? Quit fucking drooling out propaganda to me, and fucking make use to the goddamned fucking machine we made precisely for this reason. PRECISELY.

We know, with CERTAINTY that the US overthrew Ukraine, because Victoria Nuland in her (in)famous "Fuck the EU" recording she was talking about who should be replacing Viktor Yanukovych as Ukraine's leader - 1 month before he was no longer the president of Ukraine. Almost as if she had foreknowledge, because FUCKING DUH, she did. Much was made of the cunt's "vulgarity" but "Fuck the EU" mean "Fuck the EU's opinion on who should be the next leader of Ukraine. The EU can go fuck themselves if they think they have any say".

You're not stupid, I'm absolutely certain, but I am so fucking tired of the propaganda being repeated to me. So tired of it. OF COURSE the US overthrew Ukraine.
142   Eric Holder   2021 Dec 8, 2:19pm  

richwicks says


Because part of the agreement with taking down the Berlin Wall so that German reunification could happen, was to stop NATO expansion.


Nope. It's yet another BS Russian talking point. Gorbachev himself said (on video) that nobody promised him that NATO would not expand Eastwards when he was agreeing to German re-unification and dissolution of the Warsaw pact.

Here's a transcript:

"RBTH: One of the key issues that has arisen in connection with the events in Ukraine is NATO expansion into the East. Do you get the feeling that your Western partners lied to you when they were developing their future plans in Eastern Europe? Why didn’t you insist that the promises made to you – particularly U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s promise that NATO would not expand into the East – be legally encoded? I will quote Baker: “NATO will not move one inch further east.”

M.G.: The topic of “NATO expansion” was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility. Not a singe Eastern European country raised the issue, not even after the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist in 1991. Western leaders didn’t bring it up, either. Another issue we brought up was discussed: making sure that NATO’s military structures would not advance and that additional armed forces from the alliance would not be deployed on the territory of the then-GDR after German reunification. Baker’s statement, mentioned in your question, was made in that context. Kohl and [German Vice Chancellor Hans-Dietrich] Genscher talked about it.

Everything that could have been and needed to be done to solidify that political obligation was done. And fulfilled. The agreement on a final settlement with Germany said that no new military structures would be created in the eastern part of the country; no additional troops would be deployed; no weapons of mass destruction would be placed there. It has been observed all these years. So don’t portray Gorbachev and the then-Soviet authorities as naïve people who were wrapped around the West’s finger. If there was naïveté, it was later, when the issue arose. Russia at first did not object."


They were promised NO NEW TROOPS IN EASTERN GERMANY and that's all. Fucking Putin shits in your fucking head and you accept it with glee and congratulate yourself on what a fucking contrarian you are.
143   Eric Holder   2021 Dec 8, 2:23pm  

richwicks says
You're not stupid, I'm absolutely certain, but I am so fucking tired of the propaganda being repeated to me.


What "propaganda", you stupid fucking fuck? Wasn't Ukraine disarmed of its nukes by US and Russia? It most certainly was. IT'S A FUCKING FACT AND NO WALL OF TEXT FROM YOU CAN CHANGE THAT. Did fucking Obama press Ukraine to give up their last stockpile of enriched Urainium in 2010? YES, HE DID - IT'S ANOTHER FUCKING FACT.

Step down from the fucking soapbox and learn some facts.
144   Patrick   2021 Dec 8, 2:24pm  

richwicks says
I'm so fucking sick and tired of people that, DESPITE knowing they've been lied to into the Iraq War, the Syrian War, the bombing of Libya, this fake BULLSHIT "pandemic" still are talking like anything this FUCKING government says is true. WHEN, WHEN do you lose your fucking faith, your stupid childish trust? WHEN? Is it possible? What the FUCK DOES IT TAKE?


I think it may take death by vaxx. Once dead from the 17th booster, the people who trusted the Pfizer/mafia/media no longer matter.

But until then, they have a religious faith that NPR must always be right, a faith which prevents them from even hearing "Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation" and "Funded by Pfizer" no matter how many times the corruption is openly announced.

So that generation is lost. They are willing puppets of the corruption because the reality is too unpleasant for them to contemplate.

Our work should be in educating the young that NPR is their enemy.
145   richwicks   2021 Dec 8, 2:28pm  

Patrick says
Our work should be in educating the young that NPR is their enemy.


Not just NPR. EVERYBODY. Anything called a "reliable source" in the United States is merely propaganda. There are maybe, literally, 1/2 dozen real journalists nationally. There might be a lot more at local levels, but I doubt it.
146   richwicks   2021 Dec 8, 2:32pm  

Eric Holder says
richwicks says
You're not stupid, I'm absolutely certain, but I am so fucking tired of the propaganda being repeated to me.


What "propaganda", you stupid fucking fuck? Wasn't Ukraine disarmed of its nukes by US and Russia? It most certainly was.


Give me a source. What year? What were the terms? Why? Who got the plutonium?

I don't trust a SINGLE FUCKING thing this government claims. Nothing. Why do you?

Eric Holder says
Did fucking Obama press Ukraine to give up their last stockpile of enriched Urainium in 2010? YES, HE DID - IT'S ANOTHER FUCKING FACT.


If it's a fact - demonstrate it to be a fact.

Why should the US care of Ukraine has nuclear weapons or not regardless?

Eric Holder says
Step down from the fucking soapbox and learn some facts.


Demonstrate anything you've said is a "fact".
147   Patrick   2021 Dec 17, 8:23pm  

https://notthebee.com/article/forget-the-long-coup-conspiracy-theory-theres-a-far-more-likely-way-trump-gets-another-term?source=patrick.net

The 2024 election will begin soon enough, and in some ways it's already under way in much of the media. Concerned about the status of their party's candidate, the mainstream press is already floating trial balloon replacements like this…

…only to find out how comical such a thought is to the vast majority of Americans at this juncture. As it stands for Democrats, if Biden doesn't run, there's no easy way to get away from running Harris without undermining all of the identity politics nonsense they have chosen to embrace and foist upon the country.

On the Republican side, it is increasingly clear that former President Trump will run for a second term. When he declares, it will be virtually impossible for anyone else to claim the nomination, and anyone who tries will be seen as a turncoat to the MAGA millions, thus curtailing any political future in what has clearly become Trump's party. Consequently, it's far more likely that most potential rivals will either bide their time or cozy up to the former president rather than challenge him.

All of this means that, for now, we are likely looking at a Biden/Trump rematch, signifying there will be more on the ballot than just the candidates. Riding on its outcome will also be every claim of 2020 voter fraud, the charge of a stolen election, and the declaration of an illegitimate presidency. In other words, 2024 is shaping up (for now) to be a 2020 sequel with twice the rancor.

Unconvinced that a vengeful Trump can rein in his temperament enough to win, folks on the Left are becoming increasingly panicked by the emerging theory that the former president is playing the long coup. Axios had the story, as did the Atlantic before them.

The premise goes like this: Trump attempted to have his minions overturn the 2020 election by getting the state legislatures and key election officials in the swing states he disputed (Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) to certify Republican electors rather than Democrat ones, claiming the official election outcome that showed a Biden victory was the result of fraud. His effort failed because not enough Republicans in those states were willing to go along with the scheme. Since that time, Trump has been diligently working to destroy and remove those "disloyal" Republicans and replace them with loyalists who will do his bidding in 2024 should the opportunity arise.

I have to admit finding the whole theory pretty humorous. One thing I remember so vividly from the Trump term was the tendency of his supporters to spin any bizarre or inexplicable tweet, statement, response, or action as being part of some master political gamesmanship the rest of us just didn't understand. "Trump is on a whole different level," they would say, alluding to the former president playing 4D chess above our heads. Liberal elites in media and the DNC mocked the MAGA legions for such a belief, but now as they speak of this "long coup" strategy are essentially claiming the same thing: "Trump the mad political scientist is outsmarting us all."

I get that the Dems loathe the man and can't stomach the thought of his potential return to power. But there's a far more plausible path for President Trump returning to the White House that they should be focused on. And it's a path that has absolutely nothing to do with Trump.

Build Back Better has, like it or not, become the signature legislation representing the Biden administration, and it's an unmitigated disaster economically. To call it a flop is an insult to LeBron James, as the policy threatens to exacerbate inflation, which is already at alarming levels.
Vaccine mandates are being struck down as unconstitutional (obviously). It's one thing to be the president who tried to do something popular that later gets knocked down by the courts. But pushing something unconstitutional and unpopular is not a good statement heading into a re-election campaign.
The anti police posturing has failed, crime has soared, and violent crime has reached unprecedented levels in cities across America.
Covid fatigue is real, the specter of lockdowns continues to haunt the economic climate, and failed mitigation strategies continue to be imposed on people without justification. That's especially bad for a president who built his campaign around "shutting down the virus." The complaint Biden used successfully in 2020 was that Trump wouldn't listen to science. In 2024, Trump will use successfully the fact that Biden has manipulated the science.
CRT debates have morphed into challenges of parental rights with the Democrat Party lining up behind teacher unions and lobby groups while Republicans are seen as fighting for parents.

And then there's this:

Joe Biden reads instruction off teleprompter:
"End of message."

I understand the leftist impulse to obsess over Trump has not worn off. But truth be told, if he does return to power in 2024, they'll have no one to blame but themselves.
149   Onvacation   2021 Dec 27, 10:04am  

richwicks says
Not just NPR. EVERYBODY. Anything called a "reliable source" in the United States is merely propaganda

When you try to quote statistics (from the CDC and VAERS) that contradict the narrative of the vaxxers they respond, "where do you get your news from?". I have heard that exact quote from three different people.
150   richwicks   2021 Dec 27, 11:57am  

Onvacation says
richwicks says
Not just NPR. EVERYBODY. Anything called a "reliable source" in the United States is merely propaganda

When you try to quote statistics (from the CDC and VAERS) that contradict the narrative of the vaxxers they respond, "where do you get your news from?". I have heard that exact quote from three different people.


All you can do is have a ready made list of CDC articles, and you will have to quote portions of it.

If you want to go through that trouble, you send it to them and write something along the lines "perhaps I made an error, can you help me find it?"

99% of the time they won't read it and you won't get a response. IF you get a response - you can then push a little further with "But I found this information, why do you think professional journalists whose JOB is to know this information, can't?"

It's EXHAUSTING to try to deprogram somebody. I've MULTIPLE times pointed out "mistakes" of our media to friends to have them just return to the vomit of our news media. It's infuriating. I just stop trying to explain but when I'm challenged, I generally have the information readily available and will forward it to them when challenged. Even doing this for YEARS, they still believe the nonsense propaganda.

They can't seem to figure out they are being systematically lied to. It's a cult.
152   Patrick   2021 Dec 30, 3:26pm  

https://www.dailywire.com/news/while-bidens-numbers-tank-lets-go-brandon-chain-of-stores-expands-to-10?source=patrick.net


While Biden’s Numbers Tank, ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Chain Of Stores Expands To 10
"Business is very, very good right now."
153   Patrick   2022 Jan 2, 10:25am  

https://nypost.com/2022/01/01/voters-need-to-start-turning-the-page-on-bidens-disaster/?source=patrick.net


In these areas and more, the Biden Administration has placed politics and ideology above the interests and lives of American citizens, not to mention Afghans and migrants. Of course, the mainstream media and congressional Democrats will never truly hold this White House responsible for its actions. In this midterm election year, it falls to the American people to do so. By ousting Biden’s elected supporters, voters can begin to turn the page on his disastrous presidency.
155   Patrick   2022 Jan 5, 11:00am  

https://patriotpost.us/articles/85300?utm_medium=patrick.net&utm_source=patrick.net&utm_campaign=patrick.net&utm_content=body


Senator Cruz Details Grounds for Biden Impeachment
If the GOP takes back Congress in 2022, this is a serious, and warranted, possibility.
156   richwicks   2022 Jan 5, 11:12am  

Patrick says
Senator Cruz Details Grounds for Biden Impeachment


It will never happen.

Even if it did, all it would do is replace one puppet for another. If we're going to have a puppet, best we have the worst possible and incompetent puppet as possible, rather than one that can at least appear in charge.

No policy change will happen if Biden were replaced with Harris.
157   Misc   2022 Jan 5, 11:17am  

Still needs 66 senators for removal.

Even in GOP wet dreams they ain't gonna get that kind of a majority in 2022 elections.
158   Patrick   2022 Jan 5, 3:14pm  

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10372327/Venmo-PayPal-Cash-App-report-transactions-totaling-600-IRS.html?source=patrick.net


Venmo, PayPal and Cash App will now have to report transactions totaling more than $600 to the IRS as Biden plans to ramp up financial enforcement


Use cash instead.
159   HeadSet   2022 Jan 5, 3:51pm  

Patrick says
Use cash instead.

A $600 cash transaction triggers that Biden reporting, too.
160   Patrick   2022 Jan 5, 3:55pm  

Only if someone actually enters that data. At least it won't be automated, as it is with Paypal, etc.

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