"Before our eyes, a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts and tired divisions of the past..."

"... and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos; where it exports technology, not terrorism; and where people of different nations, religions, and creeds are building cities together — not bombing each other out of existence. (Watch) This great transformation has not come from Western interventionists… giving you lectures on how to live or how to govern your own affairs. No, the gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called ‘nation-builders,’ ‘neo-cons,’ or ‘liberal non-profits,’ like those who spent trillions failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad, so many other cities. Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought about by the people of the region themselves … developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions, and charting your own destinies. (Watch) In the end, the so-called ‘nation-builders’ wrecked far more nations than they built — and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves. (Watch)..."

From President Trump's speech in Riyadh.

Here's how the NYT covered the tremendously important speech: "Trump’s Pledge to the Middle East: No More ‘Lectures on How to Live’/In Saudi Arabia, the president denounced Western intervention and nation-building, garnering both praise and eye rolls." (Yes, the speech garnered.) Excerpt:

"You have a beautiful voice and a beautiful accent. The only problem is I can’t understand a word you’re saying."

“You have a beautiful voice and a beautiful accent. The only problem is I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

Maybe the funniest Trump quote of all time. Instant classic.

pic.twitter.com/OMWCb8s7iI

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 5, 2025

I see that Matt Walsh comments: "Maybe the funniest Trump quote of all time. Instant classic." 

I don't think it's funny at all. It's truly awkward when you are on public display in a position where you are under pressure to respond to a person who speaks in a way that you can't understand. I've been in that situation more than once. It's difficult! I probably said something like "I'm terribly sorry, but I couldn't understand you," which led to a repetition and an embarrassing struggle. Trump avoided the problem of spending time on a repetition, and he was quite gentle and gracious. The female reporter wanted to talk about the plight of women in Afghanistan, and that's not a topic for comedy. It also wasn't the topic of that press briefing, so it was good that he didn't veer into the problems of countries other than Israel and its adversaries.

"The government has assured tourists that Afghanistan is safe, scenic, welcoming — and a bargain to boot."

I'm reading "Ignoring Warnings, a Growing Band of Tourists Venture to Afghanistan/With the war now over, the Taliban are welcoming foreign travelers, even as governments advise their citizens to stay away" (NYT).

Taliban officials said they relied on tourists, especially bloggers and YouTubers, to extol the virtues of visiting Afghanistan... A small percentage of foreign visitors are women, tourism officials said... They are not required to wear burqas or cover their faces.... Male tourists, too, are expected to dress modestly, but they do not face the same intense scrutiny as women....

[When] Allen Ruppel, 63, a retired insurance company executive from Wisconsin... told his wife where he was going, he said, she joked that “I can’t stop you, but I might get an Afghan hound to replace you.” Mr. Ruppel, who wore a blue shalwar kameez, said he was surprised by how warmly he had been received by Afghans and by how safe the country seemed. He said he would encourage his friends to “open your minds and take a fresh look at Afghanistan.”

There's a photo captioned: "A Chinese visitor from a tour group in front of the remains of the 1,600-year-old Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 in Bamiyan." Imagine posing in the empty niche of a colossus and posting on Instagram. I met a traveler from an antique land....

"Aside from joking about his wealth, Mr. Biden has openly stewed over one of Mr. Trump’s flashier — and apparently effective — stunts as president."

"During [a recent] speech at Brookings, Mr. Biden said he had been 'stupid' not to sign his name to Covid stimulus checks that were distributed to Americans early in his term. Mr. Trump emblazoned his signature on checks distributed after a relief bill was passed in the spring of 2020.... Mr. Biden has also not voiced much public regret for deciding to call his economic plan 'Bidenomics,' though he has privately groused to allies about his dislike of the name. And while his administration has acknowledged mistakes during the chaotic and deadly troop pullout in Afghanistan in 2021, Mr. Biden does not regret pushing forward with the withdrawal."

From an article by Katie Rogers that, I think, is trying to be kind to Biden: "A Reflective Biden Harbors Some Regrets as His Term Winds Down/President Biden will seek solace and 'relief' during a visit with Pope Francis next month, according to people familiar with his plans. His public comments have offered a glimpse into what is on his mind" (NYT)

"I tried to explain to them how the Taliban has destroyed all the dreams I worked so hard to achieve. They kept saying how happy they are here..."

"... and how safe it is now. These are the things that impact them directly.... But what value does safety have when you lose all your dreams for it?"

Said 24-year-old Afghan woman, speaking about her female cousins, who were visiting from Europe. She is quoted in "Women despair over Taliban rules, but many Afghan returnees don’t see it/Afghans living abroad are flocking back to visit relatives for the first time since the Taliban takeover. Severe restrictions on women are not top of mind" (WaPo)(free-access link).

The man arrested for attempting to assassinate Trump was interviewed by the NYT last year for an article about Americans participating in the war in Ukraine.

Here's the article from March 2023: "Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker/People who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a U.S.-led war are active on the Ukrainian front, with ready access to American weapons."

Here's this morning's article: "Suspected Gunman Said He Was Willing to Fight and Die in Ukraine/Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, told The New York Times in 2023 that he had traveled to Ukraine and wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight there" (NYT). Excerpt:

Mr. Routh, who had no military experience, said he had traveled to the country after Russia’s invasion and wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight there. In a telephone interview with The New York Times in 2023, when Mr. Routh was in Washington, he spoke with the self-assuredness of a seasoned diplomat who thought his plans to support Ukraine’s war effort were sure to succeed. But he appeared to have little patience for anyone who got in his way. When an American foreign fighter seemed to talk down to him in a Facebook message he shared with The New York Times, Mr. Routh said, “he needs to be shot.”

In the interview, Mr. Routh said he was in Washington to meet with the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission “for two hours” to help push for more support for Ukraine. The commission is led by members of Congress and staffed by congressional aides. It is influential on matters of democracy and security and has been vocal in supporting Ukraine.

He said he was meeting with the Commission? Was he? 

Mr. Routh also said he was seeking recruits for Ukraine from among Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban. He said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He said dozens had expressed interest.

Again, things he said. Was that fact-checked in 2023? What I'm seeing in the old article is: "It is not clear whether he has succeeded [in recruiting Afghan soldiers], but one former Afghan soldier said he had been contacted and was interested in fighting if it meant leaving Iran, where he was living illegally."

I want to know more about Routh's connections and activities.

"Ten generals and admirals are mobilizing to defend Vice President Kamala Harris from Republican attempts to tie her to the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan."

Axios reports.

That sounds wrong, but at least they are all retired.

What is the substance of the defense? "The group accused Trump of leaving Biden and Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal and little time to do so."

Arlington Cemetery — "It is not a place for politics.... And I will never politicize them."

I've avoided discussing the topic, because I can see that to talk about it is to violate the principle that the military dead should not be politicized. And yet to follow that principle is to cramp political debate about war, and political debate about war should be central to every presidential campaign. And the assertion that this is no place for politics is itself political debate.

But the main reason I'm going to start talking about this issue is because the Kamala Harris X account put up this long tweet yesterday. I've boldfaced the quotes I used for the post title:

As Vice President, I have had the privilege of visiting Arlington National Cemetery several times. It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honor American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation. It is not a place for politics. And yet, as was reported this week, Donald Trump’s team chose to film a video there, resulting in an altercation with cemetery staff. Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt. This is nothing new from Donald Trump. This is a man who has called our fallen service members “suckers” and “losers” and disparaged Medal of Honor recipients. A man who, during a previous visit to the cemetery, reportedly said of fallen service members, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” This is a man who is unable to comprehend anything other than service to himself. If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it is that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honored, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude. And it is my belief that someone who cannot meet this simple, sacred duty should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States of America. I will always honor the service and sacrifice of all of America’s fallen heroes, who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of our beloved nation and our cherished freedoms. I mourn them and salute them. And I will never politicize them.

Those cannot be words straight from the mind of Kamala Harris. They sound like words written for Joe Biden to read off a teleprompter, replete with his oft-repeated claim that Trump said  “suckers” and “losers” and “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” It's entirely political, including, of course, the assertion that it is not political.

Trump's visit to the cemetery was also political. It was a first move in a political game that Harris ought to have chosen not to play. But she couldn't get all her supporters to refrain from playing, and in the end, she jumped in. She made the obvious move, and it is an awful blunder. You knew it was a blunder — didn't you? (I hope you are at least that savvy) — but you just had to do it. 

If only you'd had the sense and the restraint to delete most of the words. Let me help retrospectively and uselessly:

"Rahmatullah Anwari, 30, who used to grow rain-dependent wheat... borrowed money to feed his family of eight and..."

"... to pay for his father’s medical treatment. One of the villagers who had lent him money demanded his 8-year-old daughter in exchange for part of the loan. 'I have a hole in my heart when I think of them coming and taking my daughter,' he said. Mohammed Khan Musazai, 40, had bought cattle on loan.... The lenders took his land and also wanted his daughter, who was just 4 at the time. Nazdana, a 25-year-old who is one of his two wives and is the girl’s mother, offered to sell her own kidney instead — an illegal practice that has become so common that some have taken to referring to the Herat encampment as the 'one-kidney village.' She has a fresh scar on her stomach from the kidney extraction, but the family’s debt is still only half paid. 'They asked me for this daughter, and I’m not going to give her,' she said. 'My daughter is still very young. She still has a lot of hopes and dreams that she should realize.'"

From "Barren Fields and Empty Stomachs: Afghanistan’s Long, Punishing Drought/In a country especially vulnerable to climate change, a drought has displaced entire villages and left millions of children malnourished" (NYT).

Someone? Why would it be anyone but Lloyd Austin himself?

I'm trying to read "‘He’s a cipher’: How Austin’s need for privacy just backfired/Pressure is growing on Capitol Hill and within the administration for someone to lose their job" (Politico).

Austin’s failure to inform his most senior advisers, congressional leaders and even President Joe Biden of his hospitalization last week due to complications from a medical procedure has erupted into a controversy that’s left senior White House and Pentagon officials infuriated and befuddled. Some Republicans quickly called for investigations or even for Austin to be disciplined or fired....

Even for Austin...

Some... Republicans....

We're talking about the defense of the United States!

Austin’s job appears safe — at least for the moment, but pressure is growing within the administration and on Capitol Hill for someone to lose their job.....

Why protect Austin?

"It seems to me like the more time goes on, the more Trump is a shoo-in."

"It seems like if this shit keeps getting crazier and crazier, there are going to be a lot of liberals voting for him. He was the one in the beginning saying we've got to stop people from dying. Like, do you want Ukraine to win this war? Remember that conversation? He's like, 'I want people to stop dying.' Like, which is the best answer any politician has ever given. And the way he said it. See if you can find the one where he's talking about Milley leaving stuff over in Afghanistan. I might have saved it. It was so funny, the way he was saying it. Did you see the thing he was saying about electric tanks? That's hilarious too. ... 'They're gonna make electric tanks, it's gonna be great for the environment, they're not gonna work well. They're not gonna run long. They're gonna blow the shit out of everything, but it's gonna be good for the environment.' And the way he said it was like a guy doing standup.... The way he says it, it's like he sets it up like he's setting up a punch line. Like, he sets up the story, 'Sir, it would be cheaper to leave them over.' He's like... 'That guy's a fucking idiot.'  To see a guy like him talk like that...."

Said Joe Rogan — recorded October 11, 2023.

"The Taliban says that women’s lives have improved under its two-year rule."

"Supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada issued a ban on forced marriages shortly after taking power, and he vowed in a recent audio message that he wants women to live 'comfortable' lives. But many women tell a different story. A 29-year-old participating in an art workshop for girls and young women in Kabul said she is afraid of the moments when her fellow students say they are starting to feel better. 'These days, it actually just means they have given up hoping for a better life,' said the woman, who like others interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals."

From "As Afghan schools remain closed for girls, mental health crisis builds" (WaPo).

Is it a different story or is it the same story? What is a "comfortable life"? Is it not accepting the reality where you find yourself and feeling good about whatever it is you happen to have? Is hope comfortable?

Teaching in Afghanistan.

These Afghan teachers are risking their lives, crossing a dangerous river on inflated inner tubes, to get to their pupils.

More extraordinary teachers 🎧 https://t.co/Gbxrb9zA2v pic.twitter.com/wTmxWXuMER

— BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) April 24, 2023

"A Biden administration review of Afghanistan withdrawal blames Trump."

NPR headline.

"During the transition from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration, the outgoing Administration provided no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies," the assessment said. "Indeed, there were no such plans in place when President Biden came into office, even with the agreed upon full withdrawal just over three months away."

"When I see the boys going to school and doing whatever they want, it really hurts me. I feel very bad."

"When I see my brother leaving for school, I feel broken, Earlier, my brother used to say I won't go to school without you. I hugged him and said you go, I'll join you later. People tell my parents you shouldn't worry, you have sons. I wish we had the same rights."

From "Afghanistan girls' education: 'When I see the boys going to school, it hurts'" (BBC).

"Everyone over here talking about eye liner and I just want to know why they're sitting in order of least to most foot coverings."

Please go enjoy the comments at the subreddit r/pics on "Taliban announces graduation of three new pilots." 

Don't miss the Bee Gees parodies.

Althouse and Meade text, just now, about Biden's announcement that he will end the Covid 19 emergency on May 11th.

 

(The photo I shared with Meade comes from my son Chris. You can see a larger version of that picture here. From there, you can get to more of his photos from Kobe (and Kyoto), Japan.)

"In the first months of his presidency, JOE BIDEN vented his frustration about Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, telling a friend that she was 'a work in progress.'"

Politico reports on what's in a new book ("The Fight of His Life," by Chris Whipple). 

[W]ord got back to [Biden] that second gentleman DOUGLAS EMHOFF had been complaining about Harris’ policy portfolio — which her allies felt was hurting her politically....

“[Biden] hadn’t asked Harris to do anything he hadn’t done as vice president — and she’d begged him for the voting rights assignment.”...

Well, why wasn't Harris given what she wanted? Why didn't they try to help her build her reputation? If they thought she was a "work in progress," why didn't they help her progress? Did Biden make her Vice President to impede her progress? 

"U.S. officials are starting to grumble about Ukraine and possible corruption. After months of having Americans bake Ukraine flag cupcakes..."

"... and fly Ukraine’s colors outside our houses, there’s a bit of hedging going on now. The government seems to be soft-rolling it, like in this Thomas Friedman piece: 'Privately, U.S. officials are a lot more concerned about Ukraine’s leadership than they are letting on. There is deep mistrust between the White House and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine—considerably more than has been reported.' This is, after all, a former Soviet republic full of rent seekers and minigarchs, and you don’t become president without fraternizing with those people, and those people, well, they don’t just go away once you’re in power, and all the Vogue covers in the world can’t whitewash that."

Writes Nellie Bowles at Common Sense, reviewing the top stories in her column called "TGIF." She's also got this, about Afghanistan:

"The Taliban’s brutality toward women in Afghanistan is a 'suffocating crackdown' that goes beyond the widely condemned bans on work and school to include..."

"... sex slavery, forced marriages, violence, torture, and disappearances, according to Amnesty International, which published a new report on the subject Wednesday. Women detained after protesting for their rights describe horrific treatment, including electrocution, beatings with cables, and being deprived of food, water, and medical care. Taliban 'whistleblowers' say the number of women detained for 'moral crimes' (being outside with a man who is not a relative) is growing.... Women protesters who were detained and beaten showed their injuries publicly. That prompted a change of tactics, according to women quoted in the Amnesty report, who said they were later beaten on areas of their bodies, such as breasts and the pubic area, that they could not show publicly. 'They did this to us so that we couldn’t show the world. A soldier who was walking next to me hit me in my breast, and he said, "I can kill you right now, and no one would say anything." This happened every time we went out: we were insulted—physically, verbally and emotionally,' the report quotes one woman as saying...."

From "Afghan Women Are Worse Off Than Ever/A new Amnesty report lays out the Taliban playbook for erasing half the population: electrocutions, beatings, detentions, and disappearances" (Foreign Policy).