Hahahahaha! "One way to have a safer U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan would have been to set up a U.N. peacekeeping mission ahead of time, rather than drawing back troops and leaving civilians scrambling to evacuate as a lightning Taliban offensive retook the country[.]" Good times, good times.
Singapore operating with the Royal Navy in the South China Sea: "This was the first time the Singapore Navy had operated with the Queen Elizabeth and won’t be the last. Singapore is a small island city-state but maintains one of the most powerful military forces in the region. The Singapore Navy has only 7,000 personnel and 36 ships but the sailors and officers are well trained and the ships, four subs and 30 surface warships, are modern and regularly updated or replaced." There are plenty of Chinese neighbors willing to resist China's drive to control the South China Sea. But they need America to be strong enough to support them and through our bilateral defense relations, knit the various opponents of China into cohesive resistance.
The subtle clues from our media that a Democrat is in the White House: "You can tell a Democrat is president, because we’re starting to see pieces blaming 'us' for his mistakes. ... This is of a piece with the tendency of journalists and historians to start muttering about
how the presidency is 'too big for one man' when the bad president in
question is a Democrat. Under these terms, Republicans just aren’t up to
the job, while Democrats are the victims of design or modernity or of
the public being feckless." The brains of Democratic presidents are just too darned big to fail without the huge drag of stupid or evil America causing failure. Basically, they hate America. So yeah: "What if the Biden team is every bit as bad as it looks?" He is. And it means America is in danger. The fact that Democrats and our media are propping up this Weekend at Bernie's Camp David president is unforgivable. Tips to Instapundit.
Islam is divided by factions. The problem is delegitimizing the violent nutball factions while encouraging the live-and-let-live factions. Egypt and Russia are cooperating on that. As I've said, it's an Islamic civil war. And yes, in the long run the Arab Spring is a hopeful sign.
Oh please, Mr. Elder. Woke white politicians, columnists, and reporters will tell you what race you really are. There are penalties for leaving the Democratic plantation. And mere facts can't stand in the way of the woke enforcing conformity and obedience--and more victimization of minorities by criminals. Tip to Instapundit.
It would be nice to contain Russian attack submarines to prevent them from interfering with trans-Atlantic lines of supply: "Norway’s announcement that it plans to deploy P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft to the Arctic in 2022 marks significant progress in the country’s long-term effort to bolster defense capabilities and readiness in the region."
Our moral superiors believe the rest of the country is horrible and deserves what it gets: "Turn on social media, cable news, or the national news networks, and you would be inclined to believe that we loathe those who are different than us. You would also be inclined to believe that everyone who lives outside the urban centers is backward, stupid, and racist." Which is a convenient attitude when you represent the "haves" who benefit from the system that keeps the "have nots" out of their circle--and ideally out of their sight. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I used to have some respect for the Democratic Party for its stand in favor of blue collar families and for freedom of speech. Now the party is just a woke circle-jerk making its fans feel better about themselves.
Bugging out of Afghanistan before the government was ready to take the training wheels off of the military we designed for them was THE mistake that led to disaster. I was extremely worried about the decision to pull back to bases reliant on air resupply and air support made during the Obama administration and carried through the Trump administration (although with more enthusiastic air support). Then Biden took away the air support that the strategy relied on. From the "Well, Duh" files, that never make it into Biden cabinet meetings: "Defence analysts have argued that the removal of air support for Afghan forces was a critical error that [significantly] increased the speed at which the Taliban were able to take over the country."
The Navy's third and last Zumwalt-class stealth destroyer headed for sea trials.
As stupid as reorienting our foreign policy around climate change is, if the Biden administration is in charge of it, Afghanistan will finally have a coastline on the ocean.
This may be the Army's new recon and electronic warfare aircraft.
While I strongly feel that America will discover the difference between not winning a war and losing a war in Afghanistan, it is true that Pakistan was always the main obstacle to winning. That's been my position and a reason I opposed the surge and worried about it, although I gave the military the benefit of the doubt that it could be useful. I had hoped for a different means of solving the problem. But landlocked Afghanistan always gave our Black Sheep ally leverage over America. Also, America did not "divert" its attention from Afghanistan to Iraq. Saying that we were diverted implies that we should have done nation-building in Afghanistan and that it was possible notwithstanding the Pakistan problem. It also ignores that al Qaeda itself focused on Iraq and not Afghanistan. Iraq was where the real fight against jihadis was fought. Finally, it wasn't until our Coalition defeated al Qaeda in Iraq that the jihadis shifted attention back to Afghanistan. Even if you want to say Iraq eventually distracted America from Afghanistan, even President Obama doubted that fact had much effect in practice.
Definitely a "dog bites man" story.
The Pentagon thinks the Kabul airport suicide bombing "didn't need to happen"? Au contraire, it had to happen once we granted the Taliban the honor of being the outer perimeter of our Kabul airport airhead. And stepping back, deciding to lose the Afghanistan war by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks here in America laid the foundation for that mistake. Come on, Pentagon! This was not a tactical mistake.
From a hedge fund billionaire: "Cryptocurrencies, regardless of where they're trading today, will eventually prove to be worthless. Once the exuberance wears off, or liquidity dries up, they will go to zero." That's been my opinion. So it is less valuable than a NFT? But what do I know? Via Instapundit.
Green Crow: "California’s leaders might see themselves as a vanguard of progressive and eco-friendly values. But in reality, their draconian climate policies have created a racially segregated state more akin to the pre-Civil Rights era South." Progressives are too busy falsely accusing conservatives of being racist to notice their own racism.
I've long suspected that when you factor in all the costs that Green renewable energy is not cost-effective compared to the established fuels. Check out what you do with old wind turbines. The wind is free. Everything else costs. Tip to Instapundit.
I guess Biden thinks this is restoring trans-Atlantic relations: "When President Biden announced in April 2021 his intent to withdraw U.S.
troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, many European countries
felt presented with a fait accompli, having
more forces on the ground than the United States but being dependent on
them nonetheless. They were not so much consulted as informed of the
U.S. decision, which was driven by domestic political considerations
rather than conditions on the ground. The decision undermined NATO’s 'in
together, out together' mantra and left Europeans with no alternative
but to depart together with the United States." Our allies have watched our president flail publicly during this crisis as the Democratic basement strategy of hiding Biden faltered. Can even a renewed media campaign to cover for Biden hide his fading lucidity from allies (and enemies)?
I am relieved our final exit from the Kabul airport was not under fire. And credit to the general who was the last one to step on to the last plane leaving.
All part of the plan which foresaw all contingencies: "A former FBI special agent who tracked counterterrorism cases warned
that terrorists in Afghanistan stand a high chance of being able to walk
right onto U.S.-bound planes as a result of the Biden administration's
dissemination of blank visa papers throughout the country." If we're smart these are marked to help us capture terrorists. But what are the odds of that?
The small American troop presence in Iraq has helped keep the jihadi threat low. But Turkey and Iran loom over Iraq.
As we pivot to great power competition, you'd think that America could use more than 180 troops assigned to keeping the trains running to get troops and supplies to the front lines. And worse, those troops have to stretch to the continental United States for getting that stuff to the ports and airfields.
Somebody in our media needs to explain to the Chinese that their lack of nuance and appreciation of power realities is really wrong: "After Afghanistan’s U.S.-backed government collapsed on Aug. 15, Beijing couldn’t contain its glee at what it described as the humiliation of its main global rival—even though Washington said a big reason for withdrawal was its decision to focus more resources on China." The Russians also fail to appreciate the big picture of glorious victory that Biden can clearly see: "In Russia, too, state media overflowed with schadenfreude, albeit tempered by concern about the Afghan debacle’s spillover into its fragile Central Asian allies. 'The moral of the story is: don’t help the Stars and Stripes,' tweeted Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of Russia’s RT broadcaster. 'They’ll just hump you and dump you.'"
Exiting American ship design Hell by buying a foreign design: Coast Guard edition. With sea control contested, America really needs to get its shipbuilding house in order. Fast. And if that requires allies to design and/or build our hulls, so be it.
After the American defeat in Afghanistan, I assume we will see more "home grown, self-radicalized" jihadis carry out terror attacks in America and Europe, all hopped up on jihad and victory.
The joys of over-the-horizon anti-terrorist operations. Drones are not more dangerous to civilians than crewed planes or ground troops. But drones have been demonized. Have no doubt that every American strike will be accompanied by dead baby parades whether or not we killed any babies and whether or not babies were used as human shields.
Sure, it's satire--for now: "Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has announced Congress will be taking action immediately as the situation in Afghanistan rapidly deteriorates. To hold those responsible for the evacuation debacle, Congress will consider articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump." Via Instapundit.
Huh. That didn't take long: "Dr. Amin al Haq, the former head of bin Laden’s Black Guard, was captured on video in a large convoy as it traveled through a checkpoint in Nangarhar province. Haq was accompanied by a large convoy of heavily armed Taliban fighters in brand new SUVs. A small crowd flocked to Haq to shake his hand and take selfies with him." I guess the "kinder and gentler" Taliban 2.0 isn't all that different from the original murdering bastards.
The media is so over its brief bout of journalism: "As of yesterday, Biden, his shadowy commie cabal of handlers, and their
flying monkeys in the mainstream media let it be known that all
real-world assessments of what has gone on for the past two weeks in
Afghanistan are over." The media has turned with a choreographed spin that is stunning to observe:
Resistance: "Taliban forces clashed with militia fighters in the Panjshir valley north of the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday night, with at least seven killed, two members of the main anti-Taliban opposition group said on Tuesday."
Unclear on the concept: "Brushing off concerns about the stranded Americans in Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told MSNBC: 'We have Americans that get stranded in countries all the time.'" Being stranded in France or Canada is waay different than being stranded in Taliban-occupied Afghanistan.
Um, no: "US interests in Ukraine are principally about avoiding conflict with Russia. The administration is not doing itself or Kyiv any favors if it continues to offer rhetorical assurances that the US will back up its position." We surely want to avoid war with Russia. But Russia should want to avoid war with a far stronger America even more. If we make it clear that no objective is more important than avoiding war with Russia, we guarantee Russia will prey on smaller powers. Including Ukraine. This is no way to deter Russia. Also, after our Afghanistan debacle I don't think our rhetorical assurances to Ukraine have much power to push Ukraine to invading Russia, or whatever the author is worried Ukraine might do. There is no blank check.
Friends and allies at sea in the Pacific.
Failure to control the poppy cultivation territory doomed American efforts to deny the Taliban opium income. Yet another effect of abandoning the countryside to hold bases and cities.
Japan continues to arm up in the face of Chinese and North Korean threats.
VP Harris is now permanently assigned to serving in a secure undisclosed location. Tip to Insanity Wrap.
What Taliban deadline to leave? (Via The Morning Briefing) "White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday that U.S.
troops departed from Afghanistan ahead of President Joe Biden's self
imposed Aug. 31 deadline instead of the initial date of Sept. 11 because
the military said it only needed 120 days to complete the evacuation." I wouldn't mind Psaki's lies so much if she was better at it. I'd at least have respect for her skill. Are Biden and Harris just as disappointed?
When will China attempt to enforce its claimed but unlawful authority to control access to the South China Sea? We need overwatch on our freedom of navigation operations. One day China will use force--perhaps with swarming unarmed naval militia--against an isolated warship.
Will Biden's falling approval ratings improve as the memory of the Afghanistan debacle wanes? Maybe. But on top of that debacle is added a faltering economy, a flailing Covid-19 effort, our media noticing Biden as addled in the public appearances he had to make in response to Afghanistan, and open allied horror and scorn at being abandoned by a president clearly loopy. Oh, and let's see if the Hurricane Ida response goes smoothly. Enough bad things happening at once can sour public opinion for good.
Turkey won't be pried out of Libya easily. Turkey is only one of many problems in Libya.
The spin that withdrawing 2,500 American troops and the money to support Afghanistan is vital to getting on with protecting Americans against "real" threats is part of a long line of liberal thought. They always insist that while they favor losing the war we are in, they will be right there when a real threat emerges. Remember, liberals went full circle on Afghanistan. Originally they were against the war. Trying bin Laden with a UN court was raised. But when America invaded and liberated Iraq, suddenty Afghanistan was the Democratic "good" war that Iraq "distracted" us from waging. But I knew that would not last. It did not.
Thoughts on Biden's "mission accomplished" speech: "President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he took “responsibility” for his
decisions on Afghanistan. As for any mistakes made — well, he offered
plenty of potential culprits." Yeah:
Jesus Christ, stop this nonsense. America wins wars--until August 2021. What we have is a problem defending those victories with even minimal efforts. That is the "problem" of not having survival-threatening enemies in our post-World War II wars.
In defense of nation building. Although I think state building as a lesser goal is more appropriate, perhaps I'm quibbling over word choice.
It is funny that in Biden's speech blaming everyone else for his Afghanistan debacle he forgets his own responsibility. He voted for the war in Afghanistan. He served as vice president in the Obama administration during the troop surges that resulted in the bulk of our casualties and costs. And he was (and is) president during the planning of this humiliating debacle. The one thing he did not support during this time from 2001 to 2021 was the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. This is his clusterfuck.
This is my shocked face (tip to Instapundit): "A Bernie Sanders-backing 29-year-old won a coveted position to redraw Michigan's political districts as part of a self-described 'independent' bloc of redistricting commissioners that could redefine the state's electoral landscape for the next decade." They'll all be lefties before long, as I predicted before it happened: "It amuses me that Democrats in Michigan are all in on redistricting 'reform.' I went [through] at least part of three of them and so I know that Democrats were happy to gerrymander as much as the law allowed them without guilt. But now that Republicans have held a lock on the process for a while Democrats want to 'reform' them. Yet I am also aware that this highly political job always becomes political even when nonpartisan groups are given the job. I decline to sign their petitions to put it on the ballot. 'Reform,' indeed." As a rule, both parties have stables of people from the other party who are known to be DINOs or RINOs for purposes of such commissions. And a Bernie bro lefty is "independent" bonus territory for the Democrats.
This is funny: "New Iranian foreign minister hints at nuclear deal approach[.]" The approach will be the same as the original approach: Iran will pretend not to have a nuclear weapons program. And America will pretend to believe them.
These people sure lack the certainty of those Biden apologists who see a kinder and gentler Taliban molded by cell phones and social media over the last two decades: "As U.S. troops complete their withdrawal by their Tuesday deadline, much of the nation is cringing in fear in anticipation of coming reprisals."
If any part of that phone call request was intended to bolster Biden at home however indirectly, my understanding is that it is impeachable: "President Biden pressured Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani to create the 'perception' that the Taliban weren’t winning, 'whether it’s true or not,' in a phone call just three weeks before the insurgents seized control of the country, a bombshell leaked transcript shows." That's quite the precedent Speaker Pelosi and her flying monkeys in the Senate set. But move along, nothing to see, according to the media. Republicans shouldn't try to impeach Biden over this call. They don't have the votes, practically speaking. But a Congressional resolution rebuking Biden might restore the institutions and traditions that Pelosi wrecked. To be fair to the Democrats, they probably assumed only Republican phone calls would be leaked to the public. Tip to Instapundit.
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere gets the woke treatment at the University of North Carolina: "Specifically, the syllabus appears to place blame for the Pacific Theater on America and the West. The course overview describes World War II in the Pacific as 'the first global attack on white Anglo-American hegemony' and 'Japan's attempt to roll back Euro-American colonialism.'" If only we could see their woke take on the anti-colonialism of the Rape of Nanking. Well, some regrettable collateral damage to stick it to the white man, I suppose. As is fitting for woke BS that shifts victimization status to suit it, the Chinese get to be white and deserving of what they got; while the Japanese get to be non-white and thus not really guilty of their crimes.
Who knew the Code Pink hags were still alive? "Code Pink’s Jodie Evans wrote to me on Wednesday to say that 'activists from Code Pink and other organizations will deliver a letter to Congressmember Brad Sherman urging Congress to block the sale of $750 million dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan.'"
There' something wrong with our bloody flag officers today: "Somehow our new woke Pentagon is hell-bent on losing the trust of the American people — along with the wars it fights abroad."
Even if this doesn't prove a state election was stolen, it does show the opportunity for fraud by sending out huge numbers of election ballots. The "emergency" Covid rules were not needed to cope with the virus and need to be repealed for the sake of election integrity rather than institutionalized as Democrats want.
News not from the Mali Tourism Bureau: "Mali continues to suffer, more than most of its neighbors, from corruption, bad government, tribal conflicts and Islamic terrorism, in that order. Only the Islamic terrorism gets much attention outside of Mali. As in the rest of the world, Islamic terrorists are the result of those other maladies, not their cause."
Preparing for the highest altitude naval battle on Pangong Lake.
Who on Earth ever said American alliances would collapse because of Biden's Afghanistan debacle?! The simple fact that a European leftist defending Biden has to resort to such a straw man illustrates how much American credibility is damaged right now. And the argument that going through with a commitment to lose in Afghanistan will really bolster American credibility is just bizarre. Bad things away from Afghanistan have a higher chance of happening because of this debacle. With chances that bad things will lead to really bad things. Amusingly, the author also says that maybe Europeans--and Taiwan--should spend more on defense. Trump was condemned for his forceful call for NATO to do that. I've certainly argued Taiwan needs to spend more.
What on Earth does China plan to do with this information? "'It is estimated that 80 percent of American adults have had all of their personal data stolen by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), and the other 20 percent most of their personal data,' William Evanina told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Aug. 4 in his opening statement." Bribery? Blackmail? Crafting propaganda to divide Americans?
Biden counts on Americans forgetting he needlessly and incompetently lost Afghanistan. But can he recover from this level of disapproval? "In the latest shocking display of the president’s polling free fall, the latest Rasmussen Reports survey found that a majority, 52%, wants Biden to resign over the withdrawal alone. Just 39% disagrees, far short of his political base." It isn't only the Afghanistan debacle. It is the horrifying repeated views of his inability to even appear consistently lucid. It is the loud despair from allies over the debacle. That all adds up and may very well leave a mark that time will not erase.
What Australia is doing to itself is sad (via Instapundit): "Up to now one of Earth’s freest societies, Australia has become a hermit
continent. How long can a country maintain emergency restrictions on
its citizens’ lives while still calling itself a liberal democracy?"
It's like China doesn't need to conquer Australia. China just has to wait until there is no difference between them.
Marine F-35Bs will operate off of a Japanese "helicopter destroyer" later this year. The Japanese will learn quite a bit about what they need to do to turn those ships into small carriers (shhh, that's officially forbidden) from this deployment.
Malagasy (that is, the island of Madagascar) is on the "brink of famine."
So there's a Mu virus variant out there. What are the odds of the first Xi Jinping Flu virus variant that originates in America getting called by a Greek letter in our media's style guides?
Compassion! But hey, at least the kids aren't in cages!
Oh FFS: "Though errors made by policymakers certainly played a part,
our military lost in Afghanistan because it no longer knows how to
fight and win wars. This wasn’t because our military professionals lack
will or effort but because they have forgotten the real purpose for
which militaries exist. Nowhere is this truer than in America’s war
colleges—the schools our nation established to teach officers how to
fight and win wars. The plain fact is that these schools no longer teach
warfighting. This may sound incredible—even unbelievable—but it is
true."
The most bizarre aspect of this whole thing is that the Army thought Chelsea Manning was capable of being a soldier. Only the failure of our military leadership has made the reason for that more clear.
Rather than deluding ourselves that we can live with the Taliban and reduce their cruelty (So just what are the numbers on acceptable child-bride rapes, beheadings, and terrorists trained per week?), we should work to strengthen the forming resistance and break the Taliban regime. Which at least makes the Taliban's new patrons work harder and pay more to support the Taliban. Why make our enemies' and foes' jobs easier? Good grief, we're not dumb enough to help Pakistan pay for the Taliban when Pakistan is a major reason we have the Taliban, are we? How is living with the Taliban--when we sure as Hell don't need to live under them--making the best of a bad situation? Cordesman is a great researcher. I've thought that since I was in college. But I don't think much of his policy analysis.
What is wrong with these morons?! "A new program in San Francisco will pay people at high risk of shooting someone not to pull the trigger to help alleviate rising gun violence in the city." the program pays potential killers $300 per month. How long before the young men with guns "at high risk of shooting someone" decide that they want more than this pittance to not shoot people? What's the limit? Especially when people can say that limiting the payment to a mere $300 for poor people in violent neighborhoods is racist by devaluing minorities? The woke idiocy is just astounding. Tip to Instapundit.
Russia's long thin railroad line between the Far East and European Russia. I assume the Chinese would bomb the heck out of vulnerable points on that line when they recapture Russian-occupied Chinese territory.
Wag the racism: "The fact that racism has declined in the United States in the modern era, following the 1964 passage of the Civil Rights Act, would seem objectively obvious to most people." Despite that, researchers are working hard to find racism, no matter how obscure, and magnify it into racial strife. Tip to Instapundit.
North Korea is in bad shape and even the "special" troops are becoming ill-trained, hungry young men who are less troops than under house arrest lest they threaten the regime. And because not everyone can be put in the army to control them: "North Korea is forcing youth into 'backbreaking' hard labor at mines and farms to control them, human rights group says[.]" Yet the hideous regime endures.
Biden's spending agenda is hopefully in trouble. One factor is that the president has little inherent power and relies on love, fear, and respect to push projects domestically. Mind you, with any of that the massive and highly funded executive has tremendous power. But the president has real power overseas and Biden screwed the pooch there, erasing love, fear, and respect over here. America may have few options to replace presidents more rapidly than every four years. But we can simply ignore whoever sits in the White House to a greater degree than other nations' people can when it comes to domestic activism. Which, if you are in the camp of "don't just do something, stand there!" is good news.
Is Biden's Pentagon pivoting from losing the Afghanistan war to waging a war on alleged deeply rooted racism in the military? I have advice to repeat:
It really is hard to argue that American colleges aren't training young people to be racists: "So to be authentically of color, you have to be lazy and sloppy? Nice anti-racism you got going there. You know what really fosters white supremacy? College. Maybe we should shut ’em all down."
Well I certainly assume Russia practiced an invasion of Ukraine. I'm sure Russia wants Odessa, and the entire Black Sea coast of Ukraine for that matter. And the Russians practiced without much notice for their 2008 Goons of August war against Georgia. At least these things are publicly noticed now. So perhaps Russia won't get the benefit of the doubt from the sainted international community for "just reacting to" a provocation or even whether or not Russia is invading Ukraine (again) at all.
Cultural Revolution 2.0. When do the video gamers get sent to the countryside for reeducation? Tip to Instapundit.
Leftists keep saying Republican are our own Taliban or Soviets. But why weren't the leftists ever this angry at actual Taliban and actual Soviets? It's Bizzaro World on the left. Foreign enemies are just friends we haven't made yet; and domestic political opponents are enemies to be crushed.
No plan? "The Biden administration has no plans to release billions in Afghan gold, investments and foreign currency reserves parked in the United States that it froze after the Taliban's takeover, despite pressure from humanitarian groups and others who say the cost may be the collapse of Afghanistan's economy." No plan--yet. We'll have to wait and see what the Taliban price is for not killing Americans who are totally not stranded in Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, brave actual Resistance to tyranny, for all the Democrats here who thought they were a brave resistance to Trump.
The entire political "fact checking" industry is a giant wet kiss to Democrats. Exhibit N+1. Via Instapundit.
Assad's regime seems to have decided that a successful air defense system consists of claiming to have DESTROYED Israeli missiles. To be fair, I think the Russians started this farcical practice.
Given that the European Union and the Taliban both hate America, I'm betting The EU apparatchiki will find some "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" room to establish relations: "European Union officials on Friday listed a set of conditions for defining the EU's level of engagement with the Taliban as the new rulers of Afghanistan, including respect for human rights and the rule of law."
I skipped past a video explaining why Mexico City could possibly be geographically the worst placed city in the world. Sure, I'm aware of its problems. But the city was founded in 1325. Which isn't a bad run for a city that might be the worst-placed city in the world. I'd rather live there than any city within reach of China or Russia, that's for sure.
Given Iranian interest in the Red Sea, this is prudent: "U.S. and Israeli warships conducted a combined maritime security patrol in the Red Sea this week as a shift in responsibility for Israel from U.S. European Command to U.S. Central Command took effect Wednesday."
I guess we'll see if Zapad-21 is a Russian military exercise: "NATO's secretary general called on Russia on Friday to be open about its 'Zapad-2021' military exercises and the troop numbers involved as alarm grows in Poland, the Baltics and Ukraine about Moscow's intentions." Or is it a way of mobilizing forces to launch a limited strike against NATO or simply to occupy Belarus and complete the Anschluss? What number does Putin have, anyway?
Well that's real bad luck that our media and permanent bureaucracy kept us from getting a clear picture before 2021: "The Left’s Martha’s Vineyard-loving golden boy warned the world of Joe Biden’s incompetence — as if Biden’s bumbling demeanor, perpetual cloudiness, and vapid deer-in-the-headlights stare on the 2020 campaign trail wasn’t enough to alarm even the most optimistic of voters. It’s taken one of the biggest foreign policy disasters in modern history, and it’s only the beginning of his term, to paint a crystal clear picture for the American people as to who exactly they voted for." We could see Biden was a buffoon and Obama's assassination insurance for eight years. And we put him in the White House anyway. Despite his visible decline from his already awful competence under Obama.
I understand it is a little late for blood and guts rhetoric given that the Taliban handed America our ass because Biden's skedaddle debacle handed Afghanistan to them. But could our top brass at least shut the ef up if the alternative is speaking of how to cooperate with the scum victors?
Interesting: "Britain's nuclear weapons could be moved to France in the event of Scottish independence, Ministry of Defence contingency plans reveal." Scotland can't blackmail rump Great Britain for too much aid to sustain the nuclear submarine base if this Plan B is real. I'm sure the French would be happy to share expenses. There are other options, too.
Without objective standards, the elites who made it determine who makes it. Which will be their children and those they deem worthy. With the bonus of eliminating any measures to show how poorly the elites are doing their job. Via Instapundit.
And that's just the ones who were alive when they voted!
The all-volunteer military caused the defeat in Afghanistan? What a load of horse manure. The officer corps was never from the draftees. It is the officer corps that failed us. Besides, why would drafting the same number of people who voluntarily enlist make America respect and connect to our military more? Oh, and there is bonus "we created the jihadis" by stationing troops in the Middle East nonsense. And other shotgun blasts of manure pellets tossed in for good measure. For God's sake people, what doesn't set off those murderous Islamist nutballs?? Stop looking for excuses to blame us for their problem. Seriously, this essay is moronic. Don't bother looking for the pony in it.
The idea that European states can cooperate with existing military capabilities to end dependence on American military capabilities is valid. As a start. The will in each major military-generating state is needed. Meeting NATO's minimum spending standard by 2014 would help. But as the European Union raises its hand to make such cooperation happen, beware. The EU apparatchiki don't care about the military capabilities. The EU just wants the authority to create such capabilities. The more authority the EU collects, the easier it will be to erase the prefix of their proto-imperial project. Europeans working within NATO which promotes common military practices and interoperability is the way to go for seriously generating European military power.
Academia is nothing but a priest caste enforcing their religion against heretics. The humorous thing is that the new priests think they are too intelligent to fall for the religious nonsense that flyover country hicks believe in.
I assume Biden is suddenly releasing 9/11 information to deflect attention from his Afghanistan skedaddle debacle. Squirrel!
It's just not that funny any more:
The only way I can sleep at night is to assume that the 32% are so partisan that they refuse to admit reality if it might harm Biden: "As for the war in Afghanistan, 68% of those surveyed by Emerson pollsters said they believe the United States lost the war in Afghanistan, while 32% believe the U.S. won." The alternative that nearly a third of Americans are that idiotic or inattentive is too disturbing to accept.
I guess the Taliban foot soldiers didn't think the Taliban victory was inevitable: "Now we are in charge. We never thought we would see a victory like this." Perhaps Trump's determination to leave would have been done as badly. He made mistakes in releasing Taliban prisoners. But he had conditions for leaving, We'll never know. What we know is that Biden and his national security staff made it possible for the Taliban to achieve a victory beyond their imagination. Bravo. And while this is bravado by that Taliban commander, it does show a "today Afghanistan, tomorrow the world attitude" that will cause us problems: "We are happy that we are victorious. We fought for 20 years. We want Islamic law, and not just in Afghanistan." I assume the Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Biden can't be far behind.
Hamas never tires of trying to kill Jews: "Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant group on Saturday launched over a dozen of incendiary balloons into Israel, seeking to ratchet up pressure in order to ease a crippling blockade of the territory." Also, there is no Israeli "blockade" of Gaza.
I always assume that French-German joint units are France's way of controlling more military assets without paying for them.
One silver lining is that India has little alternative to America to contain Chinese power: "The United States and India signed an agreement to co-develop air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles, the U.S. Air Force announced Friday."
Let's see if New Zealand takes jihadi terror as seriously as the Xi Jinping Flu coronavirus. On the bright side the attacker was "a known threat to authorities because of his IS-inspired ideology." I believe the correct concern is now "was he vaccinated?" Pity masks and lockdowns don't solve that totally random and amorphous threat. An entire population can be on house arrest for Covid but not a jihad known since 2016.
It's dangerous just to be in the military.
How many of our own--let alone those Afghans who worked with us--did we leave behind in Afghanistan?
I see that "progressives" are eager to pivot to the ever elusive Palestinian peace process. Don't make the Palestinians queen of the victims prom again.
Stagflation? Via Instapundit.
Biden orders the barn doors closed after the strong horse escaped: "President Biden has told his top generals that they should 'stop at nothing' to make Afghanistan’s ISIS affiliate pay for the 13 U.S. service members’ deaths in Kabul last week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday." Huh. I guess Biden didn't end the war after all. Does stopping at nothing commit America to fighting ... forever? Pity Biden didn't think keeping 2,500 American troops in Afghanistan to enable a couple hundred thousand Afghan security forces to kill jihadis every day was worth it. But Biden would stop at nothing for his goal of "ending" the war in Afghanistan by September 11, 2001.
If you are victimized by a criminal, the woke want to victimize you again by putting the criminal into your life for the criminal's benefit. Just what is the woke's major malfunction?
Preparing for electronic warfare in the Pacific.
Well, they can't let some hillbilly jihadis in Afghanistan show them up: "Gunmen opened fire at a federal police checkpoint in rural northern Iraq, sparking clashes that killed 13 police, a security official said Sunday. He blamed the attack on Islamic State militants."
The Houthi fired Iran-provided ballistic missiles and suicide drones at Saudi Arabia.
Throughout the Xi Jinping Flu era I've mentioned that this is out of my lane. Given that such pandemics burn through the world in a couple years without major intervention, I assumed that vaccines would help us beat this by this time. We haven't. And no, the reason why isn't variants. That's normal for pandemic viruses. Although death rates seem to be way down. So maybe it is just that we refuse to admit we've beaten it. I just don't know. Will we find that our responses have been futile? Would it have been better to try to live with the virus from the beginning? With protections for the vulnerable and health care workers the only measures that could matter for minimizing the death toll? Did our countermeasures do far more damage than the virus itself? But given the politicization of the issue, will we be able to honestly study the issue in our generation?
The banality of a coup attempt in Guinea is almost comforting these days. But who won?
A surprising lack of nuance in France enters its eighth week.
Are Americans being prevented from leaving Afghanistan by the Taliban? Huge, if true. Tip to Instapundit.
Perhaps I'm just missing the anguished news coverage, but is the Mexican government's practice of breaking up migrant caravans to America getting neglected because there is no Bad Orange Man to blame?
