Afghanistan
September 12, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Fox News gives us a glimpse of the deep thoughts of Biden NSC spokesman John Kirby in the long story headlined “Kirby: ‘No use in responding’ to a ‘handful of vets’ on Biden’s botched Afghan withdrawal.” Subhead: ‘Obviously no use in responding. A handful of vets indeed and all of one stripe,’ Kirby said in a ‘reply all’ email chain.” Fox News sought comment from Kirby on criticism of our
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September 2, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Senator Tom Cotton is the author of Sacred Duty: A Soldier’s Tour at Arlington National Cemetery (2019). I wrote about it here on its publication date. It is a moving account of Senator Cotton’s service in the Old Guard along with a history of the Army’s oldest infantry unit. Service in the Old Guard is generally by application and requires rigorous training. Few can meet its incredibly imposing standards. Acceptance
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September 1, 2024 — John Hinderaker
I wrote earlier today about the Democrats’ suicidal attempt–the Charge of the Light Brigade comes to mind–to turn President Trump’s appearance at Arlington National Cemetery, at the invitation of families who lost loved ones due to the Biden/Harris administration’s incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan, to their political advantage. It was one of the most craven political maneuvers of recent times, and it has backfired gloriously. This morning on Meet the Press
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September 1, 2024 — John Hinderaker
On Monday, President Trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery that honored the 13 service members who were killed by the Taliban at Kabul Airport in 2021. Trump was accompanied by a photographer and videographer, and the ceremony produced stirring images: Democrats criticized Trump’s visit, alleging that he was “politicizing” the cemetery, the deaths of the service members, or both. Initially such criticisms were muted, but the Democrats
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August 27, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
Three years after the Afghanistan debacle, John finds it “impossible to understand how the Biden administration could have organized the withdrawal so poorly.” The simplest explanation comes from Biden, who called the withdrawal an “extraordinary success,” so it was what the Delaware Democrat wanted to happen. That invites a look back at one of Biden’s key handlers. Tom Donilon worked in the Carter administration and served as campaign coordinator for
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August 26, 2024 — John Hinderaker
The Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was a fiasco in several ways. Thirteen American service members were killed during the chaotic scene at Kabul’s airport. Billions of dollars in American war materiel were left behind, which the Taliban now proudly parades like a Roman triumph. The chaotic scene in which thousands of Afghans tried desperately to flee, reminiscent of South Vietnam, will not be forgotten. It is impossible to understand
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August 26, 2024 — Scott Johnson
President Biden put his foreign policy perversity vividly on display for all the world to see in our exit from Afghanistan. It served Biden’s vanity while putting the world on notice of the new American unseriousness. It also reminded us of the apothegm Robert Gates’s 2014 memoir Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War: “I think [Joe Biden] has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security
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August 16, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
As Scott notes, the Taliban are partying down at the Bagram air base, showing off the military gear the Biden-Harris administration bequeathed them. This party wasn’t the first celebration of the Taliban’s triumph. We have won!!! All praises be to All-Mighty Allah! Congratulations on your victory over those who hate for the Laws of All-Mighty God to be supreme on the land. I pray to Allah that He helps you
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August 15, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The signature foreign policy “achievement” of the Biden/Harris administration must be our Afghanistan exit, pursued by a Taliban bear. Yesterday the Taliban celebrated the third anniversary of their victory with a party and parade at the Bagram Air Base featuring the materiel we left behind (video below). The AP reported on the festivities in a story datelined Kabul: Under blue skies and blazing sunshine at the Bagram base — once
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July 18, 2024 — Scott Johnson
President Biden claims that no American soldiers have died under his watch. Given his senility, perhaps he can be forgiven for forgetting those who died under his watch in our disgraceful exit from Afghanistan. Jerry Dunleavy wrote the book on the fiasco and tweeted out the devastating video featuring the Gold Star families from last evening’s program at the Republican National Convention. Biden’s senility does not excuse his conduct at
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August 8, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Rep. Darrell Issa convened a public forum for the Gold Star families of service members killed in the 2021 attack at the airport in Kabul to say their piece. Family members told their stories as they sought answers and accountability for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan during which 11 sons and two daughters were lost. The forum was held in the main council chamber of Escondido City Hall. President Biden
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July 5, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Last week the State Department released a heavily redacted public version of its After Action Review on Afghanistan. I noted the report here. It was released on the Friday afternoon preceding the long holiday weekend — it can’t have been good news for our senescent president. A reporter asked Biden about the report as he exited from his remarks condemning the Supreme Court for its decision holding him to have
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June 30, 2023 — Scott Johnson
The State Department has released a redacted version of its After Action Review on Afghanistan. It appears to be dated March 2022. As released to the public the report runs 23 pages. The classified original runs to 87 pages. The narrative portion of the report appears to have been withheld in its entirety. In best scandal management style, the report was released on the Friday afternoon preceding a long holiday
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May 9, 2023 — Scott Johnson
The floggings will continue until morale improves is an old workplace joke. As a joke it’s not up there with the bumper sticker advice to Support mental health or I’ll kill you, but it’s a classic. The latter seems to me to have taken on new life as the tactical wisdom of the left. The former comes to mind in connection with the legacy of Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. The
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April 24, 2023 — Scott Johnson
The Biden administration has conducted a comprehensive campaign of misinformation, disinformation, lying, and deception of the storied Gaslight variety. My personal favorite is the “success” of Biden’s open borders program, but you may have your own. The frequently derided White House press secretary KJP may be the perfect person for the job after all. The humiliating fiasco of our withdrawal from Afghanistan is another case in point. “Twas a famous
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April 10, 2023 — Elizabeth Stauffer
Following six hours of talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to a Politico reporter and two French journalists aboard COTAM Unité, France’s Air Force One this weekend. He discussed his concept of “strategic autonomy for Europe, presumably led by France, to become a third superpower.” Specifically, Macron said Europe’s “greatest risk” is getting “caught up in crises that are not ours,” such as a potential conflict
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April 7, 2023 — Scott Johnson
The Biden administration has rendered its final judgement on our catastrophic exit from Afghanistan. Insofar as it went poorly, you will be shocked to learn, it was Trump’s fault. The Washington Free Beacon’s Ben Wilson reports on the administration’s unclassified National Security Council summary that was released yesterday. NSC spokesman John Kirby answered questions at a press conference minutes after the summary was released. The White House has posted transcript
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