The Real Import of Afghanistan

 

If none of this makes sense to you, it’s because it’s working.

Much is being said and written about the horrendous events unfolding in Afghanistan.  I will leave it to others to spin out their narratives.   My goal here is to put forward some observations of facts, and ask some questions.  I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions. 

Fact 1: Just weeks before the takeover of Afghanistan, General Milley was in front of Congress on a military budget hearing proclaiming “white supremacy” as the top security risk facing the nation, as he answered questions about teaching Critical Race Theory in the military.

“It is important that we train, and we understand…and I wanna understand white rage.  And I’m white.”

Fact 2:  Again, at about the same time, Obama held a birthday bash on Martha’s Vinyard with about 700 people—unmasked, while at the same time, the president and blue state governors are issuing mask mandates for school children.

Fact 3:   The Biden Administration, without consulting with any of our allies or the Afghan military (indeed, after issuing assurances to them concerning the security of Afghanistan), abruptly pulls our intelligence people and contractors supporting Afghan forces.  This has the effect of blinding the military and then Biden publicly berates the Afghan army for not fighting.

Fact 4:  The US simply walked away from Bagram Air Base, a very strategic airfield,  in the weeks before the Taliban takeover while thousands of American civilians were still in Afghanistan.  Bagram was under no real threat from the Taliban.

Fact 5:  Most damning, some $80-100 billion of US equipment was left behind, much in its original, pristine packaging, including 75,000 vehicles, 200 aircraft (including Blackhawk helicopters).  Horrifyingly, night vision equipment was left behind, taking away a huge advantage we would have if we have to do battle with the Taliban.

Fact 6:  While all this is going on, Joe Biden and his press secretary are “out of office” on vacation.  While Biden returns to speak, his answers were inconsistent with facts on the ground.  Inaccuracies include statements that no Americans are being harmed (they were being beaten and passports taken). 

Fact 7:  The administration immediately began making plans for evacuating 30,000 Afghan refugees (no vetting, no vaccine requirements), but told our citizens outside Kabul to “shelter in place” with no plans to extract them.  Neither the Defense Department or State Department could provide numbers of U.S. citizens marooned there.  So far, of the people evacuated, less than 7% are American citizens.

Fact 8:  Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar was released from a Pakistani prison under pressure from Barack Obama in the infamous prisoner swap for deserter Bowie Bergdahl.  Baradar was a trusted advisor to Mullah Omar.

Fact 9: CIA director had a secret meeting with Baradar.  Don’t be surprised if, in addition to the military equipment, there is a cash transfer to the Taliban.  Here come the pallets of cash again.

Fact 10:  There are 3 leaders that have lots to say about a lot of things:  General Jim Mattis (who allowed bin Laden to escape Tora Bora and famously called Trump a “threat to the Constitution” last summer), Pope Francis and Barack Obama.  Suddenly, all three have been muted.  Why the sudden silence?

Fact 11: In the style reminiscent of Baghdad Bob, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki, is most incredibly asserting that Americans aren’t stranded in Afghanistan. 

This all looks very fishy, especially when you consider that Obama was at the forefront of excusing, ignoring or explaining away militant Islam.  At each terrorist attack, his first instincts were to get in front of the cameras and urge people “not to rush to judgment.”  He was the only Western leader not to make the trip and walk in solidarity with world leaders after the Nice attacks in France.   Obama likewise made sure that “recognizing Muslim accomplishments in science” was specifically written into the mission statement of NASA, a courtesy not extended to any Christian or Jewish sect.  The transfer of cash to the mullahs of Iran in connection with the JCPOA was egregious and provided needed lifeblood to a regime that was staggered.

These are just facts as they exist today.   As with the origins of COVID19 and the strange facts around the 2020 election results, the governing elite has left a great deal of ambiguity and open questions that require answers.  If you begin to piece together the threads, you are vulnerable to being labelled a “conspiracy theorist.”  But the facts speak for themselves.  Afghanistan is either borne out of intent or is one of the worst strategic and military blunders in human history. 

I will leave you with this thought.  Our federal government is allowing our own citizens to be exposed to the brutality of the Taliban with no sense of urgency and no real plan for getting them out.  Indeed, it is putting Afghanis first.  Locally, in cities like Chicago, law abiding citizens are being brutally attacked, carjacked, beaten and shot every week and government isn’t lifting a finger to help.  Indeed, every law and mandate that has been issued has been to coddle, protect and empower criminals.

In other words, government, by its passivity in dealing with threats is causing harm to its own citizens.  Its omissions are telling all of us that we are on our own, that government is abdicating its most important function, that we are going to live in a Hobbesian society.

It should deeply concern you, because it’s only a half step from allowing us to be harmed through passivity to becoming more active.   If you are experiencing an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach, you should.