Another news day, another roundup
(1) The government is denying that they left the military dogs behind in Afghanistan. Of course, they lie all the time. But it’s certainly at least possible that they’re telling the truth this time.
(2) Lara Logan emphasizes the Pakistan angle, and also adds some chilling facts about cell phone tracing in Afghanistan:
(3) The stranded? No biggee [emphasis mine]:
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby acknowledged Tuesday that Americans were “stranded” in Afghanistan…
“Right now I think the tools we have available to us and that we’re going to use as a U.S. government is going to be more in the diplomatic, economic lanes, and we don’t really see a military role right now,” Kirby told host Willie Geist after he asked if the military would have a role in rescuing those Americans…
Geist inquired as to how diplomacy was going to get those Americans out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
“It’s not completely unlike the way we do it elsewhere around the world. We have Americans that get stranded in countries all the time and we do everything we can to try to facilitate safe passage,” Kirby said, contradicting Psaki.
“We have made it very clear what our expectations are to the Taliban, and if the Taliban want to govern, and they say they do … obviously we’re going to hold them to their deeds, not just those words,” Kirby added. “And so there are leverage tools we have available to us to hold them to account.
Yes – people stranded all the time, like when their money and credit cards are stolen.
And “leverage tools” – do tell what you think they are at this point, Kirby. At the moment, the Taliban seem to have all the weaponry and money they need, and then some. What else are you going to do, say we’re sending troops back to Afghanistan? That’s a real knee-slapper.
(4) Australia seems to be loosening – or planning to loosen – its COVID restrictions:
Australia is set to end its “covid zero” policy after Prime Minister Scott Morrison determined that the country’s approach is not “sustainable” in the face of the more infectious COVID-19 delta variant.
Australia has maintained a strict policy of restrictions and lockdowns to stamp out any outbreak, but the government over the weekend laid out a new plan that marks a sharp change in policy.
The government will drop most restrictions once 80% of adults are vaccinated, which the government believes could happen by the end of the year.
But its policy was always “unsustainable”, and that was true way before the Delta variant came into existence.
(5) Dennis Prager writes (hat tip: “AesopFan”):
I can say that until this moment, I have not read or heard a single cogent argument from proponents of American withdrawal as to how exactly [complete withdrawal] benefits America.
“Twenty years is too long,” or its variant, “we have to end these endless wars,” the most commonly offered argument for withdrawal, has nothing to do with benefiting America.
It is an emotional sentiment, not a rational argument.
The withdrawal has already cost us in a single day more service members’ lives than we lost on any one day in Afghanistan since June 2014, seven years ago.
The number of American servicemen killed in Afghanistan per year from 2015 to 2020 is respectively 22, 9, 14, 14, 21 and 11. No one can seriously argue that we are leaving Afghanistan because of high American casualties.
So, while America doesn’t benefit at all from leaving Afghanistan, it does get hurt.
The damage to the reputation of America — as an ally and as a strong country — is not easily overstated.
…
On the other hand, [the question of who benefits] has some very clear answers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, every Islamic terror group in the world and every other anti-American regime and movement.
The Australia thing is ridiculous because of the last sentence ‘could happen by the end of the year’!!
That’s four months away.
Every statement by a Democrat or their staff must be scrutinized word-by-word for legalistic wordsmithing.
Oh. … not dogs under the care of the U.S. military. So these were dogs trained and cared for by contractors for military purposes? I’m so relieved.
The trick is to look for needless specificity in these statements. Were “military dogs” left behind? Probably, but they weren’t under the care of the military.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2021/08/31/biden-administration-gets-slammed-again-for-leaving-four-legged-heroes-behind-n1474546
Corrupt, senile Biden has loosed the Dogs Of War: he’s “doing deals” with Iran, cannot stand up to China, Taiwan will be invaded, North Korea may be emboldened to invade South Korea.
He is the only truly evil (and likely illegal, votewise) president this country has ever experienced.
And what do you expect, leaving dogs behind? We left incredible military assets behind too.
Maybe pallets of money are the leverage tools this spokescretin is referring too? Or strongly worded letters?
It looks like the Delta varient wave has peaked and is starting to recede. It’ll probably be 8 weeks before it’s back down to mid-June levels though.
The original report on the dogs called them “U.S. military contract working dogs.”
Honestly in America you will get in way more trouble from hurting or killing a dog than treating people badly.
See Michael Vick of the NFL. NFL players often are know to beat there wives/girlfriends and that rarely is a problem for them Michael Vick hurt and killed dogs in a dog fighting ring and was out for years.
Michael Yon’s dispatches will be worth following for the skinny on what’s actually happening in Afghanistan. You can find them on locals.com a/o in summary here – https://www.michaelyon-online.com/
Yon has both the contacts and background to report on those events. His style is eccentric, for a reporter, but he’s good on the facts will ensure he sets the record straight.
Martin,
That’s because, all in all, dogs are better than people.
Kirby says U.S. will use “leverage tools” to get Americans out. That is Bidenspeak for ransom.
Why is a USN Admiral the Pentagon press secretary? Asking for a friend. No, actually, it is just a rhetorical question used to highlight another bizarre situation, one among the plethora of bizarre situations in DC in 2021.
How would a self-respecting Admiral respond when told, “We have a special assignment for you. Although it is not one typically worthy of Flag Rank, we think it is a good fit for your leadership ability.”?
Exactly correct Martin,
If the GOP had any smarts, and we know they don’t, they would get the truth on the dogs and hammer it home repeatedly.
Can’t decide if it will be by Thursday or Friday when this entire Afghanistan thing will be totally gone from all mainstream media.
Oh who am I kidding it’ll be Wednesday.
Islam got a big boost with weapons, cash, a safe haven, no nearby base watching them in the region.
It will be years until this gets played out, it’s not over like Sundowner says it is or wants it to be.
Oldflyer,
I didn’t know he was an Admiral. Did you hear him flatly state that all that abandoned weaponry won’t be of any use to the Taliban or others, or a threat to countries in the region. Why? Because he said so, I suppose. Question asked and answered. I’m relieved again.
Griffin:
Yes. The message is that it was a little blip on the radar screen, we’re out now and isn’t that great? That’s what they counted on, and although it went a bit worse than they expected, they are confident they can now turn the page and continue to dismantle the foundations on which this country has been built.
The abandoned weaponry remains the most astounding part of this. Truly unbelievable.
Griffin:
Well, that was because of the speed on which Biden insisted, I think. Also, they really did think the Afghan military would last longer, and didn’t they leave most of it in the hands of the Afghan military? Just a series of abominable and incredibly stupid decisions.
neo,
But even that is stupid because they also claimed the Taliban would take over in months and then they would have got it all anyway plus I seem to remember something about the Afghan Army being unable to maintain helicopters and the like without the private contractors on site so why leave them there?
‘Pentagon spokesman John Kirby acknowledged Tuesday that Americans were “stranded” in Afghanistan…’
I guess that “stranded” is now a permitted word (in Jen Psaki’s book).
(Gosh, that was fast.)
OTOH, it could mean that John Kirby is totally “irresponsible”, (in Jen Psaki’s book).
Or both.
…And so, once again (with spirit!): “Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia”….
Kirby is another traitor who has now earned a military ‘funeral’. He is in effect rendering aid and comfort to the enemies of all that is good. As he’s purposely deflecting, minimizing and seeking to bury concern over thousands of American citizens abandoned to torture and death.
Which makes him, along with all the rest of this administration… an accomplice to mass murder.
“The government will drop most restrictions once 80% of adults are vaccinated”
Translation, do as your told or the ‘restrictions’ will never end.
Though only a fool would believe them.
Australia’s next national election will determine whether it shall continue to be a police State.
Big Country Expat:
(Ex Enlisted, Ex Contractor, Full-time Full-on)
Reckons that there’s a three-way war going on between Executive/State Dept — Dot Mil — Intel Agencies.
Worth a read.
https://bigcountryexpatoriginal.blogspot.com/2021/08/deep-state-war.html
@Martin:
Cruelty to Animals is one of the few ways left in which one can legitimately take down a Magic American like Vick. Everybody knows LaQisha or whoever the hell had it coming no matter-the-hell-what. But a Dog? No @#$%ing way man! Although I guess can’t be too long before Structural Racism for Dogs is a new thing.
Dennis Prager tells a story of talking to a group of teenagers and asking them whether if they could only save one from drowning would they choose their dog or a total stranger and a troubling number say their dog.
@Geoffrey Britain:
Re: Australia’s Next Election.
You’re assuming, My Good Man, that there’s any daylight between political parties in Australia on mundane stuff like personal liberty and rolling back the Nanny State. Wrong assumption.
The last person to stick a head (her head, in fact) above the parapet and demand a slow-down of rampant immigration of incompatible folk got imprisoned on trumped up electoral fundraising fraud charges… said drive to hound and prosecute her led by one Tony Abbot — a now ex Prime Minister and kind of person the blah blah media would call a Conservative, nay a slavering Right Winger..
The People of Australia will get what they’re going to get. And they’ll get it good and proper. Far too many of them for my liking will enjoy it. And that’s that.
Good grief, does Prager need to be flogged with a wet noodle.
Getting out of Afghanistan accomplishes…
1. Saving trillions of dollars in future expenses, or at least the chance something will be done with that money toward some productive end.
2. Saving some number of American lives. What did the 91 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2015 give their lives for?
3. Learning from our mistakes. Invading Afghanistan after 9/11 was probably not a mistake. Spending several years there trying to make sure it would be a future home for terror operations was probably not a mistake. Spending 20 years there WHILE THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE KNEW WE WERE ACCOMPLISHING NOTHING was a mistake.
Mike
This article by an Australian pretty much says all you need to know. None of it surprising in light of the last 18 months but I have little faith anything will change there or probably NZ but Canada maybe.
https://www.city-journal.org/australias-crazy-covid-response?wallit_nosession=1
MBunge,
Yep, I’ve found myself disagreeing with our hostess and Dennis Prager on this one. Prager has had a weak spot for a few things over the years as he was also approving of a lot of the NSA spying that was all in the news about 10 years ago.
Oh well, can’t agree with someone on everything and he has nailed the Covid lockdowns from day 1.
These progressives are people who shrug, not merely at the deaths, but at the killing of their supposedly “fellow” Americans; and who indeed do more than that: they relish the thought of turning the American armed forces on traditionalist citizens committed to constitutional government.
We have known this for some years now. We have seen them increasingly in action. The time for outrage, much less shock, is long past.
The 56% [of progressive females who are mentally ill] , the soyboys, the crawling cucks, the progressive grannies and church ladies, and the sinecured inhabitants of the institutional niches have all made their moral choices known for decades now.
What in the world did conservatives expect from them? A conscience?
@Griffin:
Thanks for the link. The author of that piece was in at the very beginning of political blogging and I recall following him for a while ca. 2003/4. He’s got a lot of background history as an Australian Liberal (the supposed ‘Conservatives’) Party staffer/operative working at ministerial level in Canberra… so it’s almost surprising that he’s on a personal liberty bent here. Suspect it’s his Polish emigre anti-communist family background. Anyway all to the good. Oh dear… Stereotyping people again. Oh my!
I share his pessimism.
@DNW:
Hey! Go easy on the Spiteful Mutants, now 🙂
MBunge,
Do you agree that for the past 20 years, serious terrorist attacks on American soil have been prevented?
So OK, what’s the alternative and how exactly does your suggested course of action protect America from future terrorist attacks?
You do have an alternative to suggest, right?
Zaphod,
“You’re assuming, My Good Man, that there’s any daylight between political parties in Australia on mundane stuff like personal liberty and rolling back the Nanny State.”
Your interpretation of my comment is mistaken. And my lack of familiarity with Australian politics prevents me from assessing your assertion of the reality of an Australian Uniparty. You’ll forgive me if I don’t just take your word for it?
So what I meant is, if in the next election, the current government is reelected or a “new boss, same as the old boss” is elected and, at base the same policies remain in effect… then we will know that Australia’s police State continues.
Because the majority of Australians are very unhappy with the lockdowns evidenced by the very low rate of citizens who have become vaccinated. That lack of vaccinations indicates that the great majority correctly assess the lockdowns as entirely unneccessary.
In a free society of the self-governed, the next election will accordingly result in fundamental change.
If Australia does have a Uniparty and those independent of the power structure are ‘dissuaded’ from harnessing the widespread dissatisfaction… that too is prima facie evidence of a Police State run by a Fascist Oligarchy.
In this case, in the not too distant future the actual reality Australians face will not be up for debate. One way or the other the reality of it will be undeniable.
So too here in America when the results of the 2022 and 2024 elections are revealed. Given the actions of the democrats, there is not the proverbial “snowballs chance in hell” that they will win honestly in 2022 or 2024.
I wonder if the democrats realize how close to the edge of the precipice they are dancing?
In case you were wondering how any of this could have come about, this has “Obama” written all over it:
https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-waived-congressional-mandate-for-report-on-afghanistan-withdrawal-risks/
DNW,
“The 56% [of progressive females who are mentally ill] , the soyboys, the crawling cucks, the progressive grannies and church ladies, and the sinecured inhabitants of the institutional niches have all made their moral choices known for decades now.
What in the world did conservatives expect from them? A conscience?”
I guess self-interest would be too much to ask?
Apparently they’re too blind to realize that, “Any government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.” earliest attribution 1952. Most famously used by President Gerald Ford using it in an address to a joint session of Congress on August 12, 1974.
But if snowflakes, “soyboys, crawling cucks, progressive females & grannies, church ladies, and the sinecured inhabitants of institutional niches” make up the majority of those who voted for Biden… then other than their votes we ultimately have nothing to fear from them. In which case, it will be the progressive oligarchy that will rescind our liberties but then it would be time for “politics by ‘other’ means”… and the problem for them will be that there just aren’t enough thugs in America for that to work out well for them.
“So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don’t even know that fire is hot.” George Orwell
MBunge & Griffin. I would characterize the choices fraud with trade offs. Yet the central one is framed best by a book I’m sure neither you have read: “Future Jihad” by Walid Phares.
Why Future Jihad? Because in this book, Phares takes you into the minds of Islamist Jihadi’s and tells us how they feel when historic events like this informs their ‘Great War for Allah because Mohamed’ imaginings. It’s the most disturbing book I’ve read during the 2000s decade.
Inshallah – if God Wills It, has taken on a terrible new life. Which means reigning death upon the West and the US. And Biden did this appeasement of our terrorist enemies by Obamunists Third World Ism great destructive glee (as Dinesh D’Souza might say if his “Obama Unmasked” book were updated).
If you love yourselves and are this informed, you could not be so damn callow.
@ Griffin > “This article by an Australian pretty much says all you need to know. None of it surprising in light of the last 18 months but I have little faith anything will change there”
I think Mr. Chrenkoff’s post overlooks some recent developments.
This trucker strike was last week (8/22), but the news didn’t hit American outlets until 8/29:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/australian-truckers-block-major-highway-protesting-mandatory-vaccines-lockdowns_3970773.html
And yet, Chrenkoff says “the population is approaching an 80 percent vaccination-rate target” –
However, when your callous right-wing extremists are your only source of food and TP, sometimes they get results.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/stacey-lennox/2021/08/30/no-more-puppies-need-to-die-australia-is-finally-coming-to-its-senses-on-covid-19-n1474265
Not sure how to square all that with Chrenkoff’s post, but he may have been talking about back-sliding by the government. I only know what I read in the newspapers.
BTW – he joked about liberating Australians; the Master of Satire beat him to it.
https://babylonbee.com/news/australian-citizens-ask-taliban-to-liberate-their-country
Straw clowns in Afghanistan with catastrophic effects.
Straw clowns all around with the vaccine(s) parade. The issue is immunity, not vaccination. The issue is adverse events, not infection. The issue is the durable effect of vaccines and short-term safety data. The issue is the pathogenic properties of the spike protein, the longevity of the mRNA mechanism, and the waning and dysfunctional (e.g. nonviable antibodies) effect of vaccinated immunity vs natural immunity. The issue is leaky vaccines and masks, and a false sense of safety.