The reasons for yesterday’s criminal assault on our Congress and election process are many. But foremost among them is the sad reality that President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain.
Those who engaged in disinformation and demagoguery in pursuit of self-interest abdicated their responsibility to the American people. It was, in every sense of the phrase, a dereliction of duty.
The United States and other nations need to join Israel in the response just as our allies did after 9-11. That response should be swift and devastating to the Iranian terrorist network and the source of this unadulterated evil.
Time is running out to prevent disaster in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s brutal offensive and the humanitarian crisis reveals what the sustained coalition effort there was preventing.
It is time to educate ourselves about the gifts our republic bestows, recognize our republic requires continuous nurturing, bolster our democratic institutions and processes, and reject conspiracy theories and false narratives designed to polarize us and pit us against each other
We must demand more from our political parties and elected officials, and work together to restore our confidence, self respect, and respect for our fellow citizens.
We have heard a lot of delusional statements and lies concerning the catastrophe in Afghanistan over the past week. One of the worst was the President’s false statement that Al Qaeda is not in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda is intertwined with those to whom we surrendered.
Putin wants disunity. Now is the time for unity in our own nation and across the free world. We must impose costs on Russia beyond what Putin factored in at the outset of this ruthless assault on a peaceful nation.
Prospects of collapse in Afghanistan are increasing. The Taliban offensive in the north is to prevent a new anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. Many ANDSF forces are demoralized. SF and Commandos are becoming exhausted.
The U.S. decision to withdrawal from Afghanistan as the Taliban continues its murderous attacks on Afghan civilians and security forces is a moral travesty and a strategic disaster. We are abandoning courageous Afghans on a modern day frontier between barbarism and civilization.
US media is finally reporting on the transformation of Afghanistan after their disinterest and defeatism helped set conditions for capitulation and a humanitarian catastrophe.
Oct 7 was a clarifying moment that exposed hypocrites, self-loathers, and antisemites serving as apologists for the most heinous criminals on earth. Watch & stand up to those who hide behind progressive ideologies to excuse & promote torture, rape & murder
How did we spend 20 years, over 2 trillion dollars and over 2,000 American lives to wind up losing Afghanistan to the Taliban in under two weeks? Was the mission doomed from the start? A frank and wide-ranging conversation with
@LTGHRMcMaster
:
We heard that it was past time to “end the endless wars,” but wars do not end when one party disengages; jihadist terrorists are waging an endless jihad.
I hope Battlegrounds makes a small contribution to the strength of our nation and others. It will be worthwhile if it inspires vibrant, thoughtful and respectful discussion of how we can defend the free world and preserve a future of peace and opportunity.
Happy 100th Birthday to Secretary George Schultz. Thank you for your service, wisdom and example over so many years. One of my favorite George Schultz quotations: “Negotiation is a euphemism for negotiation if the shadow of power is not cast across the negotiating table.”
This was all predicted. Results are already worse than the cost of maintaining the small multinational effort prior to the capitulation agreement with the Taliban to “end the endless war.” Wars don’t end when one party leaves.
Scheinman and Doran are correct. Israel must destroy Hamas while taking all practical measures to protect innocent lives. The destruction of Hamas in Gaza is a precondition for restoring security for Israel and the Palestinians.
Do you notice how the US description of mass murders in Afghanistan is in the passive voice, avoids blaming the terrorists who commit those murders, and then shifts rapidly to criticisms of the Afghan government?
Let us grieve the loss of the victims and the courageous first responders who we lost on that infamous day two decades ago. Our prayers and deepest condolences go out to the loved ones they left behind.
As we learned in Iraq in December 2011, wars do not end when one party disengages. Enemies have a say in the future course of events in war. The war in Afghanistan is entering a new, disastrous phase.
I wonder if, on this Memorial Day, all of us might imagine reaching out, holding those ID tags for a moment, and pledging to live well, strengthen our Republic, and treasure the freedoms that all of our fallen warriors fought to preserve.
Soon the Taliban will attempt to put Kabul and other cities under siege. They are using assassination and intimidation to take over key districts surrounding provincial capitals.
See this UN report which states clearly that Al Qaeda, along with other jihadist terrorist groups “remains present in Afghanistan” and are “aligned with the Taliban.” For the latest see:
Battlegrounds exposes the Orwellian reversal of truth that has underpinned our self-defeat in Afghanistan and the reasons Americans are frustrated with not a twenty year war, but a one year war fought twenty times over. We will look back on this time with shame and regret.
30 years ago I had the privilege of serving alongside the soldiers of Eagle Troop, Second Armored Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of 73 Easting. Photo is with the troop’s platoon leaders LT Jeff Destefano, LT Tim Gauthier, LT Mike Hamilton, and LT Mike Petschek. Toujours Pret!
The cost of failure in Afghanistan will far exceed the cost of the sustained commitment that allowed Afghans to bear the brunt of the fight against the enemies of all humanity.
The Economist is right. Ukraine needs mobile protected firepower and protected mobility to reduce casualties from artillery, achieve overmatch in close combat, and overrun enemy combat support, logistics facilities, and headquarters.
Cliff May always nails it. We need to honor Navalny’s memory with our deeds, pass the bill to support Ukraine, and stop listening to Putin’s useful idiots in the United States.
Time for the United States to provide the world with LNG to counter adversaries, improve energy security, displace coal, and reduce man made carbon emissions. First step lift the self-defeating moratorium on new LNG export permits.
Deepest condolences to the Abe family. Abe Shinzo was one of the very few leaders who had a profound and positive influence around the world. We will miss him, but his legacy will live on.
A year after Mahsa Amini’s murder at the hands of the Iranian dictatorship’s thugs, listen to Masih Alinejad to understand why the Biden Administration’s release of $6 billion in return for U.S. citizens held in Iranian prisons is unwise.
Former national security adviser
@LTGHRMcMaster
says Putin is no longer "a rational actor" because he is "fearful" in his quest to remain in power and restore Russia's past: "I think now he knows that all of that is at risk."
From a European friend: “This is all about our values. I believe the trauma our friends in America have gone through will serve to remind leaders that the leadership qualities of humility and doing the right thing even in adversity can not be laid aside in the interest of self.”
Natalia Bugayova is right. “Negotiations, ceasefires, and peace deals are not off-ramps but rather on-ramps for the Kremlin to renew its attack on Ukraine in the future under conditions that advantage Russia.”
Jakub Grygiel is right. The perception of weakness is provocative. And ‘restraint’ gives Israel’s and Ukraine’s enemies license to escalate on their own terms with impunity.
Humanitarians around the world are ready to welcome the beleaguered Afghan people, especially women and girls. The Biden Administration must order our military to open the Kabul airport to civilian evacuation aircraft and provide a safe corridor for them to get the airport.
Democracies should develop a means to bypass control mechanisms such as China’s Great Firewall or Iran’s internet restrictions. Technologies such as space-based broadband communication may make it harder for dictators to shut off access to information.
It is painfully clear that surrendering to the Taliban for the purpose of withdrawal is far more costly than a sustainable commitment under a sound strategy. Losing a war has consequences.
Because the Kremlin’s objective is to divide and weaken the United States and Europe from within, defeating Putin’s sophisticated strategy will require strategic competence and a concerted effort to restore confidence in democratic principals, institutions and processes.
We might honor his memory by doing as he suggested back in 1995: We have to start thinking of America as a family” and “stop screeching at each other, stop hurting each other, and instead start caring for, sacrificing for, and sharing with each other.” An American Journey, p. 611
As we honor and remember our brothers and sisters-in-arms who made the ultimate sacrifice, let us resolve to live well, strengthen our nation, and cherish the freedoms they fought to preserve.
General Odierno will be missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him. He leaves a profound and positive legacy across our Army. Emma Sky is right. He was a great soldier and a fine man.
Let us also resolve to live well, cherish the freedoms we enjoy as Americans, and resolve to honor those we lost on 9-11 and our families with our deeds to recover from more recent traumas and strengthen our republic.
We are witnessing the beginning of the end of a murderous theocratic dictatorship in Iran. The courageous women of Iran are an inspiration to all who value freedom. The following excerpts from page 338 of Battlegrounds seem relevant to the situation.
The Chinese Communist Party is a rival. We must complete with the CCP. They are not only stifling the freedom of their own people, they’re exporting their authoritarian mercantilist model. If they succeed, the world will be less free, less safe, and less prosperous.
@MeetThePress
I wrote in Battlegrounds “Al-Qaeda and the Taliban were a match made in hell.” Ayman al-Zawahiri’s just demise in a house controlled by Taliban government is more incontrovertible evidence that the Taliban remains intertwined with AQ and other jihadist terrorist organizations.
It is a privilege to join
@cepa
International Leadership Council alongside my co-chair
@akk
. I look forward to joining a team dedicated to strengthening the transatlantic alliance at a critical time.
"Putin's visit to China just before this during which I'm sure Xi Jinping greenlighted this and this growing relationship and alliance between China and Russia--authoritarian regimes that I think are determined to dominate the Eurasian land mass," says
@LTGHRMcMaster
.
Victor Orban and Tucker Carlson should found a club for useful idiots who do the bidding for authoritarian, oppressive regimes. Not a place where I would want to have a drink.
My Hoover colleague Bjorn Lomborg is a clear voice on the nexus between energy security, carbon emissions, and climate change. Bill Whalen is a great interviewer. Non-solutions to climate change are jeopardizing our security and prosperity.
“It is as true here as it is with you. And I believe the free world will thank America for going through this pain which will remind us all the undeniable value of truth.”
Alex Joske pulls the curtain back on the Ministry of State Security’s sophisticated campaign to weaken our will to compete with the Chinese Communist Party.
Regardless of the details concerning the missiles that struck Poland during a massive Russian attack on Ukrainian civilians and power infrastructure, the fundamental cause is Russia’s cruel war against Ukraine.
It is important to assure our South Korean allies of American extended nuclear deterrence, especially after the reinvasion of Ukraine and Russia’s continued violation of the Budapest Agreement of 1994.
“Those who claim piety not only commit the most heinous acts of violence, but also run an immense and profitable criminal enterprise that enriches its leaders who live in comfortable compounds in Pakistan.”
Next we will see Iran provide missiles so Russia can murder more Ukrainian civilians. Provide more air defense, long range fires, and surveillance now.
China is doubling down on economic coercion of Australia in an effort to ‘kill one to scare a hundred.’ Even if you prefer California wine, it is time to support our Australian allies.
Security expert H.R McMaster says the Chinese Communist Party will try to ‘lure’ U.S President-elect Joe Biden with false promises. Watch an extended interview with reporter
@TomSteinfort
on
@9Now
:
#60Mins
Our fallen heroes were warriors who fought to protect us from ruthless enemies. They were warriors because they were courageous, loyal and willing to give everything, including their own lives, to protect our nation and their fellow servicemen and women.
In tomorrow’s episode of
#Battlegrounds
, I speak with
@sebastianjunger
, who really gets the warrior ethos. “The motivating energy of soldiers in combat was the bond with each other”
The Biden Administration’s “Temporary Pause on Pending Approvals of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports” is nonsensical, self-defeating, and exactly the opposite of what we should be doing to improve energy security and reduce man-made carbon emissions.
CBS News’ new Foreign Policy and National Security Contributor, former National Security Advisor
@LTGHRMcMaster
, says the U.S. should impose economic sanctions on China if the country gives military aid and weapons to Russia: “I think this ought to be hung around China’s neck.”