Said Joe Biden, quoted in "Excerpts of call between Joe Biden and Ashraf Ghani July 23" (Reuters).
September 1, 2021
"You clearly have the best military, you have 300,000 well-armed forces versus 70-80,000 and they’re clearly capable of fighting well, we will continue to provide close air support..."
"... if we know what the plan is and what we are doing. And all the way through the end of August, and who knows what after that.... But I really think, I don’t know whether you’re aware, just how much the perception around the world is that this is looking like a losing proposition, which it is not...."
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Doesn't sound like a perfect phone call to me...impeach!
But seriously, the IC is really going after him.
Another article for impeachment.
Impeachable now. This is going to be fun.
Well that was then; this is now--shortly after the Second Great Skedaddle ended. The first was 160 years ago at First Bull Run. The Second was orchestrated by Joe and features a large helping of Joe's Bull.
But then all Presidents try to shape perceptions. If they are minimally competent the task is not insuperable. However I'm not certain that Joe meets the standard of "minimal competence".
We know Hunter was banging his dead brother's widow, so, do you think he was fucked-up enough to throw a fuck Dr. Jill's way? know, a disgusting through but, "cocaine is a helluva drug".
I mean, maybe he thought he was jerking-off into the curtains and boom, there she was.
"we will continue to provide close air support"
He said, shortly before cutting off all US and non-US support for Afghanistan's air force
"... if we know what the plan is and what we are doing."
Ah, there's his out. Since Joe never knows what he's doing, that statement promises nothing.
Which is exactly what Biden gave.
Joe Biden's presidency is looking like a losing proposition...which it is!
Remember when Trump was pilloried because he said Covid would slow in the summer (as did some medical experts).
HE LIED TO US!!!!! Impeach/25th Amendment!/JAIL!
Biden lied to us and wanted another country's leader to lie for us.... with a bribe of our military action to follow.
Yawns all around.....
We abandoned Bagram July 1. Where exactly was the close air support going to come from?
By July 23 when that call happened, the 'air support' claim was clearly false as Ghani and everyone else paying attention already knew. Biden has a ready excuse for not knowing, but that's a bug not a feature.
More generally, I've seen a few on the web quoting Philip Larkin's Homage to a Government as a summary of Biden-thought avant la lettre. The tone and mood fit, even if he wrote it for a different time, place and context:
Next year we are to bring all the soldiers home
For lack of money, and it is all right.
Places they guarded, or kept orderly,
Must guard themselves, and keep themselves orderly.
We want the money for ourselves at home
Instead of working. And this is all right.
It’s hard to say who wanted it to happen,
But now it’s been decided nobody minds.
The places are a long way off, not here,
Which is all right, and from what we hear
The soldiers there only made trouble happen.
Next year we shall be easier in our minds.
Next year we shall be living in a country
That brought its soldiers home for lack of money.
The statues will be standing in the same
Tree-muffled squares, and look nearly the same.
Our children will not know it’s a different country.
All we can hope to leave them now is money.
This bit:
And there’s a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.
Suggests dishonesty. This bit:
We are also going to continue to make sure your air force is capable of continuing to fly and provide air support.
Suggests either deliberate dishonesty or a situation where the President really is out of the loop on what the executive branch was doing, since this is apparently the opposite of what was actually happening in July. Al Ghani sort of alludes to that but never comes out and confronts Biden.
But all through this, I remain curious what intelligence bureaucrats were actually telling Biden. This call isn't radically inconsistent with the message Biden and senior officials were pushing publicly back in July. I'm sure the civil service buried some caveats in the footnotes for CYA, but I still think they just completely bungled this and are trying to obscure their failures by leaking against Biden (who certainly contributed to our failures in the evacuation, but wasn't the sole cause, and possibly not even the main cause).
Sorry, I see you did cover this article too late.
It shows that Biden has been lying publicly about how no one in his administration knew the country could fall to the Taliban quickly- in this phone call from July 23rd, Biden clearly knew the Taliban were winning very quickly. But liars lie, I suppose- Biden has a long, long history of not only telling lies, but telling ones that are stupid.
Joe above is right- the intelligence agencies are throwing Biden under the bus since that is what Biden has been trying to do to them the last 3 weeks.
The "hits" keep coming for The Lincoln Pedophile Project losers and their NeverTrump and LLR-democratical FakeCons pals who worship the democratical leader, Dementia Boy.
🚨🚨🚨🚨 Per former Deputy Assistant SecDef Roger Pardo-Maurer, the DoD had foreknowledge of the Kabul bomber AND denied permission to fire to the Predator drone that had a lock on the bomber. https://t.co/ZDh27drdwu
Well well well. This is clearly a DOD/Pentagon blameshift tactic against someone in the ROE chain of command...which will lead to the White House where the smartest guy anyone there knows is crackhead/underage Chinese girl "fanboy" Hunter.
I also think someone is taking the temperature of the electorate and seeing some fundamental shifts that might be causing Team Obama to finally decide to begin Operation Jettison Dementia Boy.
There are ZERO other reasons the deep staters/corrupted esatablishment democraticals
Apparently, the "300,000 well-armed forces" was more like 50,000, and many of them haven't been paid for months because their leaders stole their pay.
As for Ashraf Ghani, he came to the U.S. in 1980 and was Anthropology professor at Johns Hopkins University. He moved on to the World Bank, before founding a think tank that focused on rebuilding failed states.
His book, "Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World" is available at Amazon. The top-rated review states "I followed the book to the letter but my attempt at rebuilding a state failed and the Taliban took over."
Oops.
I'm reposting this from another Althouse thread as it is more relevant here:
This (the noise around the helicopter fact check from the other thread) is a distraction to take attention away from the leaked biden/Ghani phone call transcript from July 23 where biden told Ghani to lie about status of the Afgan army vs taliban strength which makes perfectly clear the monstrous lies the Installed *"president" has been robotically and vacantly mumbling in public about not having any idea the Afgan army was already in its weakened state.
Which is why the Russia Russia Russia, Trump laundered Putin Cash, Charlottesville Hoax, drink bleach hoax, insurrection Hoax liars on the left, such as our pro-msrxist LLR Chuck and Dumb Lefty Mark (not to be confused with normal guy VA lawyer Mark) will continue to hype all items like this.
But here is the most interesting political insider basebal question:
What does this deep state insider leak against Dementia Boy and the Pentagon signal in terms of inter-democratcal conflict? Who stands to gain? What are the leaker's end goals?
Given pro-marxist LLR Chuck's clear alignment with the far left democraticals for many years now and his self-proclaimed political insider "insight" (wink wink), maybe he can answer just why the CIA/Intel morons are throwing Dementia Boy and the Pentagon under the bus at this time?
LOL
Additional exit question: Given how the completely corrupted intel agencies broke the law repeatedly in selectively leaking Trump phone call transcripts with foreign leaders, which is why Trump used Kushner so often to deliver messages to foreign leaders instead of using phone lines, and the clear approval of such action by our utterly corrupted FBI/DOJ stooges, does this latest leak represent a permanent expanded bureaucratic "state of political war" between CIA/Intel vs White House/Pentagon, regardless of political party control?
This is why presidents can be impeached.
Anyone that supports Joe Biden at this point is a traitor.
Our children will not know it’s a different country.
All we can hope to leave them now is money.
Not even money ...
If the intelligence re the Afghan forces ability and willingness to die for a losing cause without air support was so bad, we are supposed to be reassured by the administration’s claim that Afghanistan is not now and won’t again become a haven for terrorists? Or should we not worry about that because so many other countries harbor terrorists? I’m confused and concerned.
The Deep State don't take no shit, as has been demonstrated so clearly in the last few decades that only a retardate or partisan hack would deny it.
I never really cared for Obama, but I've concluded that whatever his personal shortcomings he was rolled by the Deep State and knew he couldn't beat them, so he got eight years. Trump was harder to roll, even with the manipulated leaks. As someone observed already, Trump partied with the elites, and understood how cowardly, craven, and careerist they were, especially those in politics.
Is that Biden dangling under that chopper? Throwing under buses is so Aught-teens.
Biden is saying he'll provide air support but not providing air support? Maybe even saying as much as he won't provide air support in the same conversation where he's saying he will provide air support?
No, well, look, I, thank you. Look, close air support works only if there is a military strategy on the ground to support.
***
If you empower Bismillah [Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi] to execute a strategy focused on key parts of the population centers, and I’m not a military guy, so I’m not telling you what that plan should precisely look like, you’re going to get not only more help, but you’re going to get a perception that is going to change in terms of how , um…[unclear].. our allies and folks here in the States and other places think you’re doing.
Bismillah wouldn't let him go.
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for Joe.
From what I read, Biden sounded more coherent that I expected. The "perception" emphasis is how politicians think and talk. Not the best approach, but what do you expect from Biden. I think the "true or not" was a reference to the current perception, not to what perception they were trying to present in the future.
From what I read, Biden sounded more coherent that I expected. The "perception" emphasis is how politicians think and talk. Not the best approach, but what do you expect from Biden. I think the "true or not" was a reference to the current perception, not to what perception they were trying to present in the future.
There’s a difference between a uniformed soldier and an armed fighting man. Ghani had 300,000 of the former but the Taliban had 70,000 of the latter. Game over.
This is the second time the US promised close air support to a government, and reneged. Maybe Ghani had been talking to former South Vietnamese government officials?
I was opposed to leaking the President’s phone calls to foreign leaders under Trump. I continue to be so when Biden is in office.
There's a clear precedent that a US President can and should be impeached for talking sloppy in phone conversations with foreign presidents.
Proves they are both full of shit.
He lied to us, he tried to get Ghani to assist in the lie, and at the same time he was lying to Ghani about US air support and maintenance for the Afghan air force.
Fucking bastard.
The call was all about getting the Afghans to lie in order to project the correct (as in not harmful to the Biden administration) image. It was on a version of reality that did not match what was actually happening on the ground. It was an attempt to win a news cycle, not a war.
Taking the transcript just on its own, it's clear that Ghani is at minimum a moderately intelligent man with a very good command of English. A better command than Biden arguably has, given his public performance and the fact his "transcripts" tend to be heavily edited for coherence. Ghani correctly diagnosed major issues with the Afghan armed forces, and more importantly detected Americans claiming to use airstrikes "over the horizon" but actually being very cautious. He understood Joe Biden's incredibly deceptive nature, in other words.
No wonder that he had a plan to escape the country with an undetermined amount of money. He was far more prepared for a collapse than Joe Biden was. The fact a foreigner has a much better grasp of Joe Biden than many "establishment experts" is a sure sign of the coming collapse.
The Deep State is now leaking on POTUS. Big trouble.
Harris will be POTUS by the end of November. No WH Christmas for Dr. Jill.
How many of our allies will be willing to stand with us after Biden's abandonment of Ghani and Afghanistan.
It's gonna be a long 3 1/2 years.
Biden: "Look, close air support works only if there is a military strategy on the ground to support."
It also helps to have close air support assets, which were removed 3 weeks prior to this call. From the 6 July BBC article on the subject:
"The US announced on Friday that it had vacated Bagram, effectively completing its military campaign in Afghanistan ahead of the official end date of 11 September, announced by President Joe Biden earlier this year."
More Biden: "In addition to that we are going to continue to fight hard, diplomatically, politically, economically, to make sure your government not only survives, but is sustained and grows because it is clearly in the interest of the people of Afghanistan, that you succeed and you lead."
Fight diplomatically, politically, and economically, but with the US military campaign over in Afghanistan, "militarily" wasn't part of Biden's offer. Alas, the rest of Biden's continued fight ended this Monday.
Alas, this call isn't damning to Biden, which is probably why it was leaked. I read this as Biden telling Ghani "you need to up your game, because it is making us look bad". Biden is clearly not offering to help Ghani until Ghani presents a plan. It is inline with Biden's bashing of the Afghans will to fight of the past couple of weeks. The only damning part is Biden making this call to cajole Ghani 3 weeks after Biden had the US military bug out without warning. What an asshat. What is not in this call is the 5,000 extra Taliban fighters left in the now unguarded prison at Bagram and the mentions of Allies, that reportedly Biden did not inform. If that was brought up in the unreleased portions, then it would be good to hear Biden's response, since he has refused to answer these issues with the press or our allies.
Give Joe a break. "That was 4 days ago, 5 days ago."
Come on, man.
DOD refused to authorize drone strike on bomber.
"But Pardo-Maurer went further in his interview. He said not only did they know where and when it would happen, but that they had a Predator drone lock on the bomber, but that "they" refused to grant permission to take the guy out. "[Permission] was requested and was denied," he said. Why? "Because we are in this process of negotiating with the Taliban who aren't even in control of their own government or their own people."
It sounds like they had a drone watching the car drive in.
It looks like a ghost image of a vehicle with a big black spot over the engine. The driver and other occupants are dark spots too although they tend to get washed out by the engine a bit.
It will be interesting to see if that video gets leaked at some point.
There are some decent people out in the field still. The stories are going to come out.
It will be fun to watch all of the Biden supporters try to pretend they never supported him or "didn't know."
Terrible people.
How does that not meet the modern impeachable standard? Answer: It meets the modern impeachable standard.
steve uhr: "If the intelligence re the Afghan forces ability and willingness to die for a losing cause without air support was so bad, we are supposed to be reassured by the administration’s claim that Afghanistan is not now and won’t again become a haven for terrorists? Or should we not worry about that because so many other countries harbor terrorists? I’m confused and concerned."
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Just. Who. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Kidding?
If literally true as reported, it might not be a Big Thing--that depends on how it's reported. But it will be big among the troops.
If I were a recruiter, I'd get a number for an Amway manager.
And now, on top of all the other new disclosures, we have this admission:
The state dept now admits that we did NOT evacuate the majority of SIV's and other Afghans who actually assisted us.
And we stranded and then abandoned Americans there as well.
But we did, somehow, find a way to bring over 110,000 unvetted Afghani's, including sex offenders and terrorists, and the Dementia Admin are quickly moving these (unvaccinated) folks to lots and lots of red/purple political swing states.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is all you need to know about everything that is going on here.
I think there's so many Americans left behind that Basement Boy is going to be impeached or have to resign. The Deep-Rotted State wanted to say that "we got out all Americans on our list" is the same as "we got out all Americans" but there is a huge group of private citizens who have other names. So ... switch themes and memes and save the IC. Hey, hey/ Ho, Ho/ Sleepy Joe has to go.
Did LTC Vindman approve of all of the things Joe said on the call?
Apparently, that is the new standard.
And now, as if it could not getting any worse, we have the Team Dementia already "floating" (meaning: its already been agreed to as ransom cash) to "pay" the Taliban to "fight" ISIS-K.
Yes, Team Dementia really does believe their media praetorian minions and their democratical/LLR-democratical lackeys will just go along with that story.
And if you think about the Althouse lefty democratical regulars, LLR-lefty Chuck, Dumb Lefty Mark, Howard, Uhr, gadfly, etc, you'd have to agree with the Team Dementia's confidence that their team members are just that stupid/gullible/Happy to lie.
I am getting the impression that the Deep State REALLY runs the country.
Joe needs to borrow Kamala's knee pads or they will leak like crazy and embarrass the old fool..
Come to think of it, I am starting to understand Kamala's appeal within Democrat circles. She will do as ordered and not deviate one bit.
Others have mentioned that the most fascinating part of this story is what is not told Who leaked this conversation?. And was it done as part of a campaign to ensure Joe doesn't pull us out of any other wars.
Given that Donald Trump negotiated a withdrawal for May 1, I cannot imagine why any American not part of the diplomatic corps or the military would have remained in Afghanistan once that deal was announced.
I mean, American elementary and high school students in the country? How stupid can anyone be?
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/01/1033294030/american-students-afghanistan-sacramento-san-juan-district
Easter Offensive 1973.Who was on the committees recommending we not honor our commitments to the RVN gov?Hint he is still around.And we still know how to Charlie Foxtrot an evac. ( read Frank Shell's A Decent Interval).Reagan invaded Grenada over how many students?
Frankly Anonymous said...
I was opposed to leaking the President’s phone calls to foreign leaders under Trump. I continue to be so when Biden is in office.
There's a lot of precedents that I opposed before they were created (one President's EO can bind the next President, leaking a President's phone calls). but, once the precedent is established, I'm fundamentally opposed to not using it against the team that created that precedent.
So, when everyone who used the leaked calls against Trump has been driven out of public life for their criminal / wrong behavior, I'll firmly agree that it's wrong to leak a Democrat President's "private" calls and use them against him.
Until then? Game on, baby
From September 21,2010 ...
What's in Bob Woodward's "Obama’s Wars"?
The NYT reports in advance of the publication date:
The president concluded from the start that “I have two years with the public on [Afghanistan]” and pressed advisers for ways to avoid a big escalation, the book says. “I want an exit strategy,” he implored at one meeting. Privately, he told Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to push his alternative strategy opposing a big troop buildup in meetings, and while Mr. Obama ultimately rejected it, he set a withdrawal timetable because, “I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party.”...
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/whats-in-bob-woodwards-obamas-wars.html
September 21, 2010
What's in Bob Woodward's "Obama’s Wars"?
The NYT reports in advance of the publication date:
The president concluded from the start that “I have two years with the public on [Afghanistan]” and pressed advisers for ways to avoid a big escalation, the book says. “I want an exit strategy,” he implored at one meeting. Privately, he told Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to push his alternative strategy opposing a big troop buildup in meetings, and while Mr. Obama ultimately rejected it, he set a withdrawal timetable because, “I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party.”...
[T]he book describes a professorial president who assigned “homework” to advisers but bristled at what he saw as military commanders’ attempts to force him into a decision. Even after he agreed to send another 30,000 troops last winter, the Pentagon asked for another 4,500 “enablers” to support them.
The president lost his poise... “I’m done doing this!” he erupted....
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/whats-in-bob-woodwards-obamas-wars.html
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