You could have knocked me over with a feather when I read this: “In Qatar’s capital, Doha, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Taliban political leaders who demanded an end to intensifying U.S. airstrikes aimed at slowing the fast-moving push by Taliban forces to gain territory, occupy provincial capitals and hold key roadways.”
Khalilzad is one of those preposterous people who use their foreign birth, he was born in Tabul, as a way to wheedle themselves into the good graces of our leaders who lean upon them for direction assuming they are from that country so that gives them a step up over others born in America.
Mike Pompeo appointed Khalilzad as the United State’s special envoy to Afghanistan for the purpose of finding a peaceful solution to that country’s troubles. That he did. The US would all but surrender. On February 29, 2020, he was sitting next to a Taliban leader agreeing we would withdraw our troops by May 2021 provided the Taliban would negotiate a peaceful settlement with the Afghan government.
It showed that Khalilzad was amazingly gullible to believe the Taliban would abide by any agreement yet he was our expert. Immediately the Taliban violated the agreement by launching attacks. Khalilzad overlooked them. Trump wanted to exit Afghanistan so it was best to stick to our agreement while ignoring the Taliban breaches.
Biden came along. Biden ignored the breaches. He insisted we were bound to the agreement Trump signed although he moved the date four months further. Think of it this way – we enter into an armistice with the enemy to stop fighting. We put down out arms, they keep on fighting. Do we just sit there and get mowed down?
Khalilzad was in America a couple of weeks ago he said he was flying back to Doha to insist the Taliban keep its word which it hadn’t done for a year. Obviously since it was seeing success on the ground even thinking that they would consider that is the height of foolishness. His term as special envoy has produced one disaster after another so that we have reached the point where the Taliban is acting toward the US as if it is a craven power subject to its demands.
That Khalilzad sat there and listened to that demand without telling them to get lost shows how low the US has fallen. It shows that the Taliban took the measure of Khalilzad early on, violated every agreement they made knowing he and his country did not have the backbone to stand up to them.
Now look at Biden. Willy-nilly he pulls out our troops and now he’s putting 5,000 back in. They are there to evacuate our 1,400 embassy workers and maybe the 2,600 others working there. He issued a warning to the Taliban that if any Americans were injured he’ll really get tough.
I’m sure it had a good laugh over that one. It may let the fleeing Americans go without causing trouble but it is not because it fears us, it just will make its takeover easier. Then again it might want to give us some more crow to eat.
It is Saigon all over again but even worse. There the enemy had invaded the city; in Kabul it hasn’t but we act as if it did. We invaded Afghanistan, drove out the Taliban, gave Afghans hope, pulled the rug out under the Afghans, opened the door for the Taliban takeover.
Reading about FDR’s WWII actions it’s a wonder we ever won that war. Here the same mistakes have been made. Little Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden, all the generals and military planners, the State Department experts, all share the blame.
Do you remember why we invaded in the first place? It was to drive Al Qaeda out after the Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden and others. A byproduct of that was destroying the Taliban. After that was done we lingered on and watched for years as the Afghan leadership wallowed in corruption abetted by the endless crates of money we sent. We did nothing about it – oh, Khalilzad did ask them not to be corrupt as if asking them to do it amounted to anything. We feared forcing them to stop. Why? What’s wrong with us?
Now we are being told what to do by the Taliban. I don’t know if we can sink any lower. Where’s our pride?
Matt
Should we exhale?
https://theintercept.com/2021/08/20/mike-waltz-afghanistan/
CONGRESSMAN SEEKING TO RELAUNCH AFGHAN WAR MADE MILLIONS IN DEFENSE CONTRACTING
Florida Republican Michael Waltz made up to $25 million from the sale of Metis Solutions, a defense contractor with a spotty record training Afghan security forces.
Lee Fang
August 20 2021, 10:19 a.m.
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/02/20/deep-state-and-fbi-federal-blackmail-investigation/
Deep State and the FBI – Federal Blackmail Investigation
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_fbi_americas_secret_police
John Whitehead’s Commentary
The FBI: America’s Secret Police
By John W. Whitehead
Wa-llahi!
History may not repeat itself, but, it sure does rhyme.
–Mark Twain–
Google the 1842 Anglo-Indian invasion of Afghanistan. The retreating/evacuating Brits loss their entire invading force ten thousand strong. It was a massacre 10x the size of Custer’s blunder at the Little Big Horn. Conditions on the ground in1842 eerily adumbrate those in 2021, In1842 the Afghan leaders entangled the Brits in lengthy negotiations regarding their proposed retreat back to India. Everyday the Brits met their adversaries for talk, more Afghan tribesmen would arrive in Kabul. Soon the whole city was surrounded, When the retreat to Jalalabad began the Brits were heavily outnumbered. The Anglo-Indian colonial army found itself marching through the Hindu Kush, an area of steep passes and deep canyons. As the Anglo Indian army marched through the deepest of the canyons, the afghans attacked, Only one war weary brit survived. The rest of the force had bee killed down to the last man
Some ARVN fought, but, many did not. The GVN Marines were pretty tough, and, fought well. Their SF guys were bullshit political operators who were more interested in coups than fighting the NVA. Like the Afghan generals, ARVN leaders were into cutting deals with the opposition. That’s why everything caved in ’75.
wa-llahi! Wake up. Afghanistan is shaping up to be a massive hostage situation. The military situation in Kabul is bad going to worse. The USA faces the possibility of a disaster much like the French debacle at Dien Bien Phu. There are still thousands of civilian contractors, and, AID people, who haven’t been able to make it to Kabul. Kabul, itself is a trap. The Taliban control the heights that ring the city. Once they start shelling the airfield, the evacuation is over. Don’t sweat the humiliation. Think about survival. The eschatology of Taliban’s version of Islam envisions a climactic battle between the forces of good and evil that will prepare the ground for the Yam al-Qiyamat, the end of days.
All the Afghan refugees must be well vetted before allowing them into the States. It would be easy to slip a team(s) of terrorists into the crowds packing into the departing aircraft we watch on TV. Dangerous times are here.
Hutch
https://popularresistance.org/how-many-politicians-is-the-nsa-cia-fbi-blackmailing/
HOW MANY POLITICIANS IS THE NSA, CIA & FBI BLACKMAILING?
https://theintercept.com/2021/08/19/afghanistan-taliban-defense-industry-media/
CABLE NEWS MILITARY EXPERTS ARE ON THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY DOLE
Many former military and public officials appearing in the news have more than a patriotic interest in a continued occupation.
Ryan Grim, Sara Sirota, Lee Fang, Rose Adams
https://bangordailynews.com/2021/08/20/news/new-england/retired-state-police-captain-faces-child-porn-charges/
Mass state police captain faces child porn charges
So, what was it all about?
Nation-building. The “prole feed” version of why we were in Afghanistan for TWENTY YEARS!!!! was (1) to fight terrorism, (2) improve women’s education and opportunities, and (3) create a nice cozy environment for Afghan’s LGBTQ+ population.
In reality, having U.S. bases in Afghanistan was a geopolitical move against Iran, either to serve Saudi Arabia, Israel, or the petrodollar and probably all three. With the pull-out from Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran looks a little less surrounded than it was.
Imami Shia Iran is the religious enemy of the Deobandi Sunni Taliban. Iran tries to stick-up for the Hazara minority in Afghanistan. The Hazara are Shia. Taliban considers them no better than slaves, and, regularly, persecutes them. There’s no love lost between the Islamic Republic, and, the Emirate of Afghanistan. The Iranians hate Taliban, so bad, they assisted the US invasion of Afghanistan after 911.
You seem to forget that the South Vietnamese fought bravely for a significant period of time. The US had plenty of time to do what it had to do–but it didn’t. Also you should remark on the remarkable job that was done in Saigon by the craziest guys in VietNam—helicopter pilots! Their incredible bravery and fortitude saved thousands.
I don’t think there was any way of gracefully exiting this long, messy war. I’m glad we’re finally going, and I give Biden credit for that. The war was mostly the product of a bipartisan national security establishment that needs war, or the threat of war, to stay in business. For a long time, communism provided this industry with jobs, jobs, jobs. After communism collapsed, terrorism came to the fore. And if all terrorist groups magically disappeared, these guys would probably be talking about UFOs and the imminent danger of an invasion from outer space. I haven’t forgotten about China, which is on the industry radar, even though it doesn’t have much of a nuclear arsenal in comparison to the US. The build-up here is that the Chinese are going to gobble up Taiwan. Needless to say, we have to stop them. Like every industry fantasy, it has a happy ending. Spend enough on super-sized aircraft carriers and other weapons, and the Chinese will skulk away. And if things go wrong? Well, in that case, you didn’t spend enough or stay long enough.
Dan
Raisin D Etre for Vietnam was oil deposits in
South China Sea ….
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timdaiss/2016/05/22/why-the-south-china-sea-has-more-oil-than-you-think/?sh=5faed98edd8f
Why The South China Sea Has More Oil Than You Think
In other high octane cocktails…
https://gizmodo.com/secret-fbi-watchlist-leaks-online-and-boy-do-the-feds-1847500747
Secret FBI Watchlist Leaks Online, and Boy Do the Feds Think a Lot of People Are Terrorists
The watchlist, which included 1.9 million records, was left exposed online for three weeks, according to the researcher who found it.
ByShoshana Wodinsky
Also see
https://www.rt.com/usa/532343-white-house-taliban-weapons-sullivan/
White House admits ‘FAIR AMOUNT’ of US weapons fell into Taliban hands
17 Aug, 2021 20:03
Matt
We all sit on the edge of a mystery. We have only known this life, so dying scares us—and we are all dying. But what if dying were perfectly safe? What would it look like if you could approach dying with curiosity and love, in service of other beings? What if dying were the ultimate spiritual practice? …
https://www.ramdass.org/walking-each-other-home/
In other Clam Shack Aphorisms ….
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/08/15/metro/101-years-old-maine-lobsterwoman-still-works-water/
It’s not hard work for me’: At 101 years old, this Maine lobsterwoman still works the water
By Brian MacQuarrie Globe Staff,Updated August 15, 2021, 4:47 p.m.
Also see
https://whistleblowersblog.org/whistleblower-of-the-week/natalie-mayflower-sours-edwards/
Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards
FinCEN Whistleblower
byJane Turner August 4, 2021 in Whistleblower of the Week