TexasCHLforum.com

Let's see. When was the Afghanistan bloomin' fiasco again? Oh, that's right. August 2021. See the attached graph of the history of Biden's averages from 8 different polling organizations for his approval ratings. Interesting where the lines crossed. On February 10 that average approval number hit below 40% for the first time; it was 39.8%.

Yeah, I know. I have no idea who all of those 39.8% are. Can't be that many blinded leftist ideologues in the country, can there?

And how about that most-despised, media-hated, Donald Trump? His lowest approval rating in all of his four years in office was 41.1%.

December 16, Wall Street Journal

More Than 60,000 Interpreters, Visa Applicants Remain in Afghanistan
https://www.wsj.com/articles/more-than- ... 1639689706

"More than 60,000 Afghan interpreters and others who have applied for visas to seek shelter in the U.S. after working alongside American forces still remain in Afghanistan, a State Department official said Thursday. About 33,000 Afghans, including principal applicants and their families, have already cleared the more-onerous vetting requirements and could be eligible for immediate evacuation. This is the first time that the State Department has provided a number on those left behind since the Afghanistan government collapsed this summer."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp- ... statistics) reports:

• 1,662,167 total enforcement actions between October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021
• 159,115 total enforcement actions between October 1, 2021, and November 30, 2021

• 17,330 total criminal noncitizens encountered between October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021
• 1,740 total criminal noncitizens encountered between October 1, 2021, and November 30, 2021

The CBP defines the recidivism rate as percentage of individuals apprehended more than one time by the Border Patrol within a fiscal year (the fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30). Recent recidivism rates:

• Fiscal Year 2015: 14%
• Fiscal Year 2016: 12%
• Fiscal Year 2017: 10%
• Fiscal Year 2018: 11%
• Fiscal Year 2019: 7%
• Fiscal Year 2020: 26%
• Fiscal Year 2021: 27%
• Fiscal Year 2022: 27%

These numbers, of course, don't include "runners" who are never spotted or elude capture. Offsetting that at least somewhat is the recidivism rate, which means that CPB stopped the same individual more than once 27% of the time.

The charts below aren't really pertinent to leaving more than 60,000 U.S. allies behind enemy lines for four months while allowing our border to become more porous than ever before, but I found them at the Pew Research website and they're interesting:

Biden takes office at the end of January 2021:


Who exactly is coming over under the Biden open-borders plan?


What state is bearing the brunt of illegal border crossings?

Reuters, yesterday:

Taliban hold military parade with U.S.-made weapons in Kabul in show of strength
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 021-11-14/

The exercise involved dozens of U.S.-made M117 armoured security vehicles driving slowly up and down a major Kabul road with MI-17 helicopters patrolling overhead. Many soldiers carried American made-M4 assault rifles. Most of the weapons and equipment the Taliban forces are now using are those supplied by Washington to the American-backed government in Kabul in a bid to construct an Afghan national force capable of fighting the Taliban....

According to a report late last year by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar), the U.S. government transferred to the Afghan government more than $28 billion worth of defence articles and services, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, night-vision devices, aircraft, and surveillance systems, from 2002 to 2017.

Smoothest, most non-eventful troop withdrawal ever! Good job, Mr. President!

I don't know if this means or is really indicative of anything, but it just makes me continue to think about the incoming Biden administration's promise of "Trust and Transparency" (Forbes, January 20, 2021, "Biden's White House Press Secretary Promises 'Trust And Transparency'").

From Task & Purpose November 1:

The Pentagon quietly removed more than 130,000 Afghanistan War photos and videos from public view
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/pentago ... rom-dvids/

The Pentagon has quietly removed a massive collection of Afghanistan War footage totaling more than 120,000 photos and 17,000 videos from its official visual record.

The images and videos, which date back more than a decade, were previously published to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, or DVIDS, a vast repository of public domain material that’s available for use by the public and the press....

Kirby [Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby] said on Monday that he made the decision to temporarily archive any images and videos that could put Afghans in danger.

Associated with that statement about the safety of our Afghan friends during and following the smooth and orderly exit from Afghanistan is the somewhat curious fact that it's November 2 and 85% of the Afghans who were able to evacuate Afghanistan are still housed at U.S. military bases (L.A. Times, November 1). According to the Biden administration, 67,000 of our Afghan allies were able to get out after the almost instantaneous takeover by the Taliban, yet only 10,000 have been resettled in U.S. communities across the country...and that achieved only with the help of nonprofit agencies.

We can have an open southern border--where the most recent Customs and Border Patrol data show that fiscal year 2021 (ended as of Sep 30) has seen the highest number of arrests ever recorded (some news reports erroneously stated it was the highest number since 1986); more than 1.3 million illegal immigrants have been arrested at the border since Biden took office, and an untold but no doubt astronomical number of others escaped detection and crossed successfully--and the Biden administration has no problem absorbing them into the U.S. population mainstream and even hint at plans to give them huge monetary rewards (Fox News, October 30, "Reported Biden plan to pay illegal immigrants $450K could surpass payments to some 9/11, military families"). Yet for more than two and a half months we can do no better for allies who fought beside us for 20 years than to keep them at military encampments? And the 15% who have been resettled required the assistance of non-governmental charitable agencies?

Come on, man.

Rafe wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 4:30 pm

philip964 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 27, 2021 8:10 pm
He was relieved of command.

More...

Marine fired for slamming military over Afghan exit issues warning to superiors
https://www.foxnews.com/world/marine-fi ... xit-issues

Lt. Col. Scheller criticized senior leadership for their lack of accountability on Afghanistan

Scheller’s father, Stuart Sr., told The Post his son was "the real deal, a Marine’s Marine. People will follow him to the ends of the earth. He has put his life on the line for fellow Marines so putting his career on the line like this does not surprise us."

From Military Times yesterday, https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your ... iolations/

"Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller has formally been charged with six violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and has been referred to a special court-martial..."

Scheller has been charged with Article 88 (contempt toward officials), Article 89 (disrespect toward superior commissioned officers), Article 90 (willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer), Article 92 (dereliction in the performance of duties), Article 92 (failure to obey order or regulation) and Article 133 (conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman).

And this from Pennsylvania...

From the NRA-ILA:

Billions’ Worth of Equipment Left Behind, While Feds Purge Records on Afghanistan, Affirm Commitment to Gun Control
https://www.nraila.org/articles/2021090 ... un-control

As the Taliban celebrates the withdrawal of U.S. forces by parading their American-sourced tactical vehicles, aircraft, guns and other weapons, reports have emerged that the Biden Administration has ordered federal agencies to delete online information respecting the cost of this military equipment and related spending in Afghanistan, while proclaiming its support for more gun control.

srothstein wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 8:23 pm

powerboatr wrote: ↑Tue Aug 31, 2021 5:08 pm my bet is they prop him up until mid terms. then after or very near he will resign based on a medical issue or declining what ever. this way they get a martyr and not a sense of driving him out because we all know he is lost mentally

My bet is his resignation doesn't occur until Jan 21, 2023. And I bet that Harris resigns or is indicted/impeached before that happens.

I think that Biden's controllers will prop him up until that date to preserve whoever is his replacement's ability to serve two full terms. And I think they have realized they cannot control Harris or even think she will get re-elected if she is in office. That means they need to change the VP before they do anything to Biden.

So how do they get rid of Harris and who do they name as her replacement? I don't know how they will get rid of her (well except sending her someplace like a diplomatic trip to Afghanistan and some accident occurring) but I am sure they have plans. And my money is on Susan Rice being the new VP. Of course, my money is also on her being the person controlling the president and her being smart enough to know you cannot trust anyone in that job as much as you can trust yourself to do what you want.

This Rothstein guy is really, really smart. If I were to try to think like a People's Progressive Party strategist--you know, like FBI profilers have to learn to think like sociopathic maniacs--I wouldn't be able to find fault one with that line of thinking. Some stealthy but extreme pressure could be brought to bear on Harris, because the smoothest option would be a resignation over personal or family reasons. Meanwhile, someone would be holding and moving Biden's hand while he signs scores of executive orders, even knowing many will be contested in court...but it doesn't matter: Biden won't have a legacy, so throw everything against the wall. Some of it might stick, and some of the rest just might take up time and Republican effort to undo.

And Susan Rice as Harris's replacement is, I think, a shoe-in. Because she'll appoint herself vicariously. The Dems have to know that mid-term election history will be even more true to form now with Uncle Joe's total cluster in Afghanistan, and the Republicans will end up controlling both the House and the Senate (but we all have to vote!). Rice will be a far, far more visible VP than Harris (but can't we so far say that of any VP before her?). Then once Uncle Joe resigns due to health concerns (not related to cognitive decline at all; it will be cancer or some such) Rice will battle this Republican takeover with brave heart, strong ideals, and stalwart intent (at least that's how it will be portrayed) and the Dems will shoot for Rice for president in 2024.

Let's face it: 2020 showed that the People's Progressive Party will go to any lengths necessary to secure power for themselves, and that the Republicans have a tougher time coming together with a singular, united front...and bold strategies. If we're to save our country, we have a lot of work ahead of us.

philip964 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 27, 2021 8:10 pm
He was relieved of command.

More...

Marine fired for slamming military over Afghan exit issues warning to superiors
https://www.foxnews.com/world/marine-fi ... xit-issues

Lt. Col. Scheller criticized senior leadership for their lack of accountability on Afghanistan

Scheller’s father, Stuart Sr., told The Post his son was "the real deal, a Marine’s Marine. People will follow him to the ends of the earth. He has put his life on the line for fellow Marines so putting his career on the line like this does not surprise us."

Thursday, July 8, 2021. Joe Biden when asked in a press conference if the U.S. withdrawal from Kabul is going to have any resemblance to what happened in Saigon in 1975: "None whatsoever. Zero. What you had is you had entire brigades breaking through the gates of our embassy. Six if I'm not mistaken. The Taliban is not the South, the North Vietnamese army. They're not--they're not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There's going to be no circumstance where you're going to see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the--of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable."

38 days later:



Spring 1975. With South Vietnam collapsing, Gerald Ford and the U.S. military began massive efforts to evacuate U.S. citizens and thousands of South Vietnamese families who had helped the U.S. war effort. The leading opposition voice to this in the U.S. Senate was 32-year-old Joe Biden, who said: "I do not believe the United States has an obligation, moral or otherwise, to evacuate foreign nationals.... The United States has no obligation to evacuate one, or 100,001, South Vietnamese." On April 18, 1975, Biden tried to explain his opposition to the Vietnam Contingency Act of 1975 saying, in part, that "the only objective of the U.S. government at this moment...should be the evacuation of all Americans and their dependents now in South Vietnam." He added that other than "perhaps an estimated 1,800 diplomatic personnel assigned to foreign embassies in Saigon," the U.S. should not try to evacuate any other South Vietnamese.

October 1982, the movie Rambo III:

Trautman: You expect sympathy? You started this war, now you'll have to deal with it.

Zaysen: And we will. It is just a matter of time before we achieve a complete victory.

Trautman: Yeah, well, there won't be a victory. Every day, your war machines lose ground to a bunch of poorly-armed, poorly-equipped freedom fighters. The fact is that you underestimated your competition. If you'd studied your history, you'd know that these people have never given up to anyone. They'd rather die than be slaves to an invading army. You can't defeat a people like that. We tried; Joe Biden already had his Vietnam! Now you're gonna have yours.

August 24, 2021. From AXIOS News: "'A living hell': Leaked email describes Afghan refugee conditions"; https://www.axios.com/afghan-refugees-c ... 94a2e.html.

Shortly before 8 a.m. last Friday, an official at U.S. Central Command sent a searing wake-up call to colleagues: The sweltering Qatar air base where the Biden administration is housing thousands of Afghan evacuees was awash with loose feces and urine and a rat infestation, according to internal emails shared with Axios.

Paladin wrote: ↑Wed Aug 25, 2021 8:05 am And now for some Ancient Wisdom. The ancient and immortal strategist Sun Tzu says:Image-1(5).jpgImage-1(3).jpgImage-1(4).jpg

You're killin' me!

Breaking:

The Taliban has taken control of Kabul; Afghanistan has already fallen; Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has fled the country.

Jen Psaki 'out of the office' as Biden remains silent on Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jen-ps ... fghanistan

For most recent updates:
https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/live- ... n-on-kabul

"U.S. forces at Kabul International Airport fired into the air on Monday in an attempt to gain control of the crowd that is desperate to leave the country after the Taliban takeover, a report said."

"The Department of Defense is preparing to immediately house thousands of Afghan refugees on American military installations, Fox News confirmed late Sunday. Documents obtained by Fox News show DoD plans to potentially relocate up to 30,000 Afghan SIV applicants into the United States in the immediate future.... The bases include Fort McCoy in Wisconsin and Fort Bliss in Texas."

"Fall of Kabul an ‘incalculable propaganda victory’ for the Taliban, China: K.T. McFarland, former President Trump’s first deputy national security adviser"

"French president Emmanuel Macron has ordered the country's embassy to relocate to Kabul Airport as it works to evacuate French nationals who remain in Afghanistan. The embassy is working in partnership with the Crisis and Support Center of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs."

Taliban fighters capture Kandahar, Herat and Lashkar Gah in sweeping territorial gains
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... n-advance/

The Taliban overran three key cities in Afghanistan on Friday, inching its government closer to collapse in the final days of the U.S. withdrawal.


About 8,000 US troops are deploying to secure evacuations from Kabul
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your ... rom-kabul/

Over 3,000 heading to Kabul, another 3,500 in Kuwait, and about 1,000 to Qatar.

Afghanistan capital Kabul could fall to Taliban within 90 days, US assesses

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/afghan ... an-90-days

The Taliban seized three more Afghan provincial capitals and a local army headquarters on Wednesday, attaining control of two-thirds of the nation. The sources said that the intelligence regarding Kabul’s security has been dire for some time.
...
A CIA assessment months ago said Kabul could fall in six months, however, officials say, at this point, that prediction has been cut in half.