A few words from Ric Grennell and Lara Logan on Afghanistan
Here’s Ric Grennell speaking about the intelligence community and the Afghanistan withdrawal:
Here’s Lara Logan on Tucker last night (one correction – I think “Islamophobia” accusations actually became a thing quite a bit before Obama came to office; my recollection is that it happened and CAIR pushed it when Bush was president and not all that long after 9/11):
Now that we’re out of Afghanistan – except for that indeterminate number of citizens left behind – how we will even learn the details of what’s happening there? The Biden administration would be only too happy if we never learn, because if it turns into the killing fields it would reflect poorly on them. So a blackout or near-blackout of news is a good thing as far as they’re concerned.
One of the things I heard on Tucker, last night I believe, is that the feds are putting out a call for interpreters and translators to help with the processing of the new SIV or other Afghan refugees. Tucker said wait a minute; I thought these people were interpreters? At least some of them should be. Who are they?
Steven Miller suggested on air today that most of these refugees were just random Afghan people used to fill up the planes as a compassion talking-point. (A little hard to believe.) Somewhat more specifically, he said that if any of these people had worked with our military or embassy then they would have fingerprints on file with other documentation. Miller’s impression is that a great many of these people have no documented background of any kind.
“How will we ever learn the details of what’s happening there?”
I think that we may learn the details because the Taliban will not hide it, they’ll be proud of it. At some point we’ll be seeing videos of beheadings, mass executions in soccer stadiums, and more. What are we going to do about it? Obviously nothing. What better way is there to flaunt their victory over the US and recruit more Islamic terrorists than that?
I’m afraid we’re only starting to see the beginning of the horror that is about to unfold, and I think that this time the MSM will not be able to hide it.
Chris B:
That’s certainly possible. But I’m not at all sure it will happen, for two reasons.
The first is that the Taliban has gotten smarter. They’ve almost certainly noticed that one of the reasons the west cared about ISIS and ultimately cracked down on it (and the Arab world turned on it to a certain extent) was the extreme bloodthirstiness of ISIS and its eagerness to flaunt and publicize that bloodthirstiness. I think that current Taliban will be somewhat more secretive about their torture and murder. They will do enough that word will get around in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries, and it will have a deterrent effect on ever working with the Americans or the westerners again (if indeed there ever is such an opportunity). But they won’t do so much that the world will become especially incensed.
And the second reason is: who will be reporting on it, if western reporters are gone from Afghanistan? Maybe random Afghan people, but if the MSM decides not to cover it, how many people here will even know? And how many of the people who do hear of it will turn away, say this sort of thing happens all over the world, and not connect it directly to the manner of our withdrawal there?
I assume that word will leak out. The problem will be figuring out what to believe.
There are already stories of door to door killings in Kabul. .
Are they accurate?
Can they be ignored?
Will any credible agency follow up?
My answers; possibly, yes, and no.
Anyone’s guess as to what is happening in the hinterlands. No one cares.
A while back I signed up to support Michael Yon, ‘America’s most experienced combat correspondent’ former special forces soldier no writer and photographer because he covers stuff I don’t see elsewhere. He posted today “Important: Department of State blocking us from taking Americans
We have Americans with blue passports ready to leave Afghanistan. Taliban will allow landing. US Department of State blocking flights. Rick Clay’s team has three jets ready. These jets were on ground on 30 August 2021.
Senator Johnson’s team called us and we on conference call right now.
Our government is blocking taking out Americans from Afghanistan. Taliban is helping. US State Department blocking.”
Those Americans being blocked must have relatives here who won’t be happy. I think some information will get out, but the MSM won’t want to cover it. LIke they don’t like to cover what’s going on in the southern border area, although I have seen a bit in the last few months. Yon has also been reporting on that, and take congresscritters on tours of the route.
Elaine T:
As I commented on another post, the Americans who were abandoned there have family members here who won’t remain silent. Imagine your reaction if it were one of your kids turned away by the State Department.
The MSM won’t want to cover it, but I think that the word will get out. I also think that the best we can hope for is that as neo suggested, the Taliban has gotten smarter. Maybe they will settle for massive under the table ransom for the American hostages.
Unfortunately nothing will save the Afghan translators and their families who had the misfortune of trusting us. I don’t think anyone in the world will ever make the mistake of trusting the US again.
A Libyan Affair, from Damascus to Kiev, an Arab Spring, a Persian People’s stillbirth, and Obama 1.0 (premature withdrawal and transnational war without borders forcing catastrophic anthropogenic immigration reform). Perhaps a Biden 1.0 (Obama 2.0), but focused on central Asia with the world’s nuclear powers in proximity.
TommyJay:
At Redstate,
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2021/09/01/the-actual-number-of-afghan-allies-evacuated-leaves-the-biden-administration-flailing-n436491
“In fact, while only 5,400 or so Americans were brought to safety, only about 8,500 SIV holders were rescued, with the vast majority left behind.”
The Biden administration has said that 123,000 were airlifted out. Subtract the 5,400 and 8,500 above and over 109,000 other Afghans were on those flights.
geoffb:
It is becoming more and my apparent every day that instead of getting out the people who helped us, as promised, the Biden administration pulled a bait and switch and the vast vast majority of those people were left behind to be murdered, while the vast majority of those on the planes were random Afghans (or worse). As usual, it’s possible that the Biden administration did this through sheer towering incompetence. But I actually think it was part of the plan. It’s a twofer: discourage people from helping us in the future, and get a whole lot of potentially troublesome people coming here right now.
neo:
Tucker Carlson goes farther. He asked the State Dept for US destinations of the Afghan refugees and notes that many of them just happened to be in swing districts in swing states:
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The list of 19 cities total in both red and blue states includes: Phoenix, Denver, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, St. Louis, Raleigh-Durham, Northern New Jersey (to include Elizabethland Highland Park), Las Vegas, Buffalo, Cleveland, Portland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Salt Lake City.
Tucker looked at the list and said: “You may notice that these communities include an awful lot of swing districts in swing states all over the United States. It’s not just Virginia; Three of these communities are in Texas, a state the Democratic party has tried to flip for years now.”
Tucker also complained about the Pennsylvania cities on the list, “Does Pennsylvania need more people? Probably not, Lot of unemployment between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.”
“But,” Tucker continued, “Pennsylvania is also a state that Donald Trump won in 2016. Maybe they should go there.”
“Are you surprised by this,” Tucker said, before also complaining that Wisconsin will be accepting some refugees too.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/tucker-carlson-wonders-if-afghan-refugees-are-part-of-a-democratic-plot-to-steal-elections-video/ar-AAO0n2V
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The surrounding article claims to debunk Carlson, but mostly seems to be nitpicking and at least once lying — the White House claims to have evacuated 117,000 people since July and only 6000 were Americans, while the article says “far less than 100,000 Afghans.”
I definitely feel bait-and-switched. I’m enough of a softie to want to get out Afghans who provided loyal service to the US. But not a seemingly random assortment of 85,000 Afghans without SIVs.
I’ve argued here that the Afghanistan disaster was mostly foolishness, but this wholesale importation of random Afghans while leaving behind Americans and SIV Afghans is knavery.
Democrats are playing a long game with demographics.
Why not? It worked for the UK Labour Party under Tony Blair. As I recall, Eric Clapton and Roger Daltrey took public bloke positions on that too.
neo:
My view is that “who” got on the planes was part of the deal between the Taliban and the State Dept. They let through enough of the Americans and the SIV holders to make it look good, or so they hoped, and the rest would be “liberally” salted with Taliban/ISIS-K ringers.
“The list of 19 cities total in both red and blue states includes…”
What no Detroit? Maybe Dearborn-istan objected?
Re: those 4 buses with pregnant women and children that couldn’t get through the gates.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/for-these-marines-a-constant-rush-to-zero-hour-to-rescue-stranded-americans
geoffb:
Perhaps the Powers That Be are mindful of Muslim differences. Afghans are not Arab. They are closer to Iranians and Pakistanis.
Here’s an interesting page on Dearborn in terms of resettled refugees. Not a pretty picture:
______________________________
Refugee Resettlement Watch
They are changing America by changing the people
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/tag/dearborn-michigan/
Huxley:
You’re probably right, it’s tribal, and they’re the wrong tribe.
@ geoffb > “Re: those 4 buses with pregnant women and children that couldn’t get through the gates.”
That is a devastating post. It is also in accord with Michael Yon’s reporting on Americans being actively thwarted by State department officials running the evacuation process in Kabul, and other stories.
https://justthenews.com/government/security/were-americans-people-screaming-outside-gates-kabul-airport-turned-away
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-travel-afghanistan-immigration-8dfd16bf16a15bb9896743719c82e115
The missing part.
“However, it seems a little odd now that there’s no videos of the survivors of the Afghan crisis arriving at airports. No crowds or families greeting the extracted American residents; no human interest stories and local broadcasted news coverage of relieved Americans, husbands, wives, daughters or sons arriving back in their hometown…. nothing.”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/09/02/something-missing/
FYI, both youtube videos are gone…