Roundup
Once again, we’re dealing with so much news at once – mostly terrible news, at that – that I’ve decided to do another roundup for some of it:
(1) Stuart Scheller strikes back. I wish him well.
(2) Dan Crenshaw and Lara Logan report on some troubling news:
Both Logan and Crenshaw are independently reporting that Americans have been turned away from safety at that airport over the past couple of days.
(3) I’m in agreement with Jonathan Turley on the Lester Holt interview with Capitol Police Officer Byrd, the shooter of Ashli Babbitt. In a previous post, I discussed his self-puffery and the admissions he made. Turley has a lot more to say in that vein.
(4) Here are Frei and Barnes on the same topic:
(5) We seem to have no idea what is truth and what is lies concerning the most recent drone attack in Afghanistan. But I think it’s a good bet that those in charge of this F-ed up in some way. In another portion of that Frei and Barnes discussion, Frei refers to the number of screwups by the Biden team in Afghanistan as “fractal incompetence.” I think that’s a good description of that fact that the errors there were and are so pervasive that they seem to be part of every aspect of the withdrawal, both small and large. Frei reluctantly concludes (as I have) that this indicates that the seeming errors may be the result of plan rather than sheer incompetence of such depth and breadth. I’m about 50/50 on that right now, because there’s so much malevolence and so much incompetence that it’s hard to choose.
(6) It turns out that ballot integrity was violated for a large number of drop box ballots in Georgia. Fancy that:
To preserve the integrity of ballots cast in an election, Georgia Emergency Rule 183-1-14-1.8-.14 dictated that absentee ballots placed in drop boxes, “shall be immediately transported to the county registrar and processed and stored in the same manner as absentee ballots returned by mail are processed and stored,”…
43,907 of the 61,731 absentee ballots that were put in dropboxes by voters, a whopping 72 percent, violated this rule.
Based on their analysis, 28,194 absentee ballots (46 percent) “were not documented as being received by the elections registrar or the director’s designee until the day after they were collected from the drop box.”
Another 15,713 ballots (26 percent) had “no receipt time recorded at all by the elections office.”
All 43,907 of these ballots “were counted in the certified results of the November 3, 2020 election despite being delivered to the registrar’s office in clear violation of the chain of custody documentation of the Georgia State Election Board’s July 2020 rule,” explains the Georgia Star News.
This is far greater than the margin of Biden’s win in Georgia.
I was hoping your roundup would have mentioned the mother in Chicago who lost custody of her son because she hadn’t had the covid vaccine. This seems to be setting a terrifying precedent, but I’ve not seen many people mention it. Maybe you and other bloggers have more confidence than I do that it’ll be overturned. If it’s not…millions of parents and their children are in grave danger.
The commenters at Powerline after Paul Mirengoff made not one, but two, extremely feeble attempts to defend the clearly incompetent Michael Byrd (who did himself no favors with any intelligent and sensible person in his interview) in the murder of Ashli were almost all in agreement that not only is it impossible to justify such a shooting but, had the races been reversed, the coverage in the MSM would have been rather different, to say the least. Perhaps the starkest illustration of the chasm separating our nation’s irrational citizens from those who can still think clearly is that, almost without exception, those who regarded the death of the blessed martyr Floyd as the saddest such event since the crucifixion of Jesus consider the actions of Byrd to have been “heroic” and commendable.
NS:
No such confidence on my part.. It’s merely that there are so many news stories that I have to pick and choose.
One of the mistakes was believing the Afghan army would provide serious resistance to the Taliban, thereby allowing the evacuation to proceed more successfully. The counter-argument is that by bugging out surreptitiously the US disheartened the Afghans and facilitated the disaster.
Leaving that aside, I’m reminded of the Gurkhas, the legendary fierce fighters from Nepal who were incorporated into the British Indian Army and fought just about everywhere, including in WWII, with distinction. So much so that there was a successful movement in the UK to bring Gurkha pensions in line with the official UK levels and allow Gurkhas to resettle in the UK if they wished.
__________________________________
Actress Joanna Lumley [“The Avengers” and “Absolutely Fabulous”], daughter of Gurkha corps Major James Lumley who had highlighted the treatment of the Gurkhas and campaigned for their rights, commented, “This is the welcome we have always longed to give”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurkha
__________________________________
I don’t know the story of the Gurkhas beyond the above, but I do wonder how the British acquired the loyalty of the Gurkhas and how differently Afghanistan might have gone if we had managed to do so with the Afghan army.
Unless I missed it (entirely probable) I didn’t see it in your previous post on it, or in Turley’s piece, and didn’t watch the Frei and Barnes clip, but I think it’s strongly implied by you – Byrd has made his defense in the upcoming wrongful death suit significantly harder with that interview. That should be made plain. He was clearly ill-advised, or not advised by legal counsel before that.
I was a bit shocked by his admissions, though in this day and age, I shouldn’t have been.
gmmay70:
Yes, that is covered at length, and is the main point that Frei and Barnes make.
huxley:
Headlines from behind the Telegraph paywall:
Afghan commandos could fight for British Army like Gurkhas
Government considering proposals to create brand new regiment consisting of Afghan special forces troops evacuated from Kabul
“Almost 90 Retired Flag Officers Demand Mark Milley, Lloyd Austin Resign After Afghanistan Debacle”
https://thefederalist.com/2021/08/30/almost-90-retired-flag-officers-demand-mark-milley-lloyd-austin-resign-after-afghanistan-debacle/
Finally.
“I do wonder how the British acquired the loyalty of the Gurkhas” huxley
Back then, the Brits earned that loyalty by acting in a way that warriors could admire.
The Gurkhas are citizens of the Kingdom of Nepal. 81% of the Nepalese are Hindus, 9% Buddhist, 4.4% are Muslim. Allah has forbidden Muslims to give their loyalty to anyone who is not Muslim. We were never going to earn the loyalty of the majority of the Afghans, only a temporary, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Neo,
Regarding point 2. This is just my opinion and I hope I am wrong
It seems we cannot get any actual numbers regarding which Americans have been left behind in this mess. Even though the government must have a pretty good idea who is still there.
After last week when the government last week practically begged for any Americans still in country to contact them on twitter or by text. They were gathering that information. So that whomever was left behind would not be able to get any further messages out after the pull out. That is why they spent so much time trying to spin that whomever was left was still there of their own volition.
I realize that probably comes off as overly cynical. But after watching this whole mess. And the Biden admin seemingly giving little care regarding anything else but the “optics” of the situation. It would seem totally in line with their thinking on the subject.
I suspect some of them will be appearing in Taliban videos as their “guests” in the next few weeks.
LtCol Stuart Scheller, I salute you sir. Stones as big as basketballs, the integrity, and responsibility of a Lincoln. You da Man! If there is cosmic justice, you words and actions will echo around the military, the Congress, the electorate, and bring some reform. You have fallen on your sword, it should not be in vain.
LtCol Stuart Scheller, I salute you sir.–J.J.
What does “relieved of duty” mean?
Is it a time-out, a discharge, a loss of pension?
On the airport situation: the last five U.S. planes left HKIA at 11:59 p.m. Kabul time. “The U.S. military has confirmed that all U.S. forces have left Afghanistan. It is now August 31st in Kabul, which had long been the scheduled date of the final American withdrawal from the country after nearly two decades of a U.S. military presence there in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. . . . Though the reports we have now are unconfirmed, a new Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) has emerged saying that Hamid Karzai International Airport is now ‘uncontrolled.'”
I don’t know whether the figures given at the link will answer Mythx’s question about the numbers of those left behind, but in hopes that the link helps:
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42195/americas-20-year-war-in-afghanistan-ends-after-last-troops-depart-kabul
Headlines from behind the Telegraph paywall:
Afghan commandos could fight for British Army like Gurkhas
tcrosse:
I found this similar article at the Daily Mail:
_____________________________________
MPs and former military leaders have called on the government to create a new regiment in the British Army for Afghan special forces – just like the Gurkhas.
Ministers are set to consider suggestions on how to best utilise the skills of hundreds of Afghan commandos, who UK troops helped train, who have arrived in the UK on the last evacuation flights from Kabul.
The move already has support from veterans now in Parliament as well as the former head of Army.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9938445/Afghan-special-forces-commandos-fight-British-Army-like-Gurkhas.html
_____________________________________
The article has a good sidebar piece on the Gurkhas.
Looks like we’re officially out.
Clearly the plan was to finish the bug-out as quickly as possibly and before any more bombings. Best of luck to those Americans left behind to the tender mercies of the Taliban.
But what next? The public ransoming or beheadings of those the Taliban finds?
___________________________________________
Biden breaks promise to ‘stay’ in Afghanistan until every American evacuated
Biden promised in interview: ‘If there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay to get them all out’
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-breaks-promise-stay-afghanistan-every-american-evacuated
“Actually, rather than saying the war in Afghanistan is over, it would be more accurate to say the focus of operations has shifted, back to the U.S.”
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/470995/
The top of the piece is a quote from Sen. Ben Sasse posting his “Ls” online so to speak.
“But what next? The public ransoming or beheadings of those the Taliban finds?”
For a Sept. 11th online worldwide video “Spectacular-Spectacular.”
Mythx:
It is impossible to get too cynical about this vile administration.
I’m not old but I’ve seen a decent amount of happenings and actions in my 64 years. Here is an aphorism, two actually, that I think apply to Biden, et al:
1. A stopped clock is correct twice a day
2. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile
For Biden’s actions and failed outcomes to be the result of incompetence these two observations would have to be false. I am left to conclude that much of what he has destroyed over the past seven months has been done according to plan and on purpose.
Neo,
Thanks for that. I didn’t really have time for the video, since I’m trying to consume as much info as possible in the time I have. I figured it must’ve been in there somewhere. Just figures it was in the one place I didn’t check.
gmmay70:
The video is over 2 hours long, but here I cued up a 6-minute segment just on Byrd.
Huxley,
In the Marines (and the service in general), it means a reassignment to a lesser position and effectively the end of your career, or at least advancement. If you make it to 18 years, your pension is guaranteed, short of murdering someone. What Scheller did was ensure he’d never see Colonel, or a command position again.
What he’s done since then is resign his commission, which is a far more substantial statement. Since he had only been in 17 years, he has voluntarily rejected his pension, among other things. This is the strongest statement a military officer can legally make regarding his convictions.
Scheller: “I could stay in the Marine Corps for another three years, but I don’t think that’s the path I’m on. I’m resigning my commission as a United States Marine, effective now,” Scheller said. “I am forfeiting retirements, all entitlements, I don’t want a single dollar. I don’t want any money from the VA. I don’t want any VA benefits [even though] I’m sure I’m entitled 100%.”
huxley:
Before the Brits try to utilize the Afghan troops, they might want to review the history of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857-59.
gmmay70, Chases Eagles:
Strong stuff. Hats off to Lt. Col. Scheller!
Hope he’s got some $ socked away.
LtCol Scheller resigns. WOW!! That’s the ultimate move of protest.
He’s thrown away a lot of economic security as a signal of his seriousness. He has thrown down the gauntlet. His words and actions should reverberate even more loudly.
Whatever his future course, I’m quite sure he will do well. There’s still a demand for men of honor and responsibility.
Huxley: gmmay70 answered very well the question you asked. He could probably have stayed on active duty for 20 years and qualified for his retirement. However, there is a chance that higher ups may have ordered him to be court martialed per the UCMJ for disrespect for a senior officer.
“CMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) disrespect falls under Article 89, which is disrespect toward a superior military officer. Charges for this form of disrespect can be given to anyone who shows disrespect to a superior officer and the officer doesn’t have to be present to be disrespected.”
That would be an interesting trial, considering the circumstances. Unfortunately, in today’s military there’s a chance he might be convicted and stripped of rank ,pay, and benefits. That would be a rather dramatic punishment, but who knows what might happen in the “woke” military. That’s now off the table, though.
Regarding the drone strike with significant collateral damage:
Hellfire missiles carried by US drones now come armed with two different warheads — one with an explosive payload and one with a spinning set of blades that can cut through a car’s metal roof and slice up anyone inside. Not much publicity has surrounded the use of the second type of drone, but it has reportedly cut down on collateral damage significantly. It is now possible to take out the occupants of a single vehicle without harming anyone outside the vehicle.
The military spokesman has not said which type of warhead was used on the drone strike outside the Hamid Karzai Airport. If it was the explosive type, that would indeed set off the explosives inside the car, and planner must have known that and weighed their options appropriately. If it was the spinning blade type, that would have killed people in the car (and probably rendered said car undriveable), but it would only have detonated the explosives if it had triggered the detonators in the car.
That is not to say the military did not eff up, as they surely knew explosives were in the car (the reporting says they observed that from the drone) and they were likely to go off. Or even if they were using a non-explosive warhead, they must have known it was entirely possible it would hit the detonators.
But using the second type of warhead would make collateral damage much less likely, something the ISIS-K suicide bombers were not concerned with the previous day.
So of course it works for the next of kin to go to the press and describe their peace-loving dead relatives, and lots of news consumers in the USA will be chagrined over that. But I find it more and more difficult to shed a tear over non-combatant deaths that take place when suicide bombers do their stuff. It’s a little like the journalists in Palestine who claimed they never knew militants were firing rockets into Israel from their building. Their ability plausibly to claim deniability goes down with both the severity and frequency of terror being unleashed under their nose.
@Huxley:
Got some slight experience with Nepalese descendants of Gurkhas. Plenty in Hong Kong as the British kept Gurkhas here to guard the border and hunt down illegal immigrants and infiltrators. Very much suited to it because a chunk of the border region is mountainous and wild. Also, not being Chinese, it was harder for them to be corrupted by gangsters and other agencies. For the same reason, until recently, banks would hire Pakistani or Sikh security guards because rightly assumed they would be more inclined to unload one or both shotgun barrels into Chinese bank robbers.
Well, Gurkhas who had served x number of years here were permitted to ship their wives over. So children were being born in Hong Kong and acquiring right of permanent residence automatically upon seeing the light of day. All good you might think? Hell no. They’re now a very problematic violent, drug, and prostitution-riddled deracinated underclass who can’t face or handle life back in Nepal (where they’d probably do fine had they been born there).
If you look at a mean IQ map of Asia, Nepalese are the dumbest of the lot. Poor fellows, not their fault. They make great enlisted soldiers (inability to foresee future consequences of present actions as well as folks with more frontal matter might be one factor in their legendary bravery though) given discipline and lots of structure and regimental tradition. Free of that, they simply don’t have what it takes to be more than road gang or sanitation workers in a place with mean IQ 105. A few do a bit more OK as restaurant servers in the expat trade because have English skills. And note that only the most exceptional ones got recruited as mercenaries… there’s much reversion to the mean in the next generation and subsequent ones.
Naturally the British *are* stupid enough to want to import more socio-economic and racial problems, so they will. It would make more sense to set up a grifting NGO in Nepal to look after retired Gurkhas and their immediate families for one generation extra only… would still end up being a terrible grift, but would do more good there than importing them to the West ever could.
Singapore has the right idea. They use Gurkhas as a special security detachment whose job is to provide heavy firepower to protect the top leadership in the event of any kind of unrest or infiltration. They are kept totally isolated from the general public and not allowed under any circumstances to settle in or even re-enter Singapore after their contracts are up.
Incredible infantrymen… as infantrymen. Legendary. They scared the living crap out of the notoriously vicious Japanese in the Burma fighting. But not who you want moving in next door and raising a clan.
NS,
The vaccine issue is only going to get worse. We’ve got two cases pending in NYS that are going the way the Chicago case is going.
I probably won’t be around to see it. The NYS Unified Court System, my employer, has issued the ultimatum: All employees are to be vaccinated by 9/27/21 or be labeled unfit for work/duty and terminated. I have refused the vaccine thus far and have no plans to get it, especially now. I hate bullies and I hate bullying, in any form. I’m already putting out feelers for employment in some other industry, possibly another state, that won’t require vaccination. So, it looks like Biomedical Apartheid is now going to be “a thing”.
We cannot comply our way out of this. They will make people jump through hoops and those hoops will get smaller and smaller and smaller.
2021/2022 might make the previous two years look sane.
Re: Gurkhas
Zaphod:
Well, that’s not quite the feelgood ending I hoped for. At least their bravery was on the mark and not some grift like all the black/female computer whizzes in Hollywood product.
___________________________
Former Indian Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw once stated that: “If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha.”
–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurkha
@huxley:
Re Bravery:
John Masters (Fascinating career — started out at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, then Indian Army, then eventually successful author living in USA) wrote a wonderful book about officering in a Gurkha regiment before and during WWII. In there, there’s a wonderful vignette about a platoon jogging up a jungly hill under machine gun fire grinning and *laughing*. Not as many came back down the hill after, but all the Japanese on top of it may safely be assumed to have died with their balls in their mouths. Gurkhas didn’t use their Kukri knives for decoration.
They were proven time and again in real fighting, not Perfumed Prince Wargaming, so there’s no doubt as to their courage and fearsomeness.
But not next door, please.
Yeah, I know. I just rarely click on videos because I’ve become near-pathologically averse to watching or listening to people talk about politics or news. It’s a failing. Apologies.
gmmay70:
I don’t consider it a failing. I don’t like watching talk videos – too slow; I’d rather read the transcript. But I do watch certain people, and I like Frey and Barnes in particular. I’ve almost never watch a whole 2-hour-plus video, though. I just skip around and find the topic that interests me and listen to that part.
Also, there’s a trick you can do of speeding videos up, so the voices sound a bit chipmunk-y. Not recommended for music!
Hats off to (now) Mr. Scheller – please note, that is the same honorific George Washington chose as president.
https://www.rd.com/article/presidential-title-facts/
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/facts/washington-stories/a-president-by-any-other-name/
Semper fi.
This was the post Neo linked.
https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2021/08/29/marine-officer-relieved-of-duty-for-slamming-leaders-over-afghanistan-debacle-issues-blistering-warning-n434835
Here are headlines from some of the other ones currently in the sidebar or directly accessible (not linking them, so as to not trigger the Hall Monitor):
“USMC Take Troubling Step Against Marine Commander Who Demanded Accountability on Afghanistan”
(threatening to paint him as having mental health problems and being a “threat” because he spoke about bringing the “system down.” — But as he said, “You can’t fire me, I resign!”)
“ABC Just Did Something Unthinkable to Commander of Marine Company Hit by Kabul Suicide Attack”
(He wrote a touching post about the death of his men; then ABC stole the post, used Capt. Ball’s name and published it as an op-ed by him, titled “My fallen Marines will always be my heroes: Opinion.” They even created an “author” profile for him on their website. All without his permission.)
“NBC News Reporter Triggers Leftists After Brutally on-Point Assessment About Afghanistan Legacy”
(Even the MSM are warmongers now.)
“Jen Psaki’s Answer on if Biden Regrets How Afghanistan Exit Strategy Played out Is Unacceptable”
(it certainly was)
“The Administration Lied About Giving a List of Names to the Taliban and Not a Fact-Checker to Be Found”
(some of those names were of the female students at the American University, mentioned in other threads)
“Blinken Confirms Everything You Thought About Biden’s Afghanistan Disaster in One Awful Sentence”
(to wit, on Americans and allies being free to leave: “Now, of course, we don’t take the Taliban at their word; we take them by their deed. And that’s what we’re going to be looking to.”)
I will link this one, because it’s important to read the whole thing.
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2021/08/30/blinken-official-final-remarks-on-afghanistan-show-how-little-they-care-about-americans-n435573
Remember Obama’s strawman catchphrase?
This IS what Democrats are.
There are a lot more at RedState that are just as sickening.
“As Biden Pulls out, bin Laden’s Security Chief Triumphantly Returns to Be Embraced in Afghanistan”
“That’s It: All Planes Out of Afghanistan, Gen. McKenzie Admits Americans Were Left, Praises the Taliban”
“Reports of Americans, Allies Still Trapped: Some Say Denied Entry to Kabul Airport by US”
But THIS guy made it out.
“Rapist Evacuated From Kabul to US Reveals Bigger Problem With People the Biden Team Evacuated”
“Afghanistan Veteran Puts Dire Situation in Perspective With Message That Should Make Biden Feel Shame”
The tragedy is that many Democrats will give him a pass (or even spin it up into credit!), but all of those trapped Americans and our allies from Afghanistan and NATO have families and friends; all of the killed and wounded troops, past and present, have families and friends; all of the veterans and charity groups and (yes, even some) politicians trying desperately to help get people out have families and friends.
They won’t give Biden or anyone in his administration a pass.
Not anymore.
You thought I was kidding about spinning this mess into “credit” for Biden and his Bumbling Buffoons.
Nope.
https://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2021/08/30/state-dept-spox-resorts-to-tweeting-jennifer-rubin-op-ed-about-who-deserves-more-credit-for-afghanistan-mess/
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2021/08/30/royal-flush-of-ron-klain-retweets-white-house-chief-of-staff-retweets-joy-reid-responding-to-jennifer-rubin-praising-the-airlift/
This debacle does have some resemblance to “Schindler’s List” – but not the positive one they are thinking about.
https://twitter.com/mattdizwhitlock/status/1432399441139482633
However, Schindler also lamented that he hadn’t done enough to save more people, so maybe they are right after all.
@AesopFan:
All Jennifer Rubin Reports gratefully accepted.
Her utterances are to me as Beer was to Ben Franklin: Proof that God loves me and wants me to be happy!
@ NS > “I was hoping your roundup would have mentioned the mother in Chicago who lost custody of her son because she hadn’t had the covid vaccine. This seems to be setting a terrifying precedent, but I’ve not seen many people mention it. Maybe you and other bloggers have more confidence than I do that it’ll be overturned. If it’s not…millions of parents and their children are in grave danger.”
Circling back, as someone we know is wont to do…
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2021/08/30/judge-revokes-mothers-custody-of-son-over-vaccination-status-n2594999?utm_campaign=rightrailsticky3
“Judge Shapiro just issued an order vacating portions of his prior order of August 11th so Rebecca Firlit can see her son again,”
The worst disease that afflicts us is the hubris of the left. Humility is the foundational virtue. Liberals/leftists/Democrats have none. Pick any issue — masks, lockdowns, the non-vaccine vaccines, the rampant slanders of all who disagree, and all the awfulness that they have demonstrated for years. They show the same moral failing with regard to the way they handle every one of these issues: a complete absence of any humility. Hubris reigns.
@ stan > “The worst disease that afflicts us is the hubris of the left.”
Being right about everything means never having to say you’re sorry.
@ Stan> “Humility is the foundational virtue.”
For myself, I would suggest that honesty, truthfulness, “Thou shalt not bear false witness” is, or should be, the foundational virtue. AKA: Reality is not optional.
I perceive it is their continual lying that turns our stomach, not so much their lack of humility. And all of us are subject to confirmation bias and the potential of lying to ourselves – a very difficult thing to avoid, but necessary if you are going to be a changer as was/is our hostess. One of the core benefits of blog postings and the multiple talents in comment threads such as this one is the ability to offer something that more closely approaches truth – initially or as later corrected.
So a modest rephrasing: “They show the same moral failing with regard to the way they handle every one of these issues: a complete absence of honesty.”
The talented, but still less than perfect, architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, was reported to have claimed in effect: “honest arrogance was preferable to hypocritical humility”. He was capable enough to get away with that – many others are not.
@ stan > “The talented, but still less than perfect, architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, was reported to have claimed in effect: “honest arrogance was preferable to hypocritical humility”. He was capable enough to get away with that – many others are not.”
He was responsible for a great many less-than-perfect creations, according to our son the architect, because he was too arrogant (honest or not) to let anyone interfere with his visions, including the clients paying for his services or the structural engineers pointing out the flaws.
It is not hypocritical to admit your limits, or to decline the lure of making every issue all about yourself.
The commenters at Powerline after Paul Mirengoff made not one, but two, extremely feeble attempts to defend the clearly incompetent Michael Byrd
In the course of that bit of advocacy, for what did Mirengoff blame Trump?