Opinionated Blogs (1,909)

"I think if we're going to be in charge and pushing conspiracy and pushing division and pushing lies,
then the Republican Party should not have the majority," ~ Adam Kinzinger

(Stated on 'State of the Union')

Finally, an honest Republican.
Nowadays, there's so few of them.
If only he can convince other Republican leaders, that honesty truly is the best policy.

"My military estimate ... is that the conditions are likely to develop of a civil war," General Mark Milley.

Too many role players (Al-Qaed, ISIS etc) want a piece of Afgan cake.
I agree with General Mark Milley.
Jmo.

WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - In the last call between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Afghanistan counterpart before the Taliban seized control of the country, the leaders discussed military aid, political strategy and messaging tactics, but neither Biden nor Ashraf Ghani appeared aware of or prepared for the immediate danger of the entire country falling to insurgents, a transcript reviewed by Reuters shows.

The men spoke for roughly 14 minutes on July 23. On August 15, Ghani fled the presidential palace, and the Taliban entered Kabul. Since then, tens of thousands of desperate Afghans have fled and 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghan civilians were killed in a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport during the frenetic U.S. military evacuation.

Reuters reviewed a transcript of the presidential phone call and has listened to the audio to authenticate the conversation. The materials were provided on condition of anonymity by a source who was not authorized to distribute it.

In the call, Biden offered aid if Ghani could publicly project he had a plan to control the spiraling situation in Afghanistan. “We will continue to provide close air support, if we know what the plan is,” Biden said. Days before the call, the U.S. carried out air strikes to support Afghan security forces, a move the Taliban said was in violation of the Doha peace agreement.

The U.S. president also advised Ghani to get buy-in from powerful Afghans for a military strategy going forward, and then to put a “warrior” in charge of the effort, a reference to Defense Minister General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.

Biden lauded the Afghan armed forces, which were trained and funded by the U.S. government. “You clearly have the best military,” he told Ghani. “You have 300,000 well-armed forces versus 70-80,000 and they’re clearly capable of fighting well.” Days later, the Afghan military started folding across provincial capitals in the country with little fight against the Taliban.

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Nearly 90 retired U.S. generals and admirals penned an open letter asking Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley to resign from their positions following their “negligence in performing their duties primarily involving events surrounding the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

“As principal military advisors to the CINC /President, the SECDEF and CJCS should have recommended against this dangerous withdrawal in the strongest possible terms,” the letter states. “If they did not do everything within their authority to stop the hasty withdrawal, they should resign. Conversely, if they did do everything within their ability to persuade the CINC/President to not hastily exit the country without ensuring the safety of our citizens and Afghans loyal to America, then they should have resigned in protest as a matter of conscience and public statement.”

This “hasty retreat,” the letter continues, not only left thousands of vulnerable Americans and Afghan allies stranded at the hands of the Taliban but also contributed to the “catastrophic” loss of “billions of dollars in advanced military equipment and supplies falling into the hands of our enemies.”

“The consequences of this disaster are enormous and will reverberate for decades beginning with the safety of Americans and Afghans who are unable to move safely to evacuation points; therefore, being de facto hostages of the Taliban at this time. The death and torture of Afghans has already begun and will result in a human tragedy of major proportions,” the letter says. “The damage to the reputation of the United States is indescribable. We are now seen, and will be seen for many years, as an unreliable partner in any multinational agreement or operation. Trust in the United States is irreparably damaged.”

This damaged trust, the retired generals and admirals argue, gives confidence to U.S. enemies who “are emboldened to move against America due to the weakness displayed in Afghanistan.”

“China benefits the most followed by Russia, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea and others. Terrorists around the world are emboldened and able to pass freely into our country through our open border with Mexico,” the letter states.

The letter also points out how military leadership’s focus on “wokeness” is hurting the viability of U.S. troops and the military as an institution.

“In interviews, congressional testimony, and public statements it has become clear that top leaders in our military are placing mandatory emphasis on PC ‘wokeness’ related training which is extremely divisive and harmful to unit cohesion, readiness, and war fighting capability,” the letter says. “Our military exists to fight and win our Nation’s wars and that must be the sole focus of our top military leaders.”

“For these reasons we call on the SECDEF Austin and the CJCS General Milley to resign,” it concludes. “A fundamental principle in the military is holding those in charge responsible and accountable for their actions or inactions. There must be accountability at all levels for this tragic and avoidable debacle.”

Over the last week, multiple GOP lawmakers called on President Joe Biden to resign for “dereliction of duty that has left Americans dead at the hands of terrorists.”

Sky News Australia:

Joe Biden's presidency is finished and it can't survive the fallout over his administration's "messy" withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to Curtin University Professor Joe Siracusa.

Mr Siracusa said Joe Biden had an opportunity to withdraw from Afghanistan as "gracefully as he could" but it turned out to be quite "messy".

"And now he's angered 60 per cent of the American people for not doing it properly, Mr Siracusa told Sky News Australia.

"At the end of all this is that I think Biden has lost his credibility and I think the Biden presidency is finished – he can't survive this."

Hello to all..

Here in this Blog , I will share some news , from time to time ... That could be about anything from anywhere ... Just what I will feel to share with you all , I will post here ...

You all , don't really have to like them all or agree with my point of view about them... Just take a look and if you find something positive to draw from them , that is something I would like to look forward about...

As I would like to keep the Blog strictly to the point , so the 'Comment Section' will be Off here...
I would like to apologise for this inconvenience in advance...

Wishing you all to have a great time...

In the U.S. Armed Forces, we don’t leave anyone behind. It’s one of the basic pillars of what the Army calls the Warrior Ethos: “I will never leave a fallen comrade.”




Perhaps our President should read this too.


That being said this is the story of 2 brave American soldiers who gave their lives to save people left behind.

MSG Gordon and MSG Shughart: The real heroes of the Battle of Mogadishu

The story of courage and self-sacrifice is best portrayed in the heroic story of MSG Gordon and SFC Shughart. Two Delta snipers who fought and died in the Battle of Mogadishu. For their acts, they were awarded the highest military decoration Medal of Honor, for the first time after the Vietnam War.

The Master Sergeant Gary Ivan Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randall David Shughart, both members of the 1st SFOD-D were part of the Task Force engaged in Operation Gothic Serpent (later known as Battle of Mogadishu) during the US intervention in Somalia on October 3, 1993.

During the battle, they were tasked to provide sniper support from the air, but the things went awfully wrong after two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down. At one point, MSG Gordon and SFC Shughart requested permission to land near the crash site of the second helicopter and to defend the crash site and four critically wounded helicopter crew members. They did that, despite the fact that large numbers of armed Somali militia were converging the area.

On the first call, mission commanders denied their request to go there and protect the site of the downed helicopter until reinforcements arrive. The Mission commander said that the situation was already too dangerous for the Delta snipers to effectively protect the Blackhawk crew from the ground… But, they insisted!

Black Hawk Down

At the time, MSG Gordon was Sniper Team Leader during a joint-force assault mission to apprehend key advisers to Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and warlord himself if possible. The first phase of the assault went good, but shortly after an initial phase, one of the Army’s Black Hawk helicopters providing insertion and air support to the assault team, was shot down and crashed in the downtown at the hostile controlled area. Helicopter with call sign Super 61 (Super Six One).

A CSRT (Combat Search and Rescue team) was dispatched to the first crash site to secure it and a short time later, another Black Hawk, Super 64 (Super Six Four) was shot down as well. Available Ranger forces on the ground were not able to assist the downed helicopter crew of the second crash site as they were already engaged in heavy combat with Somali’s militia and making their way to the first crash site.

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Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., ripped House Democrats Wednesday for voting down a GOP bill aimed at holding the Biden administration accountable for U.S. evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, telling "America's Newsroom" that the party is prioritizing their "Bernie budget" over American lives.

REP. MIKE GALLAGHER: We had an opportunity yesterday to pass bipartisan legislation that would simply require the administration to report to us every day on how many Americans are still there and how many of our Afghan allies are seeking refuge and prohibit them from withdrawing on a fixed timeline until we get everybody out that wants to get out. And instead of supporting that, every Democrat voted against it. They did that because they didn't want to endanger the $5 trillion monstrosity, the Bernie budget, that Speaker Pelosi has been focused on forcing through Congress on a purely party-line vote. So they've revealed their priorities. Rather than saving Americans, they're focused on this absolute progressive blowout budget, which will be damaging to America. It's one of the most shameful things I've seen in my entire five years in Congress.

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Neville Chamberlain can rest easy. He is no longer the most shameful appeaser in modern history.

Joe Biden is the new champion of cowards.

Biden didn’t just blink in the face of terror. He is groveling before the Taliban, acknowledging their victory and laying the groundwork for their legitimacy as the rulers of Afghanistan.

Who could imagine any American president allowing murderous thugs to set the terms of our military’s surrender? But that’s what has been happening and it crystalized Tuesday.

The Taliban declared that no more Afghans should go to the Kabul airport, that those already there should leave and then they shut the main airport road. For all practical purposes, those words and actions ended the mercy mission of getting our ­allies out.

And Biden didn’t object. Not even a whimper, just silent ­acceptance.

Even more unforgivable, by agreeing to the Taliban’s demand that he stick to his own initial deadline of Aug. 31 for the withdrawal of all troops, Biden shows he is willing to strand thousands of Americans behind enemy lines.

Exactly how many Americans will be left behind is unknown, but most estimates put it in the thousands. They are now hos­tages to Biden’s fear and failure.

Their fate is uncertain, but the fate of the tens of thousands of abandoned Afghans who helped us and whom we promised to rescue is almost certain death.

This is extraordinarily callous and will ricochet around the world as evidence that America is no longer the home of the brave.

As is always the case with appeasement, our allies will be shaken and our adversaries emboldened.

The crisis at the airport has been building for more than a week, but Biden still had a chance to adapt by moving the deadline back so the evacuation could be completed.

But as word circulated that he would not extend the mission beyond next Tuesday, the White House said the president would make a statement.

First he was to speak at 2 p.m., then 3:30, then 4:30, delays that gave the impression policy changes were at least being debated.

It wasn’t to be. In fact, when he finally appeared shortly after 5 p.m., Biden first started talking about infrastructure and voting-law initiatives working their way through Congress.

The message was clear: I have bad news about Afghanistan and I want to turn attention away from it by feeding my left-wing base and promising the American people more free stuff.

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Numerous members of the British Parliament slammed President Joe Biden this week in response to the catastrophe the president created in Afghanistan with his disastrous pullout and handling of the situation.

The remarks came on Wednesday from members in the House of Lords, which is one of the two chambers in the British Parliament.

Members blamed Biden for the situation and shamed him for trying to cast blame on others, including the Afghan military. Many of the members said that America’s image was seriously damaged around the world and the West could suffer greatly in the years to come because nations may no longer trust the West to keep its promises.

The following are just some of the things that members of the British Parliament said about Biden:

Lord Dannatt: “First, notwithstanding his attempted explanation on Monday, the manner and timing of the Afghan collapse is the direct result of President Biden’s decision to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of 9/11. At a stroke, he has undermined the patient and painstaking work of the last five, 10, 15 years to build up governance in Afghanistan, develop its economy, transform its civil society and build up its security forces. The people had a glimpse of a better life, but that has been torn away. With US forces withdrawing, other NATO allies, including ourselves, had no option but to leave too, denying the Afghan national army the technical and training support that it needed and the moral support of friends who encouraged them to take the fight to the Taliban. Until a few weeks ago, the Taliban was being contained and may even have been persuaded over time that a military victory was impossible and a negotiated settlement was the better course. Those possibilities are now a closed chapter of history, an opportunity lost, and the world’s western superpower is looking enfeebled. The only glimmer of hope today is that the Taliban of 2021 is not the Taliban of 2001.”

Lord Howard of Lympne: “The responsibility for the decision to withdraw rests with President Biden. Up to now, many of us have been rather impressed with the president’s performance in his first few months in office, although that may in large part be due to the relief at the absence of his unlamented predecessor. But I am afraid that President Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan is, and will be seen by history as, a catastrophic mistake which may well prove to be the defining legacy of his presidency.”

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