Althouse: "Defense hawks such as Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, are outspoken about what they see as a precipitous withdrawal and a collapse that can and should be placed at the Biden administration’s feet...."

August 16, 2021

"Defense hawks such as Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, are outspoken about what they see as a precipitous withdrawal and a collapse that can and should be placed at the Biden administration’s feet...."

"But such voices are becoming rarer in a Republican Party that continues to embrace former President Donald J. Trump, who had demanded an even swifter pullout from Afghanistan, and in a war-weary Democratic Party that is largely standing by Mr. Biden — or staying silent. That may reflect the opinion of voters in both parties. But ultimately an end to the U.S. military’s involvement in Afghanistan may prove to be more popular than the weekend chaos proves to be a liability. Representative Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat and Marine Corps veteran of Iraq, wrote on Twitter: 'What I am feeling and thinking about the situation in Afghanistan, I can never fit on Twitter. But one thing that is definitely sticking out is that I haven’t gotten one constituent call about it. And my district has a large Veteran population.'"

From "In Washington, Recriminations Over Afghanistan Emerge Quickly President Biden is finding few outspoken defenders amid the chaotic collapse of the Afghan government. But after 20 years, a war-weary America may still give the president a pass" by Jonathan Weisman (NYT).

79 comments:

Meade said...: “But after 20 years, a war-weary America may still give the president a pass" by Jonathan Weisman (NYT).

And by president, you mean President Trump, right. Obama/Biden/Bush?—no fucking way.; 8/16/21, 12:19 PM
mccullough said...: This was almost 20 years in the making.

Liz Cheney is trying to deflect from her family’s involvement in this totally stupid 20 year occupation.

Biden deserves some blame. So do the Cheney’s and Bushes. The generals of the past 20 years. The Intelligence agencies. Congress.

The national media deserve blame.

The Best and the Brightest.

Corrupt and stupid.; 8/16/21, 12:22 PM
rcocean said...: I'm not surprised that the Represenative hasn't gotten any calls on Afghanistan. Trump ran on pulling out because it was popular. And Biden didn't campaign on staying. Nobody cares what "Defense Hawks" like Lynn Cheney say. Nor does anyone want sob along with Mitt Romney.

We've lost 2,500 men in almost 2o years and the neo-clowns and "Defense hawks" couldn't tell us WHEN we were going to achieve victory. They couldn't even tell us what "victory" was. All we got was George Bush blather about "Supporting feminism".

The Afghanistan withdrawl has been a disaster but it won't change one vote. The D's always vote D no matter what. Biden could shoot someone in the street, and all the D Senators and 95% of the House will still get re-elected. And the sainted "independents" and "Moderates" will forget the whole thng in a month.

The elite and the regime media gets all worked up about this sort of thing, but it has very little effect on the average American.; 8/16/21, 12:30 PM
Drago said...: No, NYT flack for the dems. Biden will not a get a pass.

This is too visual. Too immediate. Too global in its implications. Too many stories are already being told from too many sides and angles for this to lead to a "pass" for Ice Cream Dementia Boy.

Everything we see on our screens and are witnessing in real time is the immediate effect.

But this is as big a disruption to the establishment as one could imagine at this time (though less big than Trump's election or Brexit).

As an example, iIf you want to know what the incompetent and thoroughly mediocre Liz Cheney's of the world are really upset about, its this: The pathways that have taken decades to build to allow the smooth movement of anointed ones through positions of power into secure and well compensated positions of power have suffered not a death blow, but a serious blow.

Liz Cheney had it all mapped out. Congresscritter from Wyoming for a few years, years during which she represents the big defense contractors and the media and the establishment but never her actual constituents, would be followed by a big time role in a cabinet position or heading up the Defense Department or Service Departments perhaps.

Liz hated Trump because she is not the sort of person that Trump would ever put into a position like that so he had to go. And if it looks like the republican party would continue its swing over to populist America First-ism, then Liz was quite comfortable shifting over to play the part of the Controlled Loyal Opposition for the dems in the hopes that one of them could slide her into a comfy govt role.

Then, after a few years of doing that, she would pick up CEO of a defense contractor firm, probably not as big as Halliburton which her father picked up, but a big time division of Raytheon or Lockheed Martin would not be out of the question.

And then, over time, the revolving door between govt jobs and corporate gigs leading to fabulous riches and comfort.

And so what if thousands of Americans had to be killed and maimed in forever wars. Liz Cheney has a right to that power. She is owed that power.....and that damn Trump messed it all up!!

Adam Kinzinger is basically a Liz Cheney mini-me.

There are hundreds and thousands of Liz Cheney's wandering around DC and the government trough and if you think they are going to just let all you little people stop them from getting what they "deserve", well, they are gonna show you.....

But yes, this "little" Afghanistan "thing" does represent a glitch in the Anointed Ones Matrix.......; 8/16/21, 12:32 PM
Temujin said...: Yes, of course. Everyone, go back into your homes. Everything will be fine. Checks are on the way. Pay no attention to that nagging, grinding feeling in your gut. We'll be back soon to tell you more about how to feel, along with some polling to convince you that what you're feeling on your own is wrong. You need to understand that everything we do is good and right and...for the children.; 8/16/21, 12:32 PM
rehajm said...: ...and Meade is spot on as usual...but of course NYT is just greasing the skids for the Biden speech he supposedly will give tomorrow. We'll see more of this 'Whoo-boy! That Afghanistan thing was a real humdinger!' for 24 to 48 more hours by legacy media, then never to be heard again...at least until the Taliban strikes the United States again. That will be the Republicans fault...; 8/16/21, 12:35 PM
wendybar said...: "We believe Joe Biden has the character, experience, and temperament to lead this nation. We believe he will restore the dignity of the presidency, bring Americans together, reassert America’s role as a global leader, and inspire our nation to live up to its ideals." Former Republican National Security Leaders for Biden. https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/; 8/16/21, 12:36 PM
JayG said...: "But one thing that is definitely sticking out is that I haven’t gotten one constituent call about it. And my district has a large Veteran population."

Give it time. The disgraceful abandonment of returning Veterans from Vietnam, and then from both Iraq wars, didn't register with the public right away. It did eventually.; 8/16/21, 12:45 PM
Iman said...: Sure thankful for the stability in the ME region that resulted from 20 years of American involvement. What a mistake so much of that has turned out to be. I’m waiting for W. Bush to weigh in on every last bit o’ this.; 8/16/21, 12:49 PM
Richard Aubrey said...: Point was to have a forward base in the area of Iran. Whether we spent, wasted, extra effort trying to nation build is a vague question.
And to make Astan no more base for al Q and other terrorists.
Does the Afghan army exist to defend Astan against foreign enemies and internal terrorists, or does it exist to allow our guys to look outward? Some of both, probably, but what was the proportion? For what did we pay most?
A high volume road from an airport to a base is good for our efforts. That the locals use it means.... and on which ledger is the cost listed?
Schools, especially for girls. Sheer charity or undermining fundamentalism in our favor? Which ledger?

Point is trying to determine what we were up to and what was support activities.; 8/16/21, 12:52 PM
Drago said...: It should be noted that Liz Cheney pushed the "blame Trump" ploy the hardest of any commentators over the weekend and it fizzled out completely before the weekend was over.

So now she reverts to criticizing Biden and, if I was of a machiavellian bent, I would think Liz was trying to curry favor with Kamala who, as we speak, must be rubbing her hands together in glee!

This is it! This is the one! This is the event that will expose Joe's dementia so thoroughly that not even DOCTOR DR Jill DR DR DR DR DR Biden, who happens to be a doctor, just so you know, can no longer hide it!! And then, just as with Willie, I'll be in!!!

But there is another side to this as well.

Why, this might represent the end of DR DR DR DR DR Jill Biden's (who is a doctor, in case you were not aware of that) run as a modern day Edith Wilson (who, though the first lady, was most assuredly not a DOCTOR DR DR DR like DOCTOR DR DR Jill, who is a Doctor, in case you hadn't heard that before).

And if you think Jill Biden, who is a Doctor, (like, a real Doctor! Whoopie said so! On TV! So its real!) isn't thinking about ways to get her Weekend at Bernie's husband all the way to 2024 so that she can step in and run in his place in 2024, well, then you are experiencing a real failure of imagination and in understanding human nature.; 8/16/21, 12:56 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Too much history here for any president to be too comfortable. But Trump was pretty clear what he wanted--he wanted the US to end the occupation of Afghanistan while reserving the right to show up once in a while to maintain discipline. He couldn't get the US military to buy into that mission. Why? Maybe they couldn't do it. Maybe they didn't want to. But he couldn't get them to do it. Mattis quit rather than be part of a similar approach in Syria.

The others, going back to Nixon, got tangled up in the divide between Christians, Muslims and Jews. Eventually we'll realize that our own self-interest involves staying out of the region except to engage in occasional punitive expeditions. We cannot occupy the Muslim countries successfully. And why should we?; 8/16/21, 1:05 PM
Skippy Tisdale said...: Shorter NYT:

Nothing to see here, but if you do see something, it's not Biden's fault.; 8/16/21, 1:08 PM
gilbar said...: If there's one thing, that my history of dating has taught me; it's that...

There's pulling out; and then there's running out

i doubt that Many americans are upset about us pulling out;
i doubt that there's Many americans that are NOT upset about us running out; 8/16/21, 1:09 PM
BillieBob Thorton said...: On 6/4/20 Joe Biden said:
"I'll do my job and take responsibility. I won't blame others."; 8/16/21, 1:12 PM
Sally327 said...: We'll see if this supposed lack of concern about the present chaos in Afghanistan holds once or if that country again becomes a staging area for future terrorist attacks. That is why we invaded. If that doesn't happen then I suppose it's Mission Accomplished.

We've been here before, although not in quite such an openly embarrassing and incompetent way, when we first armed the mujahideen and then ignored Afghanistan after the Russians pulled out in 1989. The great Philip Seymour Hoffman makes this point near the end of the movie, "Charlie Wilson's War", about the Zen Master and the little boy. We'll see.; 8/16/21, 1:19 PM
Mattman26 said...: "[A] war-weary America may still give the president a pass."

Well, the NYT can hope, anyway.; 8/16/21, 1:23 PM
Megthered said...: It doesn't do one ounce of good to complain to any member if congress. They don't care about the American people, only their Chyna bosses.; 8/16/21, 1:24 PM
Leland said...: The ending of the US military's involvement in Vietnam was popular, but I haven't noticed anyone giving a pass to Nixon or Ford. More interestingly, the end of US military involvement in wars used to be something Presidents receive credit. I think the difference is how they used to be ended vs how they are ended today.; 8/16/21, 1:41 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: A war that wasn't started by Trump -- will be blamed on Trump. That's how these jackasses roll.; 8/16/21, 1:41 PM
Chuck said...: Never have the defense hawks been so right.

"Blame Bush"; right. What was 20 years in the making was that the people of Afghanistan have enjoyed some measure of freedom, opening society, improving standards of living, and checks on the malevolent foreign policies of Russia, China and Pakistan.

A devastating, embarrassing defeat. It's on you, Trump. And on you, Biden. National disgrace under your leadership. Has the acronym "RINO" ever been better applied to anyone, other than Donald Trump?

Let no one forget that in June, Trump was in Ohio crowing about how his actions left his successor administration with no choice, even though (Trump proclaimed) his successors did not like the course of action that Trump set into motion. All that Trump wanted, was to speed it up.; 8/16/21, 1:42 PM
Anon said...: "a war-weary America may still give the president a pass"

This is how the propaganda will unfold: suggesting that our continued, minimal presence in A. amounted to a "war," and obscuring the distinction between leaving as such and the precipitous, disastrously mismanaged exit that refuted the absurd claims made by Biden et al. in the past few weeks.; 8/16/21, 1:43 PM
GowronIsMySpiritAnimal said...: She has no one to blame but herself and so does her dad. My hatred for that family is incandescent as the sun.; 8/16/21, 1:55 PM
Drago said...: In early July, when President Double Chocolate Chip was asked if there was any possibility whatsoever that suddenly pulling US forces out of Afghanistan could cause another Saigon like tragedy, this is what Weekend At Bernie's had to say:

“None whatsoever. Zero. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.”

But according to certain Usual Suspect commenters on Althouse blog (whose handles rhyme with Steve Uhr and LLR Chuck), this is all Trump's fault.

Now one of them knows its an hilariously transparent lie. The other one actually believes the nonsense.

See if you can guess which is which.; 8/16/21, 1:57 PM
Oh Yea said...: Liz Cheney needs to sit this one out.; 8/16/21, 2:00 PM
M Jordan said...: The war had gone on way too long, a pullout was necessary, but Biden completely botched it with a no-conditions withdrawal. He will continue to botch this because every instinct he has is wrong and has been his whole life. He is Chauncey Gardiner, a brainless, operating pie-hole who somehow made a career out of it. His gift was to talk out of both sides of that pie-hole so that he was always on the right as well as the wrong side of everything.

But his jig is up. There’s no recovering from this fiasco.; 8/16/21, 2:02 PM
Joe Smith said...: Her trust fund based on warmongering stocks will get hammered.; 8/16/21, 2:08 PM
Big Mike said...: Weisman is simply whistling past the graveyard. Americans will forgive a lot, but raw incompetence is not on that list.; 8/16/21, 2:14 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: In the way of the world when someone (or some country) does something shameful, stupid and ugly, they want to walk away from it as fast as possible. Memories are suppressed, details are forgotten. But the stain remains.

An exit from Afghanistan was inevitable, but one can look at it and with a rational mind say that it didn't have to be this ugly and chaotic. If something painful has to be done, it's best if it were done well. It did not have to be this way.; 8/16/21, 2:26 PM
tim in vermont said...: I am not sure it's worth the subscription fee to the New York Times just to pay for Democratic Party talking points.; 8/16/21, 2:28 PM
Lyle said...: If Biden, is really getting us out of Afghanistan... then he probably will get a pass because most Americans want out. What we need to see happen is a purge of our military and intelligence chiefs who keeping lying to us for their own gain and the gain of the military industrial political complex... which Liz Cheney is familial member of.

Biden will have to own his and his admin's recent ridiculous comments about the Taliban not taking over the country because "300,000" American armed and trained Afghans could hold off the Taliban for months if not years.; 8/16/21, 2:30 PM
Michael said...: The policy is one thing. The staggering incompetence of the past few months is another. You would think they had put Kamela in charge.; 8/16/21, 2:33 PM
Drago said...: Necessary Reminder (for the benefit of Steve Uhr's and LLR's everywhere):

“You were critical last year of President Trump’s decision to reduce the troop levels in Afghanistan because you said it was an incoherent policy,” CNN’s John Berman pointed out to the Senate majority leader (Schumer). “How do you feel now about President Biden’s decision?”

"I think President Biden has come up with a careful and thought-out plan,” Schumer replied. “Look, John, the president doesn’t want endless wars. I don’t want endless wars. And neither do the American people. And it’s refreshing to have a thought-out plan with a set timetable instead of the president waking up one morning, getting out of bed and saying what just pops into his head and then the generals having walked it back. So I think this is a careful, thought-out plan.”; 8/16/21, 2:34 PM
tim in vermont said...: I am sure the New York Times mentioned that Obama sprung five of the Taliban generals from Gitmo.; 8/16/21, 2:37 PM
Narr said...: Liz proves that the turd don't fall far from the 'hole.

Put HER on the next flight to Kabul.; 8/16/21, 2:47 PM
TreeJoe said...: This is re-framing the matter.

Trump negotiated with the Taliban and sought an exit to the war.....yeah, the guy who they were afraid of putting the military under worked the hardest to extricate us from foreign quagmires.

The Taliban taking over Afghanistan was not really an unforeseen circumstance.

What makes this a total shitshow on Biden's watch is that Biden and Harris claimed to have made this decision in April ignoring their military. Biden in the last 6 weeks said a lightning takeover by the Taliban would not happen right after our drawdown and withdrawl. SoS Blinken said the same within weeks of today.

They were so caught off guard they had to go in and bomb our own F-ing planes to prevent them from falling into Taliban hands. They had to do emergency evacuations and embassy material burning in Kabul.They had to bring back in thousands of troops.

Do I need to spell it out for the NYT? This isn't about that a withdrawal happened or that the Taliban took over. This is about an epic disaster of a withdrawal and military wind-down and public statements by the President and SoS that were blatantly, recently, and categorically the opposite of reality.

People want to re-visit the 20 year history and past administrations because it's fucking hard to look at Afghani's clinging to our military planes as they take off and then dropping out the sky to die as we fly away.; 8/16/21, 2:52 PM
lgv said...: The NYT reporter is missing the point, or perhaps just hiding it. First, there is the decision to withdraw. Second, the method and timing of the withdrawal. Trump wanted out and fast, but he didn't do it.

Trump wanted out. He gave Mattis his "surge" and it changed nothing. It wasn't going to work. No one should question the decision to draw down. Just as Nixon spent years and years on the method and timing of withdrawal, Biden spent precious little time planning the method and various timing scenarios that would have saved many who now likely die at the hands of the Taliban.

This is a massive intelligence failure. The same bad intelligence we have gotten for the last 20 years. Remember the JV team called "ISIS"? An evacuation plan should have already been in place before we started leaving.

I highly recommend the movie "Last Days in Viet Nam". It is an amazing story of how we also waited too long, but still managed to get thousands and thousands of Vietnamese out of Saigon in the last few days. (Interestingly a key player in the process was Richard Armitage).

The failure of the DOD/CIA intelligence units will cause the death of many who helped us. Pin it on Biden for listening to the people who told him what he wanted to hear.; 8/16/21, 2:52 PM
Howard said...: Biden implemented Trump's withdrawal plan and partisan chickenhawks get verklempt. The real crime was the failure to fold 'em 15-years ago. Obozo should get as much blame for this as Bush.; 8/16/21, 2:56 PM
Narr said...: Ach du lieber. Frau Kanzler Merkel deplores the whole thing. Maybe she can take a few million more? (It struck me the other day that she has a version of that Germanic resettlement mania that Old You Know Who perfected.)

Anyway, I was looking at the German involvement in the civilizing mission in A-stan online last week, and according to a German gummint site some 150,000 (!) Germans have served in A-stan since the adventure began. Mostly in non-combat and support roles and probably with fairly short rotations, but still, that's a lot of "veterans of Afghanistan."

I'm not convinced the number is correct; I've met American veterans of Afghanistan service, but none has ever mentioned the allied countries.; 8/16/21, 2:57 PM
Robert Cook said...: The entire military/industrial complex and every president for the past two decades are complicit in our ruinous, wasteful, futile, pointless, and illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (The presidents preceding Bush the Second are complicit in their own military crimes and catastrophes.); 8/16/21, 3:03 PM
Quaestor said...: Forgive Biden?

NO.; 8/16/21, 3:24 PM
Joe Smith said...: Something, something, military industrial complex something...; 8/16/21, 3:31 PM
Joe Smith said...: "If there's one thing, that my history of dating has taught me; it's that...

There's pulling out; and then there's running out..."

In the military, you shoot and then pull out.

In dating, you pull out and then...; 8/16/21, 3:32 PM
Chuck said...: “Chyna”!?!

Effing China is delighted by this fiasco. So too is Russia. They cannot wait, to recognize the Taliban government.; 8/16/21, 3:43 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Biden gets a pass for being a family grifting crook. Why not a pass for all incompetence?; 8/16/21, 3:47 PM
Lincolntf said...: The Biden Massacre will live in infamy.; 8/16/21, 3:55 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: "Biden implemented Trump's withdrawal plan"

LOL. There you go! It's Trump's fault! Poor Biden should have known that Trump's plan was bad. How dumb can he be?

oh right - Trump never wanted to announce a date, he merely wanted to end the war, but was held back by people who thought differently. You keep lying to yourself, Howard.; 8/16/21, 3:56 PM
wildswan said...: In his speech, Biden is mainly just saying that leaving Afghanistan was right. Trump had already decided that and worked out a deal. But the actual leaving, which is Biden's responsibility, is a mess. Biden says he going to fix that mess. We'll see. He admitted that thousands of Americans are still in Afghanistan. Will the Taliban just let them go? If not won't we be back in?; 8/16/21, 3:57 PM
FleetUSA said...: Biden seems to have taken precipitous action. Why? To clear the matter before 2022?

IMHO a very black eye for all of American policy.

Sadly; 8/16/21, 4:08 PM
Meade said...: I’m out in the woods with a bad connection so I’ll be short. I listened to Biden’s speech—another fail, more incompetence. T
Biden now has exactly one option if he wants to Do The Right Thing. Announce: After conferring with all parties involved, VP Harris will be stepping down as of today when I appoint former President Trump to be the new Vice President. Upon being sworn in, I will then resign as President. Thank you. God bless you. And may God help, God bless, and may God protect and keep our beloved country, the United Statesof America 🇺🇸.
Goodbye and good luck.; 8/16/21, 4:08 PM
Drago said...: Robert Cook: "The entire military/industrial complex and every president for the past two decades are complicit in our ruinous, wasteful, futile, pointless, and illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

That's some real breaking news you've got there amigo. Looks like you've cornered the market on unique political observations.; 8/16/21, 4:10 PM
Drago said...: Interesting side note for Howard, since he probably never fully developed a complete set of cerebral logic connections, in this very speech Biden bragged about how he has been setting up this departure for 12 years and in just the last several months was bragging about how he had developed his own plan ("time table" and "manner of leaving") and then executed his plan his way over all the objections of all his advisors, military and intel. And he'd do it again!

Now, in normal human world, this set of facts would confirm something to a standard IQ individual.

But it didn't to Howard.

How to explain that? If I may paraphrase Ice Cream Dementia Boy: how how how how how how how?; 8/16/21, 4:22 PM
Meade said...: “Oh and one last thing. My internal polls clearly tell me a strong majority of Americans believe in their hearts and minds that the 2020 election was won by President Trump. Today, with newer, clearer, 20/20 vision, I join that strong majority.”; 8/16/21, 4:23 PM
Drago said...: Breaking: Great news for Liz Cheney! She has already been nominated for the NW Washington Ladies Koffee Klatch, a proud organization spanning over 7 months with at least 4 regulars, but only on Thursday mornings.

The NW Washington Ladies Koffee Klatch released a statement in which they said:

"Liz's great leadership skills and experience will come in handy as we enter the always dangerous "green tea" season and with Liz' certain departure from the House of Representatives and certainty of her never returning to Wyoming, a state whose people she despises with a red hot Hillary intensity, along with failure to secure any gainful employment anywhere (we don't count writing for The Marxist Bulwark as a real job), we know Liz will have ample time to help us grow our organization to at least 9 people by the end of 2023! Ahoy!"

I think we can all count that as a win-win-win.; 8/16/21, 4:30 PM
jaydub said...: Biden destroyed enough straw men to feed a herd of cattle in his speech. "Trump was going to leave in May," "the Afghans wouldn't fight," "he always intended to get all the at risk Afgans out," etc, etc. Plus he kept implying that Trump wanted to stay, while he was the only one who wanted to leave. What a BS argument! He covered everything except the fact that he completely hosed the actual situation because he had no plan, let alone a contingency plan. The reason the US is in this situation is because of incompetent leadership and planning. Suck it Joe!; 8/16/21, 5:00 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Meade-- Now badgering Biden from the Badger State. I guess the president's speech was not a success with you. It wasn't what Biden did exactly, was it? It was how he did it.

Love those sandhill cranes, but they are hinky birds. I went down to Roselawn, IN once to see them fly in to Kankakee Sands. I thought we were being invaded by pterodactyls.

Bonus points for knowing what Roselawn, Indiana, is known for other than the sandhill cranes (without looking it up--and it isn't the 1994 Halloween plane crash). Hint: you can barely see anything with the naked eye--or even with binoculars...and certainly not in November.; 8/16/21, 5:05 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Epoch news:

Former Obama administration Department of Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta said that following the collapse of the Afghanistan government and army, the United States’s credibility on the world stage has taken a significant blow.

Surprised U.S. officials over the weekend struggled to explain how quickly the Taliban advanced across Afghanistan before the group took the capital, Kabul, on Sunday and declared victory amid mass surrenders by government officials and soldiers. Meanwhile, U.S. State Department and White House officials confirmed that a significant number of Americans are still inside Afghanistan as the military tries to secure the Kabul airport to carry out evacuation flights.

Panetta, a longtime Democrat official, lambasted the Biden administration’s execution of the Afghanistan withdrawal, comparing it to the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 when U.S.-backed Cuban forces tried to land in Cuba but were rebuffed by the communist regime.

“In many ways, I think of John Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs, you know?” Panetta told CNN on Monday, referring to then-President John F. Kennedy. “It unfolded quickly and the president thought that everything would be fine and that was not the case. But President Kennedy took responsibility for what took place.”; 8/16/21, 5:10 PM
Josephbleau said...: This thing reminds me of listening to my Korean War era Marine dad singing:

“When you hear the patter of tiny feet
It’s the US Army in full retreat
They’re moving on, moving on.
They’re burning gas they’re hauling ass
They’re moving on.

Sung to the tune of Hank Snow’s Big Eight Wheels.; 8/16/21, 5:11 PM
Drago said...: LLR Chuck: "Effing China is delighted by this fiasco. So too is Russia. They cannot wait, to recognize the Taliban government."

ALL of LLR Chuck's heroes long ago sold out completely to China and our other enemies, and they were well compensated for doing so.

Many of LLR Chuck's heroes are the left billionaire funded flunkies at The Lincoln Pedophile Project, The Omidyar Bulwark, the pathetic little soy boys at the Dispatch (LOL), and others. And so many of those far left billionaires got their millions and billions by working happily with the ChiComs!

LLR Chuck will, presumably, be shocked, SHOCKED I tell you at that sort of "gambling" going on amongst his political heroes.

Quick aside Chuck: Have you investigated mercenary groups that might be willing to accept you for a quick "side trip" for unspecified purposes into the hinterlands of Afghanistan? And if not, why not?; 8/16/21, 5:20 PM
Drago said...: Good old LLR Chuck. Like so many other chickenhawks, he's always willing to fight to the last (somebody else) man and let someone else pay the ultimate price.

He's always been very "courageous" that way.

And since the combat arms are disproportionally comprised of conservatives and conservative voters, if they get killed so that Chuck can feel better about himself, well, that's just even better from a Chuck perspective.; 8/16/21, 5:28 PM
gilbar said...: you'd Sure think, that the US Army would be better at abandoning Allies; by Now!
I mean; they've sure had plenty of experience at it; 8/16/21, 5:36 PM
Nancy Reyes said...: This is more than being about AFghanistan.
It sends a message to the world that the USA is weak. China is getting the message: China's aggression in the West Philippine sea will increase, Taiwan will be attacked.
This will allow them to block the shipping lanes to Japan and Korea, and don't forget the large internet cable that runs just south of Taiwan.; 8/16/21, 5:56 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Amadeus 48,

Well, I never would have guessed Roselawn, Indiana was famous for that.; 8/16/21, 6:46 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Here is the speech Biden should have given:

"I made the decision to pull out by September 11 of this year, and I stand by that decision- there is no going back on this decision, we are out fully by that date or earlier. However, I and my direct staff underestimated the speed with which the Taliban would take over the country once the last combat troops were withdrawn. We messed this up badly- no sugarcoating it. We are now trying to evacuate all the people trapped there by our mistakes, and these are the steps we are taking to fix this:..............."

Biden couldn't do that. He had to argue against an argument no one but the Chucks of the world are making, and then blamed everyone else involved after saying the buck stops with him. Laughable attempt- I expected something better if not more honest. He should resign in disgrace along with all the people in the administration who put this plan or lack of one into operation. From the leaks coming out in the last couple of hours, everyone is denying they were involved- they might even be telling the truth for all I know.; 8/16/21, 6:55 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Chuck could, if he had any testicles, join Liz Cheney's and Tom Nichols' Expeditionary Force to liberate the women of Kabul.; 8/16/21, 6:56 PM
cf said...: it is comforting to imagine that in an Alternate Reality, Meade's "only one option for Biden" actually happens, huzzah.; 8/16/21, 7:24 PM
Original Mike said...: "This is more than being about AFghanistan. It sends a message to the world that the USA is weak. China is getting the message: China's aggression in the West Philippine sea will increase, Taiwan will be attacked. This will allow them to block the shipping lanes to Japan and Korea, and don't forget the large internet cable that runs just south of Taiwan."

Taiwan makes most of the world's advanced chips. Biden will finish off his term presiding over a great depression.; 8/16/21, 8:06 PM
Big Mike said...: Meanwhile, in Afghanistan a 30 year old woman named Zarifa Ghafari is the mayor of Maidan Shar, the capital of Wardak province. The Taliban has already tried at least three times to assassinate her, and so far they’ve failed each time. Now she has communicated that she sits at home and waits for death to come for her and her family at the hands of the Taliban. She’s worth 10,000 of Liz Cheney.; 8/16/21, 9:05 PM
Big Mike said...: @Amadeus (5:05) do you mean the Ponderosa Sun Club nudist resort? Or the giant leg sundial?; 8/16/21, 9:16 PM
Drago said...: Nancy Reyes: "This is more than being about AFghanistan.
It sends a message to the world that the USA is weak. China is getting the message:"

The ChiComs, no doubt in possession of many many hours of video of Hunter Biden sucking down coke and crack while bedding one after another underage Chinese girls, all provided by the ChiCom government, are also moving expeditiously to expand their Spratly Island man-made island bases while rapidly expanding their Belt and Road initiative which has the full intention of locking down critical minerals for monopolistic control and all the while Biden and his establishment hacks, whom LLR Chuck adores, are busy selling American jobs and wealth to those ChiComs for their own benefit.

Not to mention the use of all this American wealth given to them to build out their missile, space, cyber and naval forces in the search for the unbeatable correlation of forces that will deliver the 21st century into their palms.

"America Last"; 8/16/21, 10:25 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: China gets to mine more rare earth minerals and use the belt & road they’re building already. The compromat they have on Joe stays secret awhile longer and Hunter loads another crackpipe for his underage Chinese whore while holding 10% for the Big Guy.; 8/16/21, 10:41 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: I guess this will put a damper on Joe's plan to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 9/11 next month by bragging how he finally ended this fiasco.
Maybe Amazon can have a big sale. Like Memorial Day.; 8/16/21, 10:55 PM
LakeLevel said...: Original Mike: "Biden will finish off his term presiding over a great depression."
Anyone who needs stuff for manufacturing already knows we are nearly at depression level shortages. I am really surprised that Biden is not blaming Trump for everything like Obama blamed George W. Bush in 2009-2016. That will may come soon, but I don't think the public is going to buy it.; 8/16/21, 11:48 PM
Meade said...: Amadeus 48,
On my honor I did not look it up. Answer: nudist camp.; 8/17/21, 6:36 AM
Meade said...: Oh I see Big Mike already got it. Dirty minds think alike.; 8/17/21, 6:44 AM
Big Mike said...: @Meade, the dictionary has my picture as part of the definition of “dirty old man.” The picture was taken when I was much younger.; 8/17/21, 9:37 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: "Anyone who needs stuff for manufacturing already knows we are nearly at depression level shortages."

I am seeing this all over the place and way down the supply chain. Two weeks ago, my car got hit in the parking lot in our building. (A guy cut the corner too short). Front bumper with all detection devices destroyed. Car taken to dealer body shop for repairs. Multi-week wait for parts at a dealer. I'll get it back sometime in September...maybe.; 8/17/21, 1:13 PM
gpm said...: >>I'll get [the car] back sometime in September...maybe.

Lotta Zipcars in Lincoln Park, but the charges have gone through the roof. My four-day trips to N.H. from Boston have gone from $325-425 to $550-625 since February. Even the old charges were high as compared with a regular car rental (though you don't pay separately for gas), but there are no regular car rental places within miles and the Zipcars are in the alley on the next block (or equivalent nearby locations).

--gpm; 8/17/21, 5:53 PM
gpm said...: Last attempt produced an error, so here we go again.

>>I'll get [the car] back sometime in September...maybe.

Lotta Zipcars in Lincoln Park, but the charges have gone through the roof. My four-day trips to N.H. from Boston have gone from $325-425 to $550-625 since February. Even the old charges were high as compared with a regular car rental (though you don't pay separately for gas), but there are no regular car rental places within miles and the Zipcars are in the alley on the next block (or equivalent nearby locations).

--gpm; 8/17/21, 5:53 PM