Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

Category: Foreign Affairs

It is our honor to welcome Afghan refugees

Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News last week.

With the disastrous end to America’s involvement in Afghanistan, a flood of refugees is surging out of the country. It is America’s responsibility and privilege to welcome these refugees with open arms.

 

The final withdrawal from Afghanistan could not be going worse. The precipitous abandonment American positions at Bagram Air Base and elsewhere, the desertion of our NATO and Afghan allies, and the poorly planned extrication of American personnel has left Afghanistan strewn with American equipment and honor. It is a disgrace and shame that all Americans will bear for the disastrous actions of our president.

 

Out of this nightmare, all of the Afghans who helped America over the last 20 years to root out terrorism and protect American lives are trying to escape the inevitable slaughter at the hands of the Taliban. There are also tens of thousands of Afghans who believed America and our promises of liberty, individual rights, and freedom to practice their religion without interference from government overlords. This includes women and girls who know the fate that awaits them under Taliban rule. They bought into the concept of a western- style democracy and are staring down the barrel of another generation of brutal totalitarian butchery.

 

Not all of these Afghans are going to make it out. Right now, there are thousands of Afghans and Americans fighting and praying to get a seat on one of the precious airplanes still ferrying people out of the country. They know that those flights will end too soon because President Joe Biden has decided that the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans and Afghans is a price worth paying to get America out of the country as quickly as possible. He factored the bloodshed into his decision. Of the refugees that make it out of Afghanistan, many of them are coming to Wisconsin. Fort McCoy is one of the places that will serve as a safe haven to house some of the refugees. We do not know how many yet, but that will likely depend on how many people our valiant military can evacuate before Biden or the Taliban ends the mission. Wisconsin should welcome these poor souls into our state with the kindness and generosity for which the people of Wisconsin are known. The refugees did not plan to be here. They believed America and thought they would spend their lives in a relatively free and stable Afghanistan. But in the face of certain oppression or death, they have fled everything they know with little more than the clothes on their backs.

 

There are issues that the Biden Administration must address. In the mad rush out of Afghanistan, many of the refugees are coming without paperwork to verify their identities. It is probable that the Taliban, ISIS, or other terror groups have sent some of their agents of terror through the loose sieve of refugee evacuation much like the drug cartels are moving people across our open southern border. Federal authorities must take the time to properly vet the refugees before relocating them into the interior of the nation.

 

Also, while some of the refugees have some exposure to American values and American standards, many of them do not. They are coming from a nation that has been in a state of war for as long as any of them can remember. We must make a concerted effort to educate them on America’s respect for individual rights, equality, representative government, the rule of law, and all of the other pillars of America.

 

Finally, while some of the refugees are educated, bilingual, and highly skilled, others are coming to America unprepared to be successful in the American economy. Thankfully, we are at a time in our history when jobs are plentiful in Wisconsin and elsewhere. To be successful in those jobs, the refugees need to be taught to speak and read English, job skills and employment norms, personal financial management, and skills with which to earn a living. This investment will also help protect the refugees from being exploited and ensure that they can become full participants in their new country.

 

President Biden has left some of our nation’s honor in the blood-caked mud of Afghanistan. We can reclaim some of that honor with how we treat the refugees who are able to make it to our shores.

Americans KIA. Biden MIA.

I can’t express how angry I am.

Ten US servicemembers were killed in a series of suicide bomb attacks on Kabul airport on Thursday, the first American lives to be lost since Biden’s disastrous evacuation effort began on August 14.

 

The President has not commented publicly on the deaths and he is not scheduled to make any kind of statement or speech on Thursday.

 

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby released a statement saying a ‘number’ had died, but he wouldn’t give any additional details. Other troops are feared to have been injured.

 

Biden’s meetings were canceled on Thursday immediately after the attack while he spoke with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.

 

Neither the President or anyone in the administration has offered a plan for getting out the remaining troops and civilians before August 31, the Taliban’s deadline.

Norway, Poland, Holland and Canada have all stopped evacuating citizens. In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Norway’s Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said the doors at the airport are ‘closed’.

 

The State Department is telling Americans stuck in Afghanistan to stay in their homes, while Britain has told its stranded citizens to make a run for the Pakistan border, along with thousands of Afghan refugees.

It is our honor to welcome Afghan refugees

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Perhaps the news out of Afghanistan today makes this even more pressing. Here’s a part:

With the disastrous end to America’s involvement in Afghanistan, a flood of refugees is surging out of the country. It is America’s responsibility and privilege to welcome these refugees with open arms.

 

The final withdrawal from Afghanistan could not be going worse. The precipitous abandonment American positions at Bagram Air Base and elsewhere, the desertion of our NATO and Afghan allies, and the poorly planned extrication of American personnel has left Afghanistan strewn with American equipment and honor. It is a disgrace and shame that all Americans will bear for the disastrous actions of our president.

 

Out of this nightmare, all of the Afghans who helped America over the last 20 years to root out terrorism and protect American lives are trying to escape the inevitable slaughter at the hands of the Taliban. There are also tens of thousands of Afghans who believed America and our promises of liberty, individual rights, and freedom to practice their religion without interference from government overlords. This includes women and girls who know the fate that awaits them under Taliban rule. They bought into the concept of a western- style democracy and are staring down the barrel of another generation of brutal totalitarian butchery.

 

Not all of these Afghans are going to make it out. Right now, there are thousands of Afghans and Americans fighting and praying to get a seat on one of the precious airplanes still ferrying people out of the country. They know that those flights will end too soon because President Joe Biden has decided that the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans and Afghans is a price worth paying to get America out of the country as quickly as possible. He factored the bloodshed into his decision. Of the refugees that make it out of Afghanistan, many of them are coming to Wisconsin. Fort McCoy is one of the places that will serve as a safe haven to house some of the refugees. We do not know how many yet, but that will likely depend on how many people our valiant military can evacuate before Biden or the Taliban ends the mission. Wisconsin should welcome these poor souls into our state with the kindness and generosity for which the people of Wisconsin are known. The refugees did not plan to be here. They believed America and thought they would spend their lives in a relatively free and stable Afghanistan. But in the face of certain oppression or death, they have fled everything they know with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Afghan Refugees Begin Arriving in Wisconsin

They are here.

Afghan refugees have begun arriving at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin’s only active military installation, following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan last week, according to a news release from Brigadier General Chris Norrie, the Task Force McCoy Commander.

 

Those who have arrived at the base — which is located on 60,000 acres between Tomah and Sparta — are special immigrant visa applicants, their families and other individuals at risk.

 

“We expect these arrivals to continue throughout the day and the coming days,” the news release said.

 

Last week, Tonya Townsell, the spokesperson for Fort McCoy, said the base was preparing to receive refugees. As people enter the base, they will be housed in the barracks typically used for American military members, she said. Staff at Fort McCoy will also provide access to dining services and medical care.

Lost American Might

Biden claimed that this was all part of the plan… factored into the cost… so did he intentionally leave all of this firepower in the hands of brutal terrorists?

Billions of dollars of U.S. weapons are now in the hands of the Taliban following the quick collapse of Afghan security forces that were trained to use the military equipment.

 

Among the items seized by the Taliban are Black Hawk helicopters and A-29 Super Tucano attack aircraft.

 

Photos have also circulated of Taliban fighters clutching U.S.-made M4 carbines and M16 rifles instead of their iconic AK-47s. And the militants have been spotted with U.S. Humvees and mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles.

Taliban is Purging Enemies

We have unleashed a level of brutality that few Americans can even comprehend.

But there are fears the Taliban have changed little since the brutal 1990s.

The warning the group were targeting “collaborators” came in a confidential document by the RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses, which provides intelligence to the UN.

 

“There are a high number of individuals that are currently being targeted by the Taliban and the threat is crystal clear,” Christian Nellemann, who heads the group behind the report, told the BBC.

 

“It is in writing that, unless they give themselves in, the Taliban will arrest and prosecute, interrogate and punish family members on behalf of those individuals.”

He warned that anyone on the Taliban’s blacklist was in severe danger, and that there could be mass executions.

Afghan Refugees Head for Wisconsin

Welcome. This is an opportunity to defend America’s honor and fulfill our promise to take care of our allies and friends. Let’s welcome them with open arms and encourage them to adopt America as their new home with a full respect for individual rights and freedoms. Who’s in charge of integrating them?

Fort McCoy, a U.S. Army installation near Sparta, is preparing to accept an unknown number of refugees from Afghanistan who are fleeing in the wake of the collapse of the Afghanistan government to the Taliban.

As the United States ends its mission there, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other outlets have reported that Fort McCoy is preparing to accept special immigrant visa applicants, but few other details were available.

 

“We have been notified that we will be receiving these special immigrant visa applicants,” Fort McCoy spokesperson Tonya Townsell told the Journal Sentinel. “I don’t know when these guests of ours will be arriving exactly, but anytime it can turn.”

A McCoy spokesperson later declined a request for comment and referred the Wisconsin State Journal to the U.S. Department of Defense.

A DOD spokesperson confirmed that Fort McCoy is under consideration as a site to provide temporary housing for Afghan special immigration visa applicants and their families.

Afghanistan Falls

A strategic withdrawal in the face of the enemy is one of the most difficult maneuvers to pull off. We did not succeed.

The Taliban has said they will declare an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the Presidential Palace in Kabul as militants posed in the office and the country’s president fled for Tajikistan, with thousands of Afghan nationals now racing to Pakistan to escape Islamist rule.

 

Taliban fighters stormed the ancient palace on Sunday and demanded a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ as Kabul descended into chaos, with US helicopters evacuating diplomats from the embassy in scenes echoing the 1975 Fall of Saigon which followed the Vietnam War.

 

US-backed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country for Tajikistan, effectively ceding power to the Taliban in a move signaling the end of the 20-year Western intervention begun after the September 11 attacks, while thousands of Afghan nationals rushed to the Pakistan border.

I continue to think that ending the war in Afghanistan was the correct policy choice. I do think we could have maintained a force there for some time – like in South Korea or Germany – as a means of keeping active in a global hotspot for our own security. But the absolute debacle of this withdrawal and the speed at which the Taliban took power is the manifestation of bad policy and bad leadership. From the White House to the Chiefs of Staff, they blew it. Completely and utterly. And America bears the shame of a lost war and the sacrifice of our local allies. We will feel the reverberations of this for many, many years to come.

China Reaches Out to Taliban in Afghanistan

Somehow, I don’t think the U.S. SOS is reading this right.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said China’s possible involvement in Afghanistan could be “a positive thing”.

 

He said this was if China was looking towards a “peaceful resolution of the conflict” and a “truly representative and inclusive” government.

 

His comments came after Taliban representatives visited China.

 

China said it saw the Taliban playing an important role in the peace process and rebuilding of Afghanistan.

 

“No one has an interest in a military takeover of the country by the Taliban, the restoration of an Islamic emirate,” said Mr Blinken, who was asked about the talks while on a visit to India.

 

He urged the Taliban to come to the “negotiating table… peacefully”.

California Needs to Listen to its Elder

A long shot, but it would be a sea change if Elder won in California.

A new poll has revealed conservative radio host Larry Elder is gaining popularity with California voters as Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a recall election in September.

 

The Emerson College/ Nexstar Media poll, published on Friday, found 48 percent of voters still want Newsom to remain in office, even as momentum for a recall grows. 43 percent of people polled now say they will vote to recall Newsom – up from 38 percent in March.

 

If Newsom is removed from office, there are 40 candidates currently vying to replace him – and the new poll shows Elder leading the pack.

 

The 69-year-old Republican gets 16 percent of the vote share among those candidates, ahead of businessman John Cox and former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, who are tied in second place with 6 percent respectively.

 

Meanwhile, the poll shows Caitlyn Jenner struggling to gain traction among voters despite widespread name recognition. The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star is polling at just 4 percent.

Narcostate Economics

Interesting.

This man has sent maybe 30 women to Rafaela Martinez for surgery. At around $6,500 (£4,700) for lipo-sculpture, procedures are not cheap. Often the payment is made in cash.

 

“Obviously, in these cases the money comes from drug-trafficking,” Martinez says. “I used to say, ‘This definitely isn’t good.’ Now, it’s not that I’ve changed my mind, but I no longer think about it so much before operating. That’s because the economy here in Sinaloa – restaurants, bars, hospitals – depends on drug-trafficking.”

 

Martinez tries to counsel women whose operations are paid for by a lover.

 

“I ask the patient if she’s OK about the surgery he wants her to have. Sometimes they say, ‘It’s fine, whatever he wants.’ And I explain to them that after a while, he won’t be their boyfriend any more, but their body will be theirs for the rest of their lives. So they must choose what they want – not what he wants.”

Johnson Opposed Lockdowns

While the British press is portraying this as a scandal, Johnson’s alleged comments make perfect sense. It is a rational approach to managing a pandemic by balancing divergent interests and consequences. I wish he had stuck to his guns.

Boris Johnson was reluctant to tighten Covid restrictions as cases rose last autumn because he thought people dying from it were “essentially all over 80”, Dominic Cummings has claimed.

He also said the prime minister had messaged him to say: “I no longer buy all this NHS overwhelmed stuff.”

 

Mr Johnson had wanted to let Covid “wash through the country” rather than destroy the economy, Mr Cummings said.

 

The claims came in an interview with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg.

 

It is the first time Mr Cummings – Mr Johnson’s former chief adviser – has given a one-on-one TV interview during his career in politics.

 

In response, Downing Street said the prime minister had taken the “necessary action to protect lives and livelihoods, guided by the best scientific advice” throughout the pandemic.

And the government had prevented the NHS “from being overwhelmed through three national lockdowns”, a spokesperson added.

Havana Syndrome Continues to Spread

The fact that this is happening globally and has been going on for so long is a great cause for concern.

There are more than 20 new cases of the ‘Havana Syndrome’ among US diplomats in Vienna, Austria that are being looked at by medical teams at the State Department, Pentagon and CIA.

 

It’s part of a recent rash of mysterious health incidents that have similar symptoms to those first reported by US diplomats and spies in Havana, Cuba, in 2016 and 2017 for which no definitive cause has yet been determined.

Symptoms include headaches, dizziness and symptoms consistent with concussions and some have required months of medical treatment. Some have reported hearing a loud noise before the sudden onset of symptoms.

American Communists Unite In Solidarity Supporting Cuban Regime

Is anyone really surprised?

Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Cori Bush of Missouri have yet to weigh in on Black Lives Matter declaring its support for Cuba’s communist regime, even though the congresswomen have been vocal BLM supporters in the past.

 

Black Lives Matter sparked a backlash late Wednesday after posting a statement that blasted the U.S. embargo and praised Cuba’s government.

Border Invasion Continues Unabated

Biden’s open border policy may not be in the news as much, but it hasn’t changed.

From January to May, 711,784 migrants were encountered by Customs and Border Protection at the southern border – five times the amount during the same period in 2020 – and the Biden administration is on track to encounter 1 million by the end of July.

 

CBP’s latest data, released in June, show that there were 180,034 encounters with illegal crossers in May, the highest of any month in the last 20 years. The spike in migration under President Joe Biden‘s administration continues to grow with no signs of it coming to a stop any time soon.

 

The numbers for June have not yet been updated on CBP’s webpage, but pictures emerge at least weekly of groups of hundreds of migrants turning themselves over to U.S. immigration authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Biden Voices Support for Cuban Protestors

Finally. This is the correct response from an American president when people rise up against Communism and other forms of totalitarianism.

In a statement earlier Monday, Biden said, “We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime.”

 

“The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights. Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves,” he said.

 

Fans Restricted For Olympics

So after all the expense to host the events, the local economy won’t even get any benefit. Given the history of Olympic host cities, I don’t know why anyone would ever want it again.

The Olympic Games in Japan will be held without spectators at venues in and around the capital after a spike in coronavirus infections.

Olympics Minister Tamayo Marukawa made the announcement after talks with officials and organisers on Thursday.

 

A state of emergency in Tokyo will run throughout the Games, to combat coronavirus.

 

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters it would run from 12 July and remain in place until 22 August.

 

Bars and restaurants will not be allowed to serve alcohol and must close by 20:00 (11:00 GMT).

 

Venues in Tokyo and other areas near the capital city will not be allowed to hold events with fans during the Games.

But stadiums in the regions of Fukushima, Miyagi and Shizuoka will be permitted to have spectators up to 50% of capacity and up to 10,000 people.

Biden Administration is Abandoning Afghan Allies

This is a travesty and a stain on America. We must protect those who protected us.

Rep Seth Moulton, D-Mass., spoke at a rally on Friday to demand presidential action for American’s Afghan allies, such as interpreters who took great risks to help American troops and now are being left behind as U.S. military forces withdraw from the country.

 

Standing in Lafayette Square in front the White House, Moulton, a former Marine officer with multiple combat tours, said, “I want to thank veterans all across America, veterans of different political parties and different wars, who are coming together today and reminding Americans that we have a promise to uphold.”

 

The rally came one week after the New York Times reported that the Biden administration was notifying lawmakers that the U.S. would soon begin relocating thousands of Afghan allies to third countries while they await processing for their special immigrant visas. However, congressional members on both sides of the aisle have yet to receive details.

Haitian President Assassinated

Yikes.

Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse has been killed in an attack on his home in the nation’s capital, according to the country’s interim prime minister.

Claude Joseph said the president’s home in Port-au-Prince was stormed by unidentified armed men at 01:00 local time (05:00 GMT).

 

First Lady Martine Moïse was also injured in the attack.

 

Mr Joseph said that “all measures had been taken to guarantee the continuity of the state”.

 

He has now taken control of the impoverished Caribbean nation, and has urged the public to remain calm.

He called the shooting of the president a “heinous, inhuman and barbaric act”.

I had to search for who Claude Joseph is. University professor to acting president in a year-and-a-half. Curious.

Russia Lays Claim to Champagne

Not the region (yet). The word.

 

The law has sparked controversy and the renowned winemaker Moet-Hennessy said Monday it was suspending champagne shipments to Russia. The law that was adopted on Friday allows the term to used only for “Russian champagne.”

Archives

Categories

Pin It on Pinterest