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credit: Chris Muir, Day By Day Cartoon

“When you’re lying wounded on Afghanistan’s plains,

and the women come out to cut up what remains,

just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,

and go to your God like a soldier.”

Rudyard Kipling

Tomorrow: analysis of Biden’s Afghanistan teleprompter reading.

Today: an overview of a man-made debacle that is far, far from over.

credit: google maps

Horrifying fact to know and tell: The airport in Kabul is surrounded by the city—easy for the Taliban to surround and control—and has a single runway.  The Taliban has surrounded the airport.  They control all access, and up to 40,000 Americans are cut off behind enemy lines, and so are innumerable nationals from allied countries.  Our government has no idea how many Americans are actually there, and they’re telling them not to call, but to go to a website to “register” for permission to be evacuated and/or telling them to go to the airport(?!).  Better yet, the government has said they will not give Americans priority in evacuation, and can’t guarantee their safety if they try to make it to the airport.  America and Americans first?  Not in Biden’s America.

credit: google maps

Bagram Air Base, which was everything Kabul’s airport is not—defensible–was evacuated and abandoned, and as throughout the country, all manner of military equipment including armored vehicles, fixed and rotary winged aircraft, munitions and weapons, was left behind.  The Taliban own it, all of it.

I was an enlisted man in the USAF during the cold war, not a field grade officer, not a general.  I run this scruffy little blog, but even I know when withdrawing from a hostile country, you first evacuate all American civilians and allies, then all native civilians and others, allies you promised to protect.  Who could possibly want another hostage crisis?  Then you fly out all our military equipment, everything that could in any way help our enemies, and if you can’t fly it out, you utterly destroy it.  You destroy all our facilities to deny them to the enemy.  Only then do you evacuate every American service member, maintaining sufficient air cover to ensure their safe evacuation.  And you don’t do it all at once.

Consider this from Steven Hayward at Powerline:

Never mind the ‘finding’ that the Taliban would take 90 days to reach Kabul. How about the reassurances that we had trained an Afghan army of 300,000 (and provided them with lots of materiel that is now in the hands of the Taliban)? Doesn’t inspire much confidence that our military knows how to train a foreign army at all. Perhaps our military should be excused to some extent, as the entire ‘training’ program was politically driven by our genius foreign policy establishment, people like the Agency for International Development and similar goo-goo entities. Remember the huge federal budget last year that included $10 million in the State Department budget for ‘gender programs’ in Pakistan? This is the kind of establishment that thinks what we need is a now-abandoned $700 million embassy in Kabul (and an even more expensive embassy in Baghdad), with a staff of 5,000.

Did you, gentle readers, have the slightest idea we had an embassy with a staff of 5000—the population of many American towns—in Kabul?  Did you know we spent that much money to build it?  Oh, and I’m sure the Ambassador escaped with this flag too—thank goodness!

Afghanistan is an Islamic country.  They do not look kindly on the kinds of social priorities D/S/C lunatics think most important:

The average Afghani—not the Taliban—is not concerned about climate change, and absolutely not concerned about LGBTQWERTY/diversity/inclusion/racism issues, even before they had to worry about being murdered in the cruelest ways possible:

How can a government trying to destroy its own country, rejecting the Judeo-Christian tradition, rejecting western civilization, fight for it?

Afghans must have shook their heads in amazement at our preoccupation with the kinds of issues only people living in plenty have time to so much as consider.  They surely smiled, nodded, and thought us incredibly stupid, but had to play along if they wanted our money and support.  We spent more than a trillions dollars–that we know of.

Speaking of climate change, one other thing this former military cop would have done is withdraw in winter when no one fights in Afghanistan.  Biden, only in office about seven months, had three more years to do this right.  Yes, I know he’s not running the country or making decisions.  I’m certain our allies and enemies know this, and they’re no more afraid of the idiots actually pulling Biden’s strings than they are of Biden.  I also very much doubt Biden will finish his term in office.  But for convenience sake, I’ll continue to credit Biden with being in faux charge.

Remember this?

One of the most iconic images of the end of the Vietnam War was the helicopter on the roof of the Saigon embassy.  These are already iconic images of Biden’s debacle:

These are hundreds of Afghans, running alongsidethe taxiing C-17 with 640 people on board, desperately trying to hang on to the jet as it took off:

This too is already iconic:

In those circles are people falling to their deaths as they lost their grips on the wheel assemblies as they were being retracted.  I’m sure their last thoughts were gratitude for adults in charge of American LGBTQWERTY foreign policy at long last.  The parallels with Americans jumping from the burning twin towers in 9-11 are inescapable–and horrifying. More grownups:

Still more grownups:

The Biden administration defines “success” in Afghanistan, in part, because they now have lots of cell phones.  They’re not only grownups, they’re the best and brightest:

This is already iconic—and horribly, ironically, true:

Consider this from Mark Steyn:

America’s Afghan policy, from 1921 to 2021 – and, in defiance of the usual trajectory, first farce, then tragedy. A decade or so back, I quoted Bernard Lewis:

I was on a panel with the great Bernard Lewis a couple of years ago – actually six or seven years ago – and Bernard said that the danger here is that America risks being seen as harmless as an enemy, and treacherous as a friend… It’s a very dangerous lesson to teach the planet.

‘Harmless as an enemy, and treacherous as a friend’: a devastating indictment, and entirely correct. But it neglects the ultimate reality: the bungling superpower can inflict defeat only on itself.

Biden has accomplished so much destruction, domestically and internationally, in only seven months.  I guess that’s what grownups do, but our enemies are surely amazed at their good fortune, and our allies are dusting off contingency plans B and C.

Obviously not.  When the going gets tough, the tough go on vacation:

Tragically, Red Jen Psaki was back in the saddle on Tuesday (08-17-21).  Speaking of being on vacation, the man who got more votes (cough, cough) than any president in history by hiding in his basement, sent out this image to ensure Americans he was on the job:

Very encouraging.  And the iconic hits just keep on coming…

It wasn’t like Biden and his handlers didn’t know better:

Did you know, gentle readers, the current head of the Taliban was a high-value prisoner at Gitmo?  He was released, along with four other vicious terrorists, in 2014, swapped for—wait for it—Bowe Bergdahl by Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  Our military begged them not to let those monsters go.  Biden and Obama assured Americans those terrorists would never return to the fight.  And that was only the beginning:

I’m sure none of them will pick up American weapons conveniently left for them and return to terrorism.  The American legacy media, as always, is either attacking America, aiding our enemies, utterly clueless, or all three:

Friendly, smiling, yes.  The smile of the predator just before it devours the rabbit.  Notice the useful idiot reporter is not wearing usual American reporter clothing.  I wonder why?  Does she have any sense of the irony in that?

Gropin’ Joe Biden has, of course, blamed Donald Trump, who is responsible for everything.  Ken Timmerman at The New York Post provides some useful perspective:

As Trump recounted three weeks ago at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Phoenix, he bombed the Taliban to the negotiating table.

After warning Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada that he would ‘come back and hit you harder than any country has ever been hit’ if he welched on the deal, Trump made good on his threat and launched punishing airstrikes the first time the Taliban violated the agreement.

Since then, not a single U.S. soldier has died in combat in Afghanistan.

On The Hannity Program on 08-17-21, former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows confirmed that, as did Donald Trump himself.

Trump also maintained U.S. fighter jets and armed drones at Bagram airbase and used them to keep the Taliban in check. Biden ordered the midnight evacuation of the airbase on July 5 without even notifying the Afghan military. Not surprisingly, within hours the Taliban had looted the base and today our remaining troops have no U.S. air cover.

Any pilots shot down over Afghanistan also have no search and rescue assets, nor do we have any intelligence drones overhead or intelligence assets in country.  Capture by the Taliban means a brutal, lingering death, certainly filmed and distributed for propaganda purposes.  Breitbart reports on the Bidenite “human rights” moral imperative that, to put it mildly, has not aged well, and within only a few days:

While Afghanistan was falling to Taliban terrorists, the Biden White House prioritized the LGBT agenda in foreign policy, flying the rainbow flag above the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to mark Pride Month. [skip]

In February, the U.S. State Department issued a statement in response to a Biden memorandum that stated his administration would make the LGBT agenda a foreign policy priority:

‘Today, President Biden signed a Presidential Memorandum directing all U.S. government departments and agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons around the world.

The struggle to end violence, discrimination, criminalization, and stigma against LGBTQI+ persons is a global challenge that remains central to our commitment to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms for all individuals.  In the Biden-Harris administration, the United States will lead by the power of our example and pursue a policy to end violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics.  Today’s action by President Biden demonstrates the U.S. government’s firm commitment to advance this goal.

Under President Biden’s leadership, the United States will work with like-minded governments and strengthen civil society advocacy to fully support and advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.

Our international partners  can be assure d that advancing human rights for all individuals, with no exception or caveat, is a U.S. foreign policy priority,’ the statement concluded.

The Taliban will gleefully slaughter any gay, trans, feminist, etc. “activist” on which they can lay their grubby hands.  But hey, you’ve got to have priorities, and the Afghans have lots of cell phones.  Of course, they’ll soon have no one sufficiently advanced to maintain the networks or service the phones—they’ll all get slaughtered for helping Americans—but you have to have priorities.  I’m sure we’re all reassured by this:

Just like she’s had a key role in border policy, and energy policy, and… Is it truly possible to be that stupid and still be able to breath or walk without help?  She claims credit for, of all things, this?!  I find myself hoping Joe Biden stays in office for four years.  At Legal Insurrection, Fuzzy Slippers notes when you’ve lost Politico…

Meanwhile, even Politico is having trouble swallowing the Trump’s to blame line.

— TALKING POINT 4: This is all Trump’s fault.

‘We inherited a deal that was cut by our predecessor,’ a White House official told Playbook this morning. ‘It’s not finger-pointing; that’s just facts. … It’s not about blaming the Trump administration; it’s about what we inherited.’

‘We had to put in place an entire system to deal with this,’ Blinken said on ABC’s ‘This Week.’ ‘Unfortunately none of that work was done when we came in.’

There are a few problems with this. First, Biden is the one who decided to pull out U.S. forces by the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. That was his call, not Trump’s. Second, part of Biden’s appeal as a presidential candidate was his vast experience and foreign policy credentials. Third, this argument undercuts the other ones. You can’t say both that this is what you’d planned for, and that it’s also a catastrophe that isn’t what you’d planned on.

If this is Trump’s fault, that suggests that the situation is bad enough you’re trying to blame someone else for it; but if the situation is bad and this is also what you’d planned for, then that begs the question of whether the plan was good.

Glenn Greenwald agrees with Politico—likely a first:

America first?  Don’t be silly!

President Joe Biden is not planning to prioritize thousands of American citizens stranded in evacuations from Afghanistan, as the country falls similar to that of the Fall of Saigon in 1975, over Afghan nationals applying for visas to the United States.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed to Fox News on Sunday evening that the administration will not give priority evacuation to Americans in Afghanistan over Afghans applying for visas.

‘There will be a mix, not just American citizens, but perhaps some Afghan [Special Immigrant Visa] applicants as well. We’re going to focus on getting people out of the country, then sorting it out at the next stop. It’s not going to be just Americans first, then [Special Immigrant Visa] applicants.’

Have you noticed, gentle readers, we haven’t heard anything about the January 6th “bipartisan” hearings in the last few days? I wonder if D/S/Cs will drop that and go on offense to try to defend Biden over Afghanistan instead? Could they be that stupid?  This, from Breitbart, is classic:

Who or what will Joe Biden surrender to next?’ Trump asked. ‘Someone should ask him, if they can find him.’

Unexpectedly:

Report from Kabul.

Taliban fighters on Monday reportedly began collecting weapons from civilians in Kabul as the insurgent group cements its swift takeover of Afghanistan.

‘We understand people kept weapons for personal safety. They can now feel safe. We are not here to harm innocent civilians,’ a Taliban official told Reuters.

Reports from across the country indicate the Taliban are not only beating, torturing, raping and enslaving women and girls, but committing murder on a vast scale.  Somehow, I don’t think 7th century Islamist barbarians can be trusted.

ISIS did it too.

ISIS was telling everyone, ‘We’re all brothers,’  Abu Malik said. ‘They let people smoke and drink. At the checkpoints, they distributed presents to the kids. They ate with people, drank tea with people. They were very nice—they didn’t bother anyone. Then, a week or so after they arrived, they started confiscating weapons. They told us it didn’t matter if we’d been with the Awakening or the Army or the police—if we gave up our weapons, we’d be forgiven. Ten days later, they started taking people. Everything changed. They took my cousin. My brothers dug holes in the fields and hid. I was at my house when they came for me. It was afternoon. I saw two Hyundai Santa Fes pull up outside, and I ran out the back and jumped over the wall. That was the last time I saw my family.’

Guns were confiscated prior to the Armenian genocide in Turkey, prior to the Nazi reign in Germany, prior to Idi Amin’s reign of terror in Uganda, and on the list could go.

China and Russia are already wringing their hands and licking their collective chops, as PJ Media notes:

Should we have stayed?  We no longer have air basing in that region, which could easily become a crippling projection of power issue.  Our small presence, most important of which was our air power, kept the Taliban at bay, kept Afghanistan from becoming, once again, a terrorist training and planning haven, and produced not a single American death in 17 months after President Trump laid down the law to the Taliban.

Also, Afghanistan figures prominently in China’s plans for mineral exploitation, and expansion not only of trade, but of its military bases. The Chinese won’t give a rat’s ass for the plight of Afghan girls and women, and surely won’t be trying to get the Taliban to appreciate the glory of trans this or that.  By disarming the populace, the Taliban has saved China and Russia the trouble.  Chinese and Russian presence in Afghanistan will complicate any future attempts at striking terrorists there.  Oh, and Russia is already expanding its presence and exploitation of the largest drug producing nation on Earth.  The enemy of my enemy and all that.

There is one positive thing in all of this misery: Chinese and/or Russian enlisted men will think they’ve died and gone to military heaven when they find themselves in the enlisted quarters at the former Bagram Air Base.  How do you say: “Thanks Joe!” in Russian or Chinese?  Do you suppose the Chinese and/or Russians will be grateful they didn’t have to build such a facility?

China’s propaganda outlets are threatening “reunification” with Taiwan.  Show of hands please: does anyone think Biden will defend Taiwan, and if he tries, he’ll let our military actually fight?  Thought not.  Would a sunken US aircraft carrier be a bigger or smaller debacle than the fall of Afghanistan?

Finally, consider this from the invaluable Kurt Schlichter:


Not coming up; already in progress.  The Bidenites are begging the Taliban to let Americans go, and the Taliban is promising they will, but they’re beating and killing anyone trying to get past their checkpoints into Kabul’s airport.  Islamists are supposed to lie to infidels; it’s an essential religious duty.  Biden is going to pay billions upon billions to the Taliban to get Americans out in dribs and drabs, but unlike Barack Obama and Iran, he won’t be sending planes with pallets of cash, probably.  The Taliban might allow him to do it quietly—as long as he pays.  They’ve got up to 40 thousand Americans to sell and all the time in the world, or until a real adult once again occupies the White House, if such a thing is any longer possible.

Could Biden and his handlers be stupid enough to believe Islamist madmen would let something as valuable as American hostages slip through their fingers for free just because they’re nice and want to be members in good standing of the International Community?  Right.  Never mind.

If Biden and his handlers were actually trying to destroy America and western civilization, what would they be doing differently?