Here’s what happened: “U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner,” said Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, in a statement. “The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. Initial indications … Continue reading →
Not that they’ll ever do it. That would take far more integrity than they possess. But we can ask anyway [my additions in brackets]: Yeah, we know your boss is a senile old fool with delusions of competence. His failure … Continue reading →
When we started our post-9/11 military operations in Afghanistan I think most Americans knew why we did it despite the obvious pitfalls and drawbacks. The aim was to dismantle the terrorist training camps and pursue the leaders of al Qaeda … Continue reading →
Who is Colonel Richard Kemp? He’s a retired British officer who was had a long military career in combat as well as anti-terrorism operations. From July 2003 to November 2003 he was the head of the British effort in Afghanistan … Continue reading →
This story is over two weeks old. I didn’t see it at the time, but it took on more significance once Biden compounded all his other errors by excoriating the Afghan military for not fighting: Airpower is important to military … Continue reading →
No doubt there are other things happening in the world, but right now Afghanistan is front and center. (1) Here’s how Joe Biden, our stalwart Commander-in-Chief, indicated in his Stephanopoulos interview that he is unaware that we have US military … Continue reading →
I think that this is telling: “But we’ve all seen the pictures,” Stephanopoulos said. “We’ve seen those hundreds of people packed into a C-17. We’ve seen Afghans falling…” Biden interrupts, livid. “That was four days ago, five days ago!” That … Continue reading →
This post is basically a variation on the old “fools or knaves?” question, only on steroids. Our precipitous and disastrous leave-taking from Afghanistan – which is still ongoing – is obviously incompetent, but incompetent on a level that even a … Continue reading →
Sometimes the best way to deal with rapidly incoming news is the roundup. So here goes: (1) Biden gives a speech – on COVID: President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that his administration will require that nursing home staff be … Continue reading →
Success has many fathers but defeat is an orphan. Thus it is with our withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan after twenty years. Even Joe Biden, who said in a speech that he stands by his decision, spent most of the … Continue reading →
My answer is: no one. And that’s a well deserved distrust. Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan – the trifecta, the hat trick of reasons to distrust us. Who will ever enlist again? I think that’s another good question. Now that the military … Continue reading →
Thinking about the last twenty years in Afghanistan, it occurs to me that I’ve been blogging since the fall of 2004 and I wondered what I’ve written about it over the years. My recollection is that I wrote very little … Continue reading →