The A-10 versus the Air Force. SPOILER ALERT: The A-10 won.
The view from space, obscured by the bureaucracy, is cleared up by the private sector.
Speaking of Foreign Affairs BS: "By surging troops and military hardware into the region and encouraging its allies to enlarge their arsenals, Washington is heightening tensions and increasing the risk of an avoidable conflict." Yes, China is the cause, he says. But risking conflict is still America's fault? When conflict would have to begin with a Chinese attack? Allies are not expanding their arsenals because of America. Allies are expanding their arsenals because of China. If American encouragement was so effective, NATO would have made more rapid progress toward spending 2% of GDP on defense. The FA argument is idiocy. American policy isn't only about military measures. But given China's military rise, our military response has to be robust with a sense of urgency.
I enjoyed having my son back home from his doctoral program. Unlike his last trip home when I was in Las Vegas, I could go to a Michigan football game with him and my daughter. Those times are slipping away.
Huh: "Women and pregnant people[.]" This is a strange grouping when what is on the left side of "and" represents 100% of the population of both sides of the "and". Tip to Instapundit.
Canada needs to commit to NORAD to make it effective. The collapse of the USSR ended Russia's ability to conquer Western Europe. Canada reacted by getting off that European front line yet didn't notice Canada itself is a new front line.
An MC-130J landed a HIMARS on a Gotland Island road, in an exercise with the Swedes.
There are left and right countercultures in America. While I have sympathy for the far right counterculture's indictment of the government-media class, I reject its indictment of America and embrace of authoritarian leaders as a solution. Every bit as much as I reject the far left's authoritarian impulses to "solve" non-crises. I don't think America is on the verge of either collapse or civil war despite my concerns about the country's woke direction. I am down about our political culture, but I have faith that America will pass through this period--at what price I do not know--and endure as a free and powerful country. We've endured worse than cancel culture twits. Tip to Instapundit.
Apparent military coup in Sudan. That's not likely to help the people, given the apparent Islamist tilt. But how does it affect the Nile River GERD dispute over river water flow to Sudan and Egypt from Ethiopia?
We're never going to reach Peak Stupid if people like "Doctor Valerie" keep pushing it ever higher. Tip to Instapundit. I think I'm experiencing moron stress disorder, if I may also coin a phrase.
Iran is working to spread pro-Iran Shia Islam in eastern Syria. Which is a problem given our military presence in eastern Syria. Despite a recent Iranian attack, America is unlikely to withdraw its 900 troops in Syria. But are we willing to die on that hill?
Good: "The country's largest school board association apologized late Friday for its letter to President Joe Biden calling on the FBI to investigate parents as potential domestic terrorists." But despite the retraction of the letter that called in the federal hammer, the federal hammer remains. Tips to Instapundit.
I've been all over this right-hander assault on my people (tip to Instapundit): "Activist lectures U. North Carolina students about ‘right-handed privilege[.]’"
When oppressive patriarchy is actually good! Don't you dare say otherwise.
While the Biden administration's publicity for the designation of Levine as an "admiral" is silly, I don't think the episode will hurt our military. The administration and the military leadership itself are doing enough on their own. But hey, it's Halloween time, so it is the season for costumes. Tip to Instapundit.
This should be really fun when the White House gets around to the Islamic world: "The Biden-Harris Administration issues first-ever national gender strategy to advance the full participation of all people – including women and girls – in the United States and around the world." We won't be equal until men have the same number of babies as women. Or more likely the way government works, women have as few babies as men. Tip to Treacher.
Throwing you all back in chains since 1865: It's amazing how many Democratic-run institutions are "structurally racist," eh?
Xi is tightening his grip on China: "China’s leadership believes that existing problems should be tackled by imposing ever more control—control that flows directly from the small working groups at the central level. This has strengthened the discipline of the Party at the cost of alternative opinions and flexibility within the system." Although rather than being a plan, Xi may be winging it. Which wouldn't shock me. Let's see if killing the geese that lay the golden eggs--the basis of legitimacy for several decades now-works out.
To be fair, Biden gave Putin a very short list of targets off limits to cyber attacks: "Tom Burt, a top Microsoft security executive, said in a statement Sunday that a group of hackers [previously linked to Russian intelligence services] had been linked to some 23,000 attacks this year on more than 600 organizations."
Can even "cruel" experiments on puppies turn off Fauci's panty-flinging fanboys and fangirls?
Tip to Treacher.
Huh: The Biden administration has told lawmakers that the US is nearing a formalized agreement with Pakistan for use of its airspace to conduct military and intelligence operations in Afghanistan[.]" I guess the Pakistanis aren't sure what they won. And now some American military help doesn't sound too bad to Pakistan. Let's make sure we strike targets that threaten America rather than be Pakistan's ISI air force to punish stubborn local Taliban.
All we need European NATO states to do in regard to China is not make China stronger with trade and technology deals; and be strong enough to deal with Russia, with minimal U.S. help. Okay, one more thing: resume selling weapons to Taiwan over China's objections.
So the author is saying Russia has a right to invade and conquer Georgia and Ukraine? What other ex-Soviet-controlled states should be sacrificed? Also, NATO membership does not require any state to fight an attacker, just to consult and take appropriate actions. The varied responses of NATO allies to the only Article V war in NATO's history--Afghanistan--should clearly show there is not automatic fighting clause. Russia shouldn't be a NATO enemy and we should pursue that objective. But detente should be on NATO's terms--not Russia's.
A look at American special forces training the Taiwanese. I almost never hear special forces called "Green Berets," as they are in this article, the last several decades. Is that nickname still used?
This is really odd given how often the Russians wave around their nuclear arsenal: "The Russian defence ministry on Monday handed a protest note to a German military attache due to the German defence minister's comments over the need to deter Russia's nuclear capabilities, RIA state news agency reported." The Germans weren't supposed to notice?
Staging or recovering Israeli aircraft that strike Iran's nuclear facilities would certainly be a great UAE contribution under this growing relationship: "The chief of the United Arab Emirates Air Force visited Israel on Monday on what the host country described as a harbinger of cooperation in air power."
Erdogan making friends and influencing people in Libya.
Preparing to give the bear indigestion for as long as possible.
Estonia is big on Internet capabilities for a reason: "Estonia may be small but they know what is important. If the Russians come, the invaders’ bad behavior will be captured and broadcast, one way or another, as close to 24/7 as the Estonians can manage. Russia does not like its bad behavior exposed like that because even a lot of Russians don’t approve of that sort of thing. Broadcast the lies live and the lies lose their power." The Philippines should have live streams around everything as the first line of defense to expose what the Chinese do.
I mentioned recently that there is a great gap between those who think Taiwan will resist an invasion furiously and those that think Taiwan's troops lack the will and training to fight. Here's one (sadly paywalled) on the latter: "The concern that China might try to seize Taiwan is preoccupying American military planners and administration officials. Few of them think Taiwan’s military could hold the line." I'm with these guys, especially regarding reservists. While anti-ship missiles are great and subs would be great, the ability to fight on the ground when things look bleak is what Taiwan really needs. Oh wait, here's a version readable.
I assume that anybody caught committing voter fraud is the most careless or unlucky tip of the iceberg and not the result of a careful and successful search for a needle in a hay stack.
I do not want an electric vehicle. And I strongly suspect they have a higher carbon footprint than an internal combustion engine car from production through use to disposal.
Erdogan changed his mind about expelling Western ambassadors. Well, he did really overreact.
An upgraded American carrier and a soon-to-be Japanese carrier operated together in the South China Sea. Although that's no place to be early in a war with China.
Slavery: "U.N. human rights experts on Friday called on Mali to crack down on
hereditary slavery after a series of violent attacks against people born
into servitude. ... Descent-based slavery is also practiced in Mali's neighbours Senegal,
Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania, which became the last country in the
world to abolish slavery in 1981." Maybe we should be less focused on a 1619 Project and more focused on a 2021 Project.
I assume Russia pushes Belarus to be authoritarian and provocative to make it harder for the West to align with Belarus to resist Russian pressure to submit to Russia: "Belarus has forced the closure of the U.S. Embassy’s Public Diplomacy and USAID offices in a move that comes amid the tensions with the U.S. and its allies over Belarusian authorities' crackdown on protests."
I almost didn't post anything from the Week in Pictures. But, LOL:
Let's see if the military is capable of defining political "extremism" that applies to all ideologies.
Logistics: "The Chinese military is thinking about how to stealthily destroy a naval
port to cripple an adversary's capabilities and hinder its ability to
fight, a People's Liberation Army Navy officer explained to state media
after a recent explosive test that was reportedly meant to simulate an
attack on a port." A port? I'd block the Panama Canal to really hinder America's ability to reinforce the western Pacific when China goes for Taiwan. And pull a "oops" maneuver in the Suez Canal, too, while they're at it.
Oh? "The U.S. Navy finally is deploying its controversial, near-shore Littoral Combat Ships in meaningful numbers where it matters—in the crowded, contested waters of the western Pacific Ocean. And it’s giving the deployed ships some of the weapons they would need actually to fight and survive in a clash with the Chinese fleet." This has long been the plan. The LCS is fine for peacetime presence. They are dead meat the moment China initiates war. But I'd rather lose those ships than destroyers or big deck ships as a tripwire.
The Islamist nutballs have demands: "Pakistan's interior minister said on Tuesday the government was ready to consider the demands of a banned Islamist group that has threatened to march on the capital Islamabad, but could not accept their call for the French ambassador to be expelled." The Pakistanis shouldn't delude themselves. The jihadis want to expel the Pakistani government.
To be fair, none of the targets are probably on the "off limits" list Biden gave Putin: "Russia’s premier intelligence agency has launched another campaign to pierce thousands of U.S. government, corporate and think-tank computer networks[.] " What is not forbidden is allowed, right?
Interesting: "Turkey and South Korea have signed a letter of intent by which two Korean companies will supply engines and transmission mechanisms for the Altay, Turkey’s indigenous tank in the making." I bet Ukraine ends up getting the tank.
Last week I mentioned that someone attacked an American base in Syria. Well thank goodness the Iranians weren't parked nearby with anti-aircraft weapons as the plane took off: "Roughly 200 U.S. troops were evacuated by C-130 transport planes prior to the attack last week, while about two dozen remained at the small base, one military official told Fox News."
In pre-social media days you could believe something stupidly wrong for years without anyone knowing. Tip to Insanity Wrap.
I wouldn't write off America at all--although as Afghanistan shows, we have leadership that could eff it up--but this is correct: "China is definitely on the rise. But don't write off American dominance just yet." Don't panic. Work the problem. China is not "destined" to dominate the world.
"It's not one of my better moves." But it was a statement for a completely insane goal. So he's got that going for him. Tip to Treacher.
Well that sounds significant: "In one of nature's unexpected bounties, a harmless food-grade solvent has been used to extract highly sought rare-earth metals from coal ash, reducing the amount of ash without damaging the environment and at the same time increasing an important national resource." Tip to Instapundit.
The media is deeply offended that people are using a swear word against the president?? Tip to Instapundit.
Hmm. Perhaps I will hold off on that booster decision. I'm certainly set in not switching vaccines.
Yet Republicans couldn't buy that kind of friendly coverage at any price: "The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Reuters, and Politico have all published news-style pieces commissioned by the Chinese telecom giant [Huawei] to advance its interests, according to a Washington Free Beacon review."
The Australians experienced the joys of the NH-90: "The Australian Navy is buying six more American MH-60R ASW (anti-submarine warfare) helicopters to replace six Airbus MRH-90 helicopters currently used."
China stands up for the Taliban. I guess the Taliban won't be standing up for the Uighurs.
The European Union--except Germany--is unhappy with Russia's hand on the spigot of Europe's winter heating fuel. No worries. Windmills will save Europe from Russian energy blackmail.
But don't you dare call them "stranded" there: "Nearly 200 Americans who want to leave Afghanistan remain in the country nearly two months after the U.S. military’s evacuation mission ended at the Kabul airport, Pentagon officials told senators Tuesday."
So Biden didn't "end" the war in Afghanistan? "Terrorist groups within Afghanistan could strike international targets within six months if left unchecked, defense officials warned lawmakers on Tuesday." We had the terrorists checked. And then we didn't.
Well, good! "The U.S. State Department refrained from referring to Taiwan as a country in a statement to the United Nations requesting that Taiwan participate in the international governing body." Never let it be said that I can't commend the Biden administration.
While there may not be unanimous cheers in the region for the AUKUS deal right now, China's
military power is real right now while Australia's boats are in the
future. There will be sighs of relief when Australian SSNs are
patrolling the South China Sea.
Democracy dies in administration darkness. Is anybody really surprised?
Lying to justify government powers or too ignorant to set policy? Tip to The Morning Briefing.
American troops will remain in Germany: "The U.S. Army is here to stay in Germany, the service’s top civilian said this week during a stop in Munich that reinforced a growing sense that a proposal for big troop cutbacks in the country is all but dead." I guess we have to stay in case the Germans get all goose-steppy--as the Germans sometimes claim to excuse their weak military.
If it is forbidden to say Rachel Levine is a man, is it permissible to say Rachel Levine is the butt ugliest woman to ever exist since the camera was invented? I mean, surely something approaching truth has to be allowed. Right?
The beatings will continue until the private sector improves its ability to overcome stupid policies.
That's great, I guess. Now travel to an Islamic country with it. No? Islamophobe!
Huh? "As the country faces an unprecedented murder spike, President Joe Biden
is claiming that eliminating cash bail for violent criminals is critical
to promoting 'gender equity and equality.'" What does that even mean??
Are Democrats not embarrassed that criminals are apparently a natural constituency? I assume the next step is replacing cash bail for pre-trial release from jail with a donation to the Democratic National Committee.
Submarine collisions. Sometimes stuff just happens.
And yet somehow their "good friend" China--where the virus started--hasn't helped Russia cope? "The Russian capital on Thursday started a nonworking period intended to stem coronavirus infections as new daily cases and deaths from COVID-19 surged to all-time highs."
Vietnam is on the front line of Chinese land and sea threats so welcomes Australia's future SSNs. The author welcomes Japan's consensus on arming up in the face of China's threats, and wishes Taiwan would do the same.
Putin established he can take it away at any time. Will Europeans behave after that demonstration? "European gas prices dropped Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the country's major natural gas company to pump more gas into EU storages."
Oops: "China's largest class of warships—once thought to be wholly resistant to radar detection—are actually quite visible to radar scans after all." Tip to Instapundit.
Reflecting on the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the threat from Hezbollah to Israel: "The IDF should not depend too much on the IAF, yet another lesson from the 1973 war. Israeli ground forces have to be fit and ready to carry out a large-scale offensive deep inside a hostile country." I concur.
Separate and unequal--and likely even that will not last once world attention fades.
Unless the holistic health and fitness effort to reduce damage to soldiers includes lightening the load that infantry are expected to carry around, the problem won't be solved.
America would have less of a supply chain problem if more of the links were made in America. Tip to Instapundit.
Screw that. I'm of the opinion that since Pakistan drove America from Afghanistan by supporting the Taliban, America has no obligation to stabilize the region for the benefit of Pakistan. Let Pakistan enjoy their victory and let China pay for stability. We simply can't afford to care more about other people than the leaders of those people or their neighbors.
You can call 200,000 men "special forces" but no force that large is special forces quality despite the statement that "they are believed to well trained and highly motivated." Once they were good, stealthy light infantry. Now they may just be crap with a good reputation. The mechanized offensive scenario described is by now a fantasy and North Korea needs to worry about South Korea pushing north of the DMZ.
Moqtada al-Sadr is a good thing now? "His anti-U.S. credentials are not in doubt; Sadr earned notoriety in the
years after the U.S. invasion for unleashing sectarian militias under
his control against U.S. troops. Yet it’s the U.S. government that
perhaps should be most pleased by Sadr’s new status as a national
leader." I fear we will, as I've long warned, rue the day we didn't kill that three-time insurrectionist and one-time(?) ally of Iran. A lot of American blood is on Sadr's hands. I don't think he's changed his ways enough to wash that away.
Oh, I just noticed that my Military Review Taiwan article is included in the MR "China Reader Special Edition". It may not make sense to send a corps to Taiwan depending on circumstances, but I want the Army in Asia to think beyond long-range fires to support the Navy. The Army should think about its core competency of large-scale combat operations outside of the Korean peninsula. At the very least, China will have to think about what we can do to them.
Sure (via Instapundit): "Woke media dubbed Kyrsten Sinema a ‘bisexual icon’ — until she voted against progressives[.]" Every member of any non-white male group is considered "authentic" only as long as that member is loyal to whoever dominates the Democratic Party. Bisexuals can only be the Bisexual Auxiliary of the Democratic Party if they don't want to be attacked and shunned.
I know it is almost required to sagely note that America didn't fight a twenty-year was in Afghanistan, but fought 20 1-year wars. Troops rotated home. I don't buy this as the reason for losing the war. Note that nobody says our troops should have been sent for the duration. Or even for their full term of enlistment. Our NCOs and officers returned at higher levels of command. We certainly won on the battlefields of Iraq by 2009 using 9-15-month tours. I would really love to see an analysis of Taliban fighters. Have they been in the fight 20 years? Or did the Taliban recruit for spring offensives year after year with new foot soldiers?
India tested a 3,000+ mile-range nuclear-capable missile. But nukes don't deter China from initiating lethal hand-to-hand combat over mere yards of barren territory on the Tibet border.
Comrades! I introduce Shockworker Linda from Peoria! Sadly, she will be discovered to be a hoarder and wrecker:
"Iran clearly wants a nuclear deal. Does Biden?" Well, Iran knows a deal is a shield to go nuclear and not an obstacle. Biden wants to give Iran all the things that put together could be called a "deal." But Biden doesn't want a document that he can be held responsible for.
China is going to be "face global pressure" at the COP26 global warming summit in Scotland? Really? Is Greta Thunberg going to scowl at them harder if they keep using coal? China will neither face nor feel any actual pressure at all from the scolds jetting into Glasgow.
North Korea. Where there is no floor for lowered expectations.
I should mention that I read that the claim that some Canadian government office banned using "Let's go, Brandon" didn't actually happen. I believe I linked to an article last week on that claim. My bad.
China screws the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Faking air defenses until they can make air defenses?
I think Bernard-Henri Levy is right: "'We did not fail. You Americans ... did not fail. We won this war,' said BHL. 'There was a real democratic aspiration in Afghanistan, which we just encouraged, helped. We, just by our presence, we dissuaded the Taliban too, for years, 'til now. Until this dark day of August 15.'" We made Afghanistan a better place in addition to creating a military that bled every day while killing jihadis. Until we screwed the pooch. BHL is also right that the war isn't over. Will we circle back to help the enemies of the Taliban?
I don't assume we'd fight Russia and China separately. I assume China will call the shots on targets and timing without consulting Russia. I assume Russia will have to follow along as best they can. And I assume the only possible support between the two is for Russia to sortie their Pacific Fleet in a futile effort to help China. And I assume the South Koreans and Japanese will sink the Russian surface fleet in short order. And I think that Russian-Chinese naval maneuvers are a way to get a close look at Russia's fleet capabilities for reasons Russia will not welcome.
Denying that Critical Race Theory isn't being taught to kids is narrowly true but also a lie. CRT isn't being taught to kids. But the conclusions from CRT that white people and our entire society are racist while all minorities (except for Asians when that is convenient to the CRT racists) are forever victims are absolutely being taught to kids.
Yes. Even if the Navy thinks that nothing can be repaired before a war ends, we'd need to quickly rebuild from war losses to prepare for the next fight: "Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee’s readiness panel, told joint service officials Thursday that if shipyards and repair depots are as critical to readiness as officials say, then the services should better prioritize them in their budgets." Yet perhaps the Navy thinks more anti-ship missiles for the ships and planes we already have are more important than the long run.
A war over Taiwan could come soon. Could be. But I think China has had the ability to invade Taiwan for a long time--if it is willing to risk going to war. For those who reject that, what capabilities in the next 5 or 20 years--whatever the time frame is--will China gain that gives them a new capacity to invade?
Intelligence agencies didn't foresee the Afghanistan collapse: "Leading U.S. intelligence agencies failed to predict the rapid Taliban takeover of Afghanistan prior to the final withdrawal of American troops[.]" Much earlier I predicted a danger zone when morale could collapse. As time went on and only bad news came out of Afghanistan--especially our failure to help Afghanistan get through that danger zone--I began to worry that the end was near. And despite news that gave me hope we were still helping the Afghan security forces, we were not.
More cowbell? I don't know, but it sure seems like a transition to unreliable renewable energy made Europe more vulnerable to Russian energy blackmail.
I find it hard to believe that the Biden administration would really dole out half a million dollars or more to illegal aliens whose families were separated--to protect children from people who could merely be posing as parents, remember--after illegally crossing into America. And only during the Trump administration. Never mind that the government separates American parents from their children every day for a variety of reasons. But perhaps I suffer from a lack of imagination. Would the American people stand for such a huge transfer of money from American taxpayers to illegal immigrants? It's bad enough that lawbreakers aren't stopped or punished. Now Democrats will reward lawbreakers? And what does this say to legal immigrants who wait in line and follow our laws to get here? Is everybody a sucker except lawbreakers? Let's go Brandon, and the horse he rode in on. OMG, it appears to be true. Tar. Feathers.
Army laser development. Tip to Instapundit.
Well let's hope that the effects of leaving Iraq in 2011 is a lesson not to leave Iraq again: "The US will not leave Iraq as it did in Afghanistan, a top official from Washington said on Wednesday, amid fears that an American withdrawal would bring chaos to the country." But then, I thought the lesson of 2011 would have warned us not to abandon Afghanistan.
If Democrats didn't fabricate racists, would there be any racists in America? It turns out that (via Instapundit) the "Republican" version of Democrats, the "Lincoln" Project, took "credit" for it.
If you are expecting to get a serving of fruit, let alone strawberries, in your frosted strawberry pop tart, you are a moron and don't really "grok" pop tarts.
The 26th Cult of Prius (COP26) meets in Glasgow, Scotland (tip to Instapundit) to impoverish blue collar people. It's just a religious revival meeting. Now go and emit no more.
There's a reason the public doesn't trust the media (via Instapundit):
These are the droids that are looking for you.
It's parody ... so far. Via Instapundit.
I'm sure the AUKUS submarine announcement was rushed to erase the taste of the Afghanistan skedaddle debacle: "Biden admitted that the announcement of the deal, which angered the French, was 'clumsy,' and said France is an 'extremely valued partner.'"
Can Japan forge a status quo based on trade relations that satisfies China, Taiwan, and America in a way that secures Japan? Amusingly, Russia is not mentioned once in the article.
Outsourcing American tax rates to foreign countries.
Oh, that federal family separation payment plan for illegal immigrants is based on leftist standard operating procedure. Leftists sue for a leftist cause and a friendly leftist administration doesn't defend against the suit. Instead, the friendly leftist government capitulates to the lawsuit. Thus doing what it wants without even an executive order, let alone a law passed by Congress and signed into law. It is shameful. For God's sake, what is their major malfunction?
Apparently, a lot of jokes that end with the reply, "Is the Pope Catholic?" will need to be reversed: "President Joe Biden received Communion at St. Patrick’s Church during Saturday Vigil Mass, a day after saying Pope Francis told him he should continue to partake in the sacrament, despite the opposition of some conservatives in the U.S. upset with his position on abortion." Not that I'd be considered a good practicing Catholic by doctrine. But at least I don't insist the Church bend to my failures. But apparently I'm all good.
Was our secretary of state's conversation with China's foreign minister about Taiwan "candid, constructive and productive" because he warned China away or because he assured China we'd stay out of the way?
When you read that an American military service is "weak", check the definitions section: "Since 2015, the Heritage Foundation has compiled an annual Index of Military Strength assessing each of the armed service’s ability to execute its warfighting mission." I'm not saying this measuring stick is wrong. In many ways it is very appropriate. But it is measuring the military not for quality and ability to fight, but in how well it can achieve stated national objectives against likely enemies. Which can be dangerous because if objectives are dramatically reduced, overnight every service becomes "strong".
Defending terrorists. Via Instapundit.
If I may be so bold, demonizing your police and honoring left-wing street violence would probably explain almost all of this: "Portland's record-setting year for murder fuels search for answers[.]" How do you fight gangs with that foundation? The police will eventually leave, thus giving Portland voters what they've long voted for. I have difficulty feeling sorry for those living in this city. I used to. But they've stubbornly stayed the course. Enjoy your paradise on Earth.
Why should Ukraine need to defend using a drone against enemies who occupy their territory and repeatedly kill Ukrainian soldiers? "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has defended the use of a Turkish-supplied armed drone to strike Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, saying the military acted in self-defense and did not violate any agreements." Bonus for using a Turkish drone to piss off Putin more.
I say we keep the money and tell the Taliban it is a down payment for all the weapons we left them: "Afghanistan's Taliban government is pressing for the release of billions of dollars of central bank reserves as the drought-stricken nation faces a cash crunch, mass starvation and a new migration crisis. " And send the Taliban a bill for the rest or provide them with a mailing label to return them.
Wait. What? Are they saying you should basically get a J & J shot every two months? "Meanwhile, all adults age 18 and older given the Johnson & Johnson
vaccine should get a booster shot at least two months after their first
dose." Or is this just saying J & J should be a two-shot sequence?
