David Andrews Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 (edited) 12 Americans killed by suicide bombers at Kabul airport. https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/aug/26/afghanistan-live-news-updates-evacuation-refugees-taliban-kabul-airport-latest Which was predicted yesterday, yet nothing was done, including barring people from the "pit"-like area near the gate, where the bombs went off. Edited August 26, 2021 by David Andrews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Govus Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 Eh, it's thirteen U.S. now. NBC News last night had a clip with a U.S. commander explaining there had to be pat-downs of people boarding. That Taliban were pre-screening. Taliban has stated, in line with its declared general amnesty, that it will facilitate evacuation of stranded U.S. and Afghan evacuees even past August 31. Taliban both denied an attack by everyone's enemy, ISIS-K, was coming, and condemned it when it happened. Remember, you can't spell "clusterf*ck" without "U.S." How far along are we with robot transportation security guards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 4 hours ago, George Govus said: Eh, it's thirteen U.S. now. NBC News last night had a clip with a U.S. commander explaining there had to be pat-downs of people boarding. That Taliban were pre-screening. Taliban has stated, in line with its declared general amnesty, that it will facilitate evacuation of stranded U.S. and Afghan evacuees even past August 31. Taliban both denied an attack by everyone's enemy, ISIS-K, was coming, and condemned it when it happened. Remember, you can't spell "clusterf*ck" without "U.S." How far along are we with robot transportation security guards? I think the Taliban boarding protocol is two grenades and one bandolier per passenger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 (edited) Embattled 'We Build the Wall' group admits they can't pay lawyer after raising millions: report by Tom Boggioni August 27, 2021 https://www.rawstory.com/we-build-the-wall-group/ “According to a report from Fox News 8, the people behind the crowdsourced "We Build the Wall" group who claim on their website that they have pledges for $25 million to build part of Donald Trump's ill-fated border wall along the Texas border are now pleading poverty and claiming they can't pay their attorneys. The group, whose advisory board includes former Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Kris Kobach, as well as wealthy Blackwater founder Eric Prince, has reportedly been stiffing their legal representation, leading McAllen, Texas lawyer David Oliveira to request withdrawing as one of their attorneys." “With the judge granting Oliveria's request and telling Kobach he needs to find new lawyers, the former Trump adviser told the judge, "It might be expensive and few of us have the assets right now to cover a retainer. So we are willing to let counsel step aside but we would like a fairly generous bit of time to find local counsel and also perhaps have a picture of what it involves," only to have Judge Crane admonish him by stating, "This case just keeps getting delayed and delayed; 90 days seems like a long time." "Finding a lawyer I don't think is a big problem. I think finding a lawyer who is willing to risk not getting paid is probably the issue here."” And the grift goes on. The grift goes on. Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain.... Steve Thomas Edited August 27, 2021 by Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 Wisconsin School District Ditches Free Meals So Students Don’t ‘Become Spoiled’ by Rachel Olding Published Aug. 27, 2021 https://www.thedailybeast.com/waukesha-school-district-ditches-free-meals-so-students-dont-become-spoiled?ref=home?ref=home “In a cruel move that has shocked many parents, the Waukesha School District Board opted earlier this year to end its federally funded program to give free meals to all students. One board member, Karin Rajnicek, said the free, universal program made it too easy for families to “become spoiled” while Darren Clark, the assistant superintendent for business services, worried that families could develop an “addiction” to the service. During the pandemic, the district had signed up for a federal program that funded meals for all students, regardless of economic status, but it has now voted to return to its pre-pandemic program in which students have to apply and receive federal money for meals. About 900 parents and teachers have banded together to oppose the move, calling it insensitive and out of touch.” God forbid the peasants have food. They might get uppity. Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Andrews Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 Inside the NATO mission to Afghanistan. About what one would expect from both parties: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/27/afghanistan-nato-mission-corruption-military-soldier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Gallaway Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 A motley crew of anti vaxer's speaking out of their oppression in a San Diego board of supervisors meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 Larry Elder's private charity was a bust, and questions swirl over where the money went https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/larry-elders-private-charity-was-a-bust-and-questions-swirl-over-where-the-money-went/ar-AANPg8U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 First paragraph of the front page article in the Weekend Edition of The Wall Street Journal: “Twenty years ago, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban. Today, American forces, battered by one of the bloodiest attacks of the war, are relying for their own security on the same group, whose members they were trying to kill just week earlier.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 Opinion article from today’s New York Times titled: It Shouldn’t Fall to Veterans to Clean Up Biden’s Mess From the article: As a Marine, I fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and participated in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. As a journalist, I covered the war in Syria. Never have I witnessed a greater, swifter collapse of competence than what I have seen with the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan. Central to President Biden’s campaign was a promise that the candidate understood, deeply and personally, two essential things: empathy and service. Events in Afghanistan this week indicate this promise was, at worst, false and, at best, limited. Events in Afghanistan illustrate what happens when there is a breakdown in empathy. Events at the airport — desperation, death — indicate the extreme chaos that ensues when the commander in chief doesn’t actually understand the value of service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 BIDEN'S GIFT TO THE TALIBAN Thanks to the Government Accountability Office, we now have a clear picture of just how much U.S. military equipment has fallen into the hands of the Taliban, thanks to Joe Biden's bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan. Let's have a look...✈️ Aircraft: The Taliban now ranks #26 in the world in total military aircraft thanks to us leaving behind 208 planes and helicopters: 110 helicopters 60 transport/cargo planes 20 light attack planes 18 intelligence/surveillance planes 🛻 Vehicles: You've probably seen the footage of the Taliban riding around in our humvees. We left a total of 75,898 vehicles: 42,604 tactical vehicles 22,174 humvees 8,998 medium tactical vehicles 1,005 recovery vehicles 928 mine-resistant vehicles 189 armored tanks 🔫 Weapons: Get ready for this.. 599,690 weapons are now in the hands of the Taliban: 358,530 rifles 126,295 pistols 64,363 machine guns 25,327 grenade launchers 12,692 shotguns 9,877 RPGs 2,606 howitzers And you can throw a couple thousand night-vision goggles, surveillance drones, and communication devices on that list as well.Price tag: In total, it adds up to nearly $84 billion dollars in tax-payer-funded U.S. military equipment. Joe Biden just funded an army of terrorists in Afghanistan.[Source: GAO analysis of Department of Defense data] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 Fact check: Biden didn't 'gift' weapons to Taliban https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/08/25/fact-check-biden-didnt-gift-taliban-weapons/8197978002/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted August 29, 2021 Share Posted August 29, 2021 All in or All Out? Biden Saw No Middle Ground in Afghanistan. President Biden’s reductionist formula has prompted a debate over whether the mayhem in Kabul was inevitable or the result of a failure to consider other options. The New York Times August 29, 2021 From the article: Mark T. Esper, a defense secretary under Mr. Trump, agreed that the deal was flawed and in fact argued against drawing down further in the final months of the last administration before being fired in November. In recent days, he said, “there were more options available to President Biden” than simply continuing Mr. Trump’s withdrawal. “He could have tried to go back to the table with the Taliban and renegotiate,” Mr. Esper said on CNN. “He could have demanded, as I argued, that they agree to the conditions they established or they agreed to in the agreement and that we use military power to compel them to do that.” At this point, the die is cast. Mr. Biden made his choice. He wanted to be the president to end America’s longest war. Right or wrong, he has done so and on that, there is no middle ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted August 30, 2021 Share Posted August 30, 2021 (edited) Doug, One of the problems that I ha 16 hours ago, Douglas Caddy said: All in or All Out? Biden Saw No Middle Ground in Afghanistan. President Biden’s reductionist formula has prompted a debate over whether the mayhem in Kabul was inevitable or the result of a failure to consider other options. The New York Times August 29, 2021 From the article: Mark T. Esper, a defense secretary under Mr. Trump, agreed that the deal was flawed and in fact argued against drawing down further in the final months of the last administration before being fired in November. In recent days, he said, “there were more options available to President Biden” than simply continuing Mr. Trump’s withdrawal. “He could have tried to go back to the table with the Taliban and renegotiate,” Mr. Esper said on CNN. “He could have demanded, as I argued, that they agree to the conditions they established or they agreed to in the agreement and that we use military power to compel them to do that.” At this point, the die is cast. Mr. Biden made his choice. He wanted to be the president to end America’s longest war. Right or wrong, he has done so and on that, there is no middle ground. Doug, One of the problems that I have with Esper's argument here is that, from what I have read, the surrender of Afghan Army units to the Taliban started in some areas of the country in early 2020, after the Trump-Taliban treaty was signed (in February.) By the time of Biden's inauguration, U.S. troop levels had been reduced to a mere 2,500, and Biden was still in the process of getting a Cabinet appointed and getting up to speed on the Pentagon intel that Trump and Chris Miller had refused to share with Biden's transition team in December and January. Trump, himself, publicly bragged as recently as June of this year that Biden "couldn't stop" his (Trump's) Afghanistan withdrawal process. It would, certainly, have required a major reversal of the Trump-Esper withdrawal process. And now, today, we have Lara Trump asking on Fox News how we ever became allied with the Taliban! Hello. It reminds me a bit of Eisenhower's Bay of Pigs op being fobbed off on JFK in '61. Lara Trump tells Fox News she can't figure out how the US became allied with the Taliban https://www.rawstory.com/lara-trump-afghanistan-taliban-terrprism/ Edited August 30, 2021 by W. Niederhut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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