Displaying posts published in

September 2021

Joe Biden’s Pox Americana Antony Carr

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/america/2021/09/joe-bidens-pox-americana/

I was wondering how long it would take for American commentators to come up with semi-plausible reasons for continuing to support a President who has overseen the most comprehensive and humiliating defeat in US history. Until recently we’ve had to be content with the usual blather from the palace eunuchs of main-stream media anxious to protect a cognitively challenged Joe Biden, supported by ridiculous utterances from Washington’s swamp creatures, such as a call from the State Department for the Taliban to include women in its government.

Well, what may charitably be interpreted as a plausible justification has now emerged in an article by Kevin Baker published by the American political news site Politico on August 28.  It’s entitled, The Old Cliché About Afghanistan That Won’t Die and it characterises Biden’s decision to “move on” as “a gutsy decision, however chaotic its execution has been,” which necessarily implies that Biden broadly agreed with Trump’s Doha agreement, but as Orange Man must be blamed for everything, perhaps that’s not something to be emphasised.

As an aside, the article comments on nineteenth century European imperial fantasies, the popular but supposedly racist concept of “a gallant band of doomed, white warriors fighting to the last while helplessly outnumbered by ‘savages’.”  Of course, we now know that in accordance with the doctrines of multiculturalism, savages don’t exist and any publicity glorifying those who resisted deadly attacks by people so misclassified is always racist.

The article notes that the British got their revenge for the debacle of 1842, in which the Afghans wiped out Major General Sir William Elphinstone’s withdrawing army, when they invaded Afghanistan a few months later, crushed all Afghan forces pitted against them and sacked Kabul.  After yet another war, the situation was stabilised during Lord Curzon’s time as Viceroy of India through patronage and multiple agreements with tribal leaders and obtaining supporting fatwas from relevant authorities.

The Russian intervention that commenced in 1979 ultimately failed, forcing a withdrawal that began in 1988.  International media were invited to observe it with its accompanying ceremonies and parades.  As units withdrew, the media accompanied them through Kabul, up to Mazar-e-Sharif and across the Oxus or Amu Darya River into Uzbekistan, where there were more ceremonies and parades. On 15 February 1989, international media watched as the last remaining Soviet soldier, supreme commander General Boris Gromov, walked alone across the Oxus River Bridge back into the USSR.  The regime they supported and left behind managed to survive for another couple of years.

Bush Denigrates ‘War on Terror’ Veterans  Backers of America’s costly “War on Terror” seek the approbation of their one-time enemies at the expense of those who heeded their calls to defend the country. By Julie Kelly

https://amgreatness.com/2021/09/13/bush-denigrates-war-on-terror-veterans/

On September 11, 2001, Flight 93 reportedly was headed for Washington, D.C. when Americans attempted but failed to overcome Islamic terrorists who planned to use the hijacked plane as a missile against the U.S. Capitol building. The plane crashed in a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Twenty years later, George W. Bush stood on that same ground and compared patriotic Americans at the U.S. Capitol protesting a hijacked presidential election to the Islamic terrorists who murdered nearly 3,000 innocent people on 9/11. Bush’s “War on Terror” came full circle, realizing the worst fears of his legion of haters from the time—the same people now praising his “courage” in confronting imaginary domestic terrorists.

“[W]e have seen growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders but from violence that gathers within,” Bush said Saturday. “There’s little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard of human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit, and it is our continuing duty to confront them.” 

Now, one might reasonably assume Bush was addressing leftist protesters who burned down cities, tore down monuments, and brutally attacked innocents in the summer of 2020. Perhaps Bush’s condemnation of those who “disregard . . . human life” was meant for the thugs who murdered retired police captain David Dorn last summer?  

Nope. The former president wasn’t talking about Antifa or Black Lives Matter. Bush, in fact, attempted to justify the summer 2020 riots: “Looting is not liberation, and destruction is not progress,” he said in a June 2, 2020 statement. “But we also know that lasting peace in our communities requires truly equal justice. The rule of law ultimately depends on the fairness and legitimacy of the legal system. And achieving justice for all is the duty of all.”

The term Bush used on 9/11—“violent extremist”—applies to Americans who were in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. Don’t take my word for it. Take the word of Avril Haines, Joe Biden’s director of national intelligence.

In March, Haines issued an urgent bulletin warning “domestic violent extremists” pose a heightened threat to the homeland. “Newer sociopolitical developments—such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the US Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and conspiracy theories promoting violence—will almost certainly spur some DVEs to try to engage in violence this year.”

A sketch of the U.S. Capitol building was included in the document.

Israel Tries to Lighten Burden of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank Guess what they get in return? Hugh Fitzgerald

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/09/israel-tries-lighten-burden-palestinians-gaza-and-hugh-fitzgerald/

At the end of August and beginning of September, Israel did what it could to ease the lives of Palestinians both in Gaza and in the PA-run territories in the West Bank. First, it expanded the Gaza Strip’s fishing zone to 15 nautical miles – the most since 2007.

Then Israel announced that many more goods and construction materials would be allowed into Gaza from Israel at the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Especially notable was Israel’s decision to allow in “dual-use” items such as cement, which can be used for civilian purposes, to help in the rebuilding of Gaza after the 11-day war, but can also be used to fortify rocket launching pads and artillery emplacements and, even more worrisome, can be used to rebuild the extensive network of underground tunnels — about 100 kilometers of which were destroyed by the IAF airstrikes in May – that enable Hamas to move fighters and weapons underground on “the Metro,” undetected by Israel.

In addition, Israel has promised to supply Gaza with an extra five million cubic meters (1.3 billion gallons) of water.

Israel has also agreed to allow 5000 more workers from Gaza into the Jewish state, to help relieve unemployment in the Strip.

Finally, Israel has been collaborating with Qatar in making it possible to distribute directly to the 100,000 poorest families in Gaza the $10 million that Qatar, partly at Israel’s urging, has committed to send every month.

‘We Have Won!’ Terrorist mass murderer Nidal Hasan urges the Taliban to implement Sharia law. Lloyd Billingsley

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/09/we-have-won-lloyd-billingsley/

“We Have Won!!! All-Praises be to All-Mighty Allah! Congratulations on your victory over those who hate for the Laws of All-Mighty God to be supreme on the land. I pray to Allah that He helps you implement Shariah Law fully, correctly, and fairly.”

That was Fort Hood mass murderer Nidal Hasan, in a letter to his attorney retired U.S. Army Col. John Galligan, directing his remarks to the Taliban. Hasan’s most significant word is “We.”

Hasan was a major in the U.S. Army Major but described himself as a “soldier of Allah.” In 2009, Hasan was communicating with al Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki about killing American soldiers, then shipping out for Afghanistan. On November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, Texas, Hasan gunned down 13 unarmed American soldiers and wounded more than 30 others. The soldier of Allah saw himself as a combatant for the Taliban, but those in charge at the time didn’t see it that way.

For the composite character president David Garrow described in Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, it was only “workplace violence,” not even gun violence. As Col. Galligan told Fox News this week, “workplace violence” is not even a punishable offence in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). True to form, Hasan was charged with mass murder, but not terrorism. According to Galligan, “the government could have elected to proceed along that line but chose not to.”

The composite character president, formerly known as Barry Soetoro, called the killings “incomprehensible,” adding that “no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts.” For Hasan, it was fully comprehensible, and he certain believed Islam justified his actions.

Vice president Joe Biden said, “Jill and I join the President and Michelle in expressing our sympathies to the families of the brave soldiers who fell today.  We are all praying for those who were wounded and hoping for their full and speedy recovery.  Our thoughts and prayers are also with the entire Fort Hood community as they deal with this senseless tragedy.” For Nidal Hasan, the attack made perfect sense.

Democrat party the gravest threat to the Republic By Eric Utter

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/09/democrat_party_the_gravest_threat_to_the_republic.html

There was a time when the two-party system functioned for America, a time when the Democrat party was patriotic and offered a viable alternative to the GOP. A time when we could agree to disagree about the relative size of government, and various marginal policy issues. The Democrat party once featured the likes of Harry Truman, Adlai Stevenson, and JFK.

That time is long gone. As are any principles and scruples the party may have had. It now vehemently disagrees with virtually all the founding principles of the nation. No longer does it purport to believe in limited government, of, by, and for the people. It believes in unlimited government, of, by, and for those in government. It does everything it can to undermine the rule of law and equality under law. Democrats are summarily assaulting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They are attacking each of the Ten Amendments, including the right to free speech, and the right to protect oneself. And now, even the right to control over one’s own body. (And, in a related note, they have previously and largely successfully disparaged the Ten Commandments and banished them from the public square.)

Democrats for the most part no longer hide their desire to control others’ lives. President Biden recently stated that he has authorized the deployment of “Surge Response Teams” made up of “experts,” in part from the Defense Department, to combat the coronavirus and bully the unvaccinated. But maybe we shouldn’t be too concerned based on the Defense Department’s recent performance in Afghanistan.

Democrats love taxing the hell out of those with gainful employment. They love spending other people’s money, often on schemes to help them attain or retain power. They have the temerity to label a tax cut a “risky spending scheme.” They currently plan to raise taxes across the board, and proposed a corporate tax rate higher than communist China’s.

Democrats routinely traffic in obfuscation, projection, deceptions and lies. The vast majority of elected Democrats seem to be for baby genocide, obstruction of justice, and a return to a race-based society, and against election integrity and the concept of God-given rights.

Afghan Resettlement Delayed after Measles Cases Detected in Recent Arrivals By Brittany Bernstein

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/afghan-resettlement-delayed-after-measles-cases-detected-in-recent-arrivals/

The CDC has reportedly recommended that Afghan evacuees being processed at U.S. military bases overseas be tested and vaccinated for measles — an undertaking that would delay resettlement efforts by weeks — after four individuals tested positive following their arrival in the United States last week.

The Biden administration first announced last week that it would pause flights for Afghan evacuees at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany and the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar after four people tested positive following their arrival in the U.S. 

On Monday, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the administration plans to halt flights for “at least seven additional days.”

However, senior administration officials reportedly told Politico that they are making arrangements for the pause to be extended to allow thousands of people to be vaccinated and for immunity to develop. 

Such an undertaking could cause weeks-long delays in the efforts to resettle as many as 12,000 Afghans, and it would lengthen the stay of evacuees now housed at U.S. military bases, which are already struggling with overcrowding, according to the report.

“All arriving Afghans are currently required to be vaccinated for measles as a condition of their humanitarian parole and critical immunizations,” Jean-Pierre said.

The New York Times Labels Hunter Biden Laptop Story ‘Unsubstantiated’ By Isaac Schorr

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/the-new-york-times-labels-hunter-biden-laptop-story-unsubstantiated/

Last October, the New York Post published a bombshell story based on emails recovered from a laptop that Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop.

The emails suggest that Biden introduced his then-vice president father to an executive at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while he was sitting on the firm’s board. At the time of the meeting, Joe Biden was running the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy as vice president.

The Post also reported that laptop contained incriminating photos of the younger Biden and that the laptop had been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a controversial decision decried by the right and hailed by the left, Twitter flagged and censored the Post story.

According to documents obtained by the New York Times, Twitter will not be held responsible for a campaign finance violation in connection with the decision, which has been deemed a business — rather than a politically motivated — decision by the Federal Election Commission. Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey has called the initial decision to censor the article a “mistake,” and did eventually reverse it.

Curiously, though, the Times describes the Post’s story as “unsubstantiated” without doing any of the work required to actually discredit it. Indeed, the “unsubstantiated” descriptor is tacked on without any supporting evidence suggesting that the Post’s reporting was erroneous. No such evidence is referenced in the Times’ reporting, nor in anyone else’s, though “Russian misinformation” was a common refrain from Democrats last October.

To the contrary, most reporting that has followed the Post’s opening salvo has confirmed rather than contradicted it. Even Hunter Biden himself admitted in April that he had “no idea” if the laptop was his and conceded that it was “certainly possible” that it was.

Blinken’s Idiocy on the Taliban and Women By Andrew C. McCarthy

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/09/blinkens-idiocy-on-the-taliban-and-wo men/#slide-1

The notion of women holding governmental positions is anathema to the Taliban.

I n an observation that would be amusing were it not made under such appalling circumstances, Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged to the House Foreign Affairs Committee that, in assembling its regime in Afghanistan, the Taliban had fallen “very short of the mark” expected by the vaunted “international community.” As the New York Times reports, he was referring specifically to the fundamentalists’ failure to include women in the new government.

I’m constrained yet again to note the sheer idiocy of such remarks from our State Department, nearly 30 years after the principles of sharia supremacism (which is the Taliban’s ideology) figured prominently in U.S. terrorism prosecutions.

The salient point here is not so much about women as it is about fundamentalist Islam’s theory of governance. But maddeningly, our government has always stood ready to turn a blind eye at the latter if it could just get a bit of window dressing on the former.

The Taliban are as literalist and unevolved as it gets, so the notion of women holding governmental positions is anathema to them. But that’s not merely because these are government positions; it’s mainly because they are outside-the-home positions. Before you’d even get to questions of governance, you’d confront the Taliban’s opposition to women’s being outside the home without the supervision of a male relative, to the perceived impropriety of women’s interacting with men to whom they are neither married nor related, and to the perceived intellectual inferiority of women that results, for example, in their testimony being valued at half that of a man’s (rooted in an ancient hadith, the provenance of which is questioned by reformist Islamic scholars and authentically moderate Muslim modernizers).

Yet sharia supremacism is not monolithic.

The Muslim Brotherhood is a sharia-supremacist organization, but it is the most influential one in modern history because it is flexible, even nuanced, about means of advancing sharia’s implementation while remaining unyielding on the crucial matter of ends — fidelity to sharia principles. As I’ve explained on other occasions (and discussed extensively in The Grand Jihad, my 2010 book on the Brotherhood and its alliance with transnational progressives), the most influential scholar in this most influential organization is Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Notwithstanding his endorsement of violent jihad, Qaradawi has won plaudits from the usual suspects (such as the State Department) because of, among other things, his “moderate” views on the rights of women to vote and hold elective office.

Now, let’s put this in context.

Here Comes the Biden Tax Bill Pelosi marches House Democrats to the political gallows.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/here-comes-the-joe-biden-tax-bill-nancy-pelosi-richard-neal-house-ways-and-means-democrats-11631566810?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

It’s been under wraps longer than some Egyptian mummies, but the bill for the Joe Biden – Nancy Pelosi -Bernie Sanders spending agenda is about to be exposed to the air. The Ways and Means Committee draft tax increase that leaked over the weekend is a $2.2 trillion Washington money grab for the ages.

The tax proposals aren’t final, but Ways and Means will start debating them as early as Tuesday. So much for deliberation. As Chairman Richard Neal has said, publicizing tax increases too soon gives the opposition time to build. Now that the details are out, we see what he means.**

The most bizarre spin is that the House Democratic draft is less onerous than President Biden has proposed. As a share of GDP, the House proposal is still the largest tax increase since 1968. It also doesn’t account for the Senate Finance Committee, which has floated a paper with multi-trillions in tax increases to choose from. Think of this exercise as the all-you-can-eat politician’s dinner at Applebee’s.

If Americans are successful, Democrats want to tax more of their income. The top individual tax rate will rise to 39.6% from 37%, as Mr. Biden promised. But wait: The higher tax rate will kick in at a mere $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. That’s down from $523,600 and $628,300 under current law.

Iran’s Dangerous Nuclear Dance Will anything stop Biden from trying to revive the flawed deal?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-dangerous-nuclear-dance-international-atomic-energy-agency-biden-deal-11631555612?mod=opinion_lead_pos3

We’re not sure Iran could do anything to make President Biden give up his pursuit of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, and Iran is acting as if it agrees. This could explain Tehran’s escalations in response to U.S. concessions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Sunday that Iran would allow its inspectors to service surveillance cameras monitoring Iranian nuclear sites. This is no great breakthrough. In February the regime began blocking the agency from inspecting several nuclear facilities in person, though it cut a deal to keep some monitoring equipment. The latest agreement won’t guarantee access to this data, which could be deleted at any time, but a joint Iran-IAEA statement still noted their “spirit of cooperation and mutual trust.”

The 2015 deal’s apologists will say that this is proof Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi may be ready to return to the negotiating table, but this move is really about keeping his options open. Iran offered the token concession over the weekend to avoid an IAEA board censure, which theoretically could lead to United Nations sanctions. The U.S., Germany, France and the U.K. had been considering a rebuke over the inspection intransigence, but don’t hold your breath.

The Islamic Republic has already done plenty to earn a censure. Much of the media attention has focused on Iran’s expanding its nuclear deal violations such as activating advanced centrifuges and enriching uranium at higher concentrations.