Posted on 08/31/2021 8:27:29 AM PDT by Red Badger
There is only one fitting response to last week’s heart-wrenching suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul: America must get out of Afghanistan as quickly as possible, and stay out, for good. Nothing good has come of America’s involvement in Afghanistan, and nothing more will come out of it, except more flag-draped coffins.
Sickeningly, the US security state responded to last Thursday’s attack with a borderline glee. Sadly, ISIS-Khorasan’s (ISIS-K) gruesome attack served the forever-war lobby perfectly, as it used the tragedy to launch a final Hail Mary bid to prolong America’s interminable, objective-free crusade in Southwest Asia. In the process, the globalist war lobby revealed one of the most cynical, sinister components of a playbook it has run for two decades — a playbook that capitalizes on public ignorance to conflate wildly different groups and oversell totally unproven claims in the service of perpetuating endless warfare.
ISIS-K immediately claimed credit for Thursday’s attack, and there is no reason to doubt it. Yet even before authorities released an official body count, former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster announced his choice of culprit: The Taliban, either acting alone or in direct concert with ISIS.
McMaster says he’s sure we’ll find out that the Taliban knew about the airport attack. When that proves false, will he be asked about it? Will Andrea Mitchell stop giving him a platform? Or will he just be invited on next time to keep lying? pic.twitter.com/zG2aqPQQo8
— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) August 26, 2021
HR McMaster just said (on @FoxNews) that "I wouldn't be surprised if this #ISISK (ISIS-Khurasan) attack was just a straw man, a front, for the Taliban." So the years of open acrimony between the two is a mirage? Come on, man. pic.twitter.com/Yp562P6FTK
— The Occidental Jihadist (@Occidentaljihad) August 26, 2021
2:19 / 4:40 WATCH: CHECK OUT DARREN BEATTIE'S LATEST INTERVIEWS For DC warhawks, no doubt, it’s easy to imagine Taliban and ISIS teaming up. They’re both bad guys, right? Bad guys work together. That’s how it works in comic book movies — sub-literate America’s primary cultural lens for making sense of the world.
In reality, of course, the Taliban and ISIS are bitter foes. Even as the Taliban steadily took over more and more of Afghanistan, it also waged war against the country’s ISIS militants, often with tacit approval and even outright assistance from the US. When the Taliban seized Kabul, one of its first actions was to execute former ISIS leader Omar Khorasani, who was imprisoned there. ISIS and the Taliban disagree in terms of mission, tactics, and basic interpretations of Islam. Their rivalry isn’t a passive one, but one that involves numerous gruesome atrocities.
But for H.R. McMaster making the case for endless war on TV, they’re all just one and the same, folded neatly under some cable-friendly banner like “Islamofascism.” After all, George W. Bush only learned about the existence of Sunni and Shia Muslims two months before the invasion of Iraq.
McMaster went on to declare in a separate BBC interview that “this so-called ISIS-K attack has all the hallmarks of a Haqqani Network attack,” referring to an Afghan militia that is an offshoot of the Taliban.
In a BBC interview, US Gen. HR McMaster says the terrorist attack at #KabulAiport was predictable because former President Donald Trump was "played" by the Taliban in surrendering to a terrorist organization. He also urged the US military to go into Afghanistan to rescue people. pic.twitter.com/yrMApPozWY
— Ed Berliner (@BerlinerSpeaks) August 26, 2021
How would McMaster know that the attack had these hallmarks? Is there a long history of suicide attacks on besieged airports conducting an evacuation? And why would the Taliban, which resolutely followed a year-long ceasefire with US forces so that they would leave the country, suddenly reverse course and begin murdering them on the cusp of final victory?
If that seems like it makes no sense, it’s because it doesn’t. McMaster is a babbling idiot making things up on the fly. His only objective is to flail at one last opportunity to extend America’s decades-long war in Afghanistan for a few more years at least.
This playbook has been followed over and over again, for the entirety of the War on Terror.
Think back to the fall of 2001, when in the wake of 9/11 Americans lived in fear of follow-up attacks after 9/11. As if on cue, the anthrax letters began. And of course, American experts were there to say the letters had “all the hallmarks” of being a terror attack planned by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
American investigators probing anthrax outbreaks in Florida and New York believe they have all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack – and have named Iraq as prime suspect as the source of the deadly spores.
Their inquiries are adding to what US hawks say is a growing mass of evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved, possibly indirectly, with the 11 September hijackers.
If investigators’ fears are confirmed – and sceptics fear American hawks could be publicising the claim to press their case for strikes against Iraq – the pressure now building among senior Pentagon and White House officials in Washington for an attack may become irresistible. [The Guardian]
Of course, in reality, no evidence whatsoever connected the letters to Iraq or Al Qaeda. According to federal prosecutors, disgruntled federal scientist Bruce Edward Ivins acted alone in making the letters, and while many still question the FBI’s findings, or believe Ivins must have had accomplices, it is anything but true that the attack had “all the hallmarks” of Islamic terrorism. That claim was simply an assumption.
In February 2003, an Australian lawmaker ginning up support for that country’s participation in the Iraq War confidently stated that “the stubborn, deceitful behavior of Iraq… has all the hallmarks of a nation which is hiding something.” In reality, Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, and the only thing Saddam Hussein was hiding was how feeble his regime was. Nearly 4,500 American troops died thanks to the hubris, arrogance, and (in some cases) outright deception that led to the Iraq War. In fact, given that the Islamic State’s rise was enabled by the chaos unleashed by the US invasion of Iraq, one could easily argue that the American troops slain on Thursday were just the latest victims of the disastrous Iraq invasion eighteen long years ago.
In 2017, after the chemical blast at Khan Shaykhun in Syria, it took less than 24 hours for US and allied intelligence services to confidently blame the blast on President Bashar Assad’s government. Of course, Assad consistently disclaimed all responsibility. The very next day, Britain’s UN ambassador said the attack… wait for it… “bears all the hallmarks of the Assad regime.”
Advocates of intervention in Syria seized upon the attacks and nearly succeeded in pushing for a the full-fledged overthrow of Assad’s regime, until President Trump settled on a limited retaliatory missile strike instead.
But if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. In spring 2018, a second chemical blast in Syria was once again blamed on Assad’s government. Once again, such an attack made no sense. Assad’s government was winning the war. Literally the only thing that could topple him from power was a major shift in Western sentiment leading to an intervention, and the only thing that could cause such a shift was a pointless, over-the-top atrocity like using banned chemical weapons.
No matter. America went to the brink of war again. And a certain phrase popped up yet again:
According to rescue workers, on Saturday more than 40 people died in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma in an alleged chemical attack, which left victims wheezing, with discolored skin and foaming at the mouth.
The United States, Britain and France have argued the alleged attack bears all the hallmarks of a strike ordered by the regime of Russia’s ally Assad, which has been blamed for previous attacks by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). [AFP]
Did it, though? An investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it did… and then a whistleblower promptly accused the organization of issuing a politically-motivated finding.
The leaked email by an investigator described as “Alex” and quoted by WikiLeaks expresses the “gravest concern”, saying the OPCW report “misrepresents the facts”, contains “unintended bias” and simplifies conclusions.
The email says the published OPCW report into the attack changed the language on the levels of chlorine allegedly found compared with what investigators had originally wrote.
It also questions whether or not the chemical came from barrels found at the scene, and whether those barrels had been dropped from the air – which would indicate Assad’s forces – or placed there manually there – which would indicate it was staged by Syrian rebels. The whistleblower said the published report’s conclusions on the barrels deviated significantly from the draft. [The Guardian]
One doesn’t have to fixate on a specific overused phrase, of course. The real point is that repeatedly, over and over, the war party in America has drastically outrun its evidence and conflated wildly different groups, counting on the fact it will never be held accountable for its behavior. In 2020, The New York Times laundered fabulous claims of Russian bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Days later, Foreign Policy used the bounties to unsubtly agitate against the unfolding Afghan withdrawal:
Amid the peace talks brokered by the United States, one angle that most observers of Afghanistan have ignored is the role of Russia, which has enthusiastically supported the agreement. Along with Pakistan, Russia stands to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of any NATO withdrawal. Over the past several years, it has been quietly working in the background to enhance its ties with the Taliban, with the purpose of expanding its strategic interests in Afghanistan—and in the process exorcising the failings of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the 1980s. Once NATO and U.S. forces leave, Russia will once again have an opportunity to step in. And in that sense, the recent revelations about Moscow’s sordid arrangement with the Taliban should come as no surprise. [Foreign Policy]
In reality, once again, the narrative was totally false. There was no evidence of any Russian bounties, but as is so often the case, the truth came out months later, and with far less fanfare.
This sort of explanation-free certitude isn’t just used to start or extend American wars. It’s an all-purpose means to further the Security State’s agenda at home as well as abroad. Just to switch it up, the intel community added a little twist to the tried and true “all the hallmarks” line in their effort to protect President Biden’s son:
More than 50 former high-ranking U.S. intelligence officials have signed a letter saying the recent disclosure of emails allegedly belonging to Joe Biden’s son “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” The emails were published by the New York Post last week after the paper was given an alleged copy of Hunter Biden’s laptop hard drive by President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Several Post reporters refused to put their name on the reports because they were concerned about the authenticity of the material being pushed to run in the News Corp publication. While the letter’s signatories presented no new evidence, they said their national-security experience had made them “deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case,” and cited several elements of the story that suggested the Kremlin’s hand at work. [Daily Beast]
The time has come to stop falling for this, and the only way to do so is to stop listening to the bad actors who have pulled off this scam time and time again.
Americans are justifiably horrified and distressed that another 13 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan. It’s justifiable to put blame on the Biden Administration for failing to foresee Afghanistan’s instantaneous collapse and creating a catastrophic and chaotic evacuation where US troops were inevitably put in harm’s way.
But the most blame of all must go to the generals, diplomats, and think tank goons whose lies and incompetence perpetuated the Afghan war for twenty bloody, expensive, fruitless years, and who even now are maneuvering desperately to keep American troops in danger for twenty years more. The best way to repay them is to strip them of all power, all influence, and all respect. Regard them as the cartoonish, revolting failures they are… and let them pass into the ash heap of history.
9/11 led “us” into a 20 year mess of killing some terrorist leaders while recruiting grassroots terrorists to fight in Libya and Syria.
And by “us” I mean the USA, UK, European NATO countries, the Saudis, Emirates, Qatar etc. etc.
Its easy to trash the Afghans for not fighting but the war had no victory plan.
Truman fired MacArthur for wanting to carry out a victory plan.
The Afghans quit but it was futile to keep on fighting anyway because there was no plan to win the war against the Pakistani backed Taliban.
Mission Accomplished for the Great Awakening.
BidAn’s now hated even by many ‘Rat voters.
Many are calling for resignations of BidAn, SOD Austin and Gen Milley. Some calling for Courts Martial.
The Afghanistan War, created by the Deep State and CIA, for the purposes of drugs/arms/kids smuggling/trafficking, is over.
I’m mindful that those seemingly dead are alive; those seemingly alive are dead.
I expect things to get worse, much worse, for regime bIdaN/Caballa between now and 9/11.
We are watching in realtime, slow, methodical and sure takedown of “the Swamp” “Deep State” “Cabal”.
Nothing good will come of the vast lethal gift Joe has presented to the Taliban, billions in high tech armaments. We can expect these to be used against Israel and the US in coming months. Thanks Joe!
“But the most blame of all must go to the generals, diplomats, and think tank goons whose lies and incompetence perpetuated the Afghan war for twenty bloody, expensive, fruitless years, and who even now are maneuvering desperately to keep American troops in danger for twenty years more. The best way to repay them is to strip them of all power, all influence, and all respect. Regard them as the cartoonish, revolting failures they are… and let them pass into the ash heap of history.”
So true.
But he lets Presidents off the hook.
Bush and Obama predominantly.
If only.
Not true. Many real terrorists decided to fight us there, where we had weapons and ability to fight back, rather than on the streets and avenues of the USA. I did four tours in Iraq and AFG, and saw many of them come and go. I would much rather fight them there, than have my family on the front line here.
I agree. The mistakes we made there were the same ones we made in Vietnam. Not grinding the enemy into oblivion when we easily had the ability.
China Joe's withdrawal was no accident. He did what his Chinese and Muslim Brotherhood handlers wanted him to do. Strike a blow to his own military, create a super-jihadist state, and leave a bunch of high-tech weaponry for the Pakistani jihadists to use against India. (Who is also an enemy of China.)
Most excellent post, wbarmy. I was about to say the same thing, but you are a lot more authoritative with you numerous tours in Iraq and AFG (thank you so much for that service!).
The fallacy is the DOD says “the war is over” which is complete BS. The long war against Islam will continue because they want it to continue. They will not quit. We were able to contain their expansionism with our base in Afghanistan.
Now the theater operations will shift to the USA again where it largely has not been since we went into AFG. With the wide-open southern border and all the “refugee” flights, the bad actors are probably already here in large numbers.
I fully expect to see bombings starting up again inside the USA.
the rat voters don’t care..Toss more freebies their way and they are happy....Blacks,Hispanics and now Muslims dem voters..All they need is govt goodies and they are fine with whatever the dems do to others....
” I would much rather fight them there, than have my family on the front line here.”
And now they are. Check the flight manifests in Philly and the lists of lib created immigrants coming in and being bussed from the southern border. Smith and Jones used to be well used names in the US but they had to be inventive as they didn’t look like a Smith or a Jones. They’re here, brother. And they’ve been training stateside for many years. Welcome to the new middle eastern war, right here in the US. And the liberals are funding it.
wy69
the liberals aren’t funding it, they’re using our tax $s to fund it
.
We can hope.
Most people — even most of Biden’s critics — cannot fathom the amoral cruelty of this regime.
McMaster was at peak of his capability running an armored Brigade. That’s where he should have stopped/
The Peter Principle: You rise to the level of your incompetence.
He has proved the maxim.....................
Let us all take a deep breath and think about the Anthrax attacks.
They have _never_ been adequately explained—we have been fed a bunch of partial explanations that all seem to collapse on examination.
My opinion, fwiw, is that they were done by the Deep State in an effort to intimidate Congress to expand funding to the various intelligence agencies and their contractors.
The Deep State had the motive, they had the means, and they had the opportunity.
Blaming it on a “lone nut” is their standard method of operation, and should be totally rejected by folks with a decent knowledge of history and real world politics.
In reality, Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, and the only thing Saddam Hussein was hiding was how feeble his regime was. Nearly 4,500 American troops died thanks to the hubris, arrogance, and (in some cases) outright deception that led to the Iraq War.What constitutes weapons of mass destruction:
A weapon of mass destruction is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological, or other device that is intended to harm a large number of people.Chemical Warfare in the Iran Iraq war:
According to Iraq itself, it consumed almost 19,500 chemical bombs, over 54,000 chemical artillery shells and 27,000 short-range chemical rockets between 1983 and 1988. Iraq declared it consumed about 1,800 tons of mustard gas, 140 tons of Tabun, and over 600 tons of Sarin. Almost two-thirds of the CW weapons were used in the last 18 months of the war.Saddam Hussein also used chemical weapons against the Kurds and even after the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait he used chemical weapons to suppress a rebellion by his own people.
This from The New York Times:
It was August 2008 near Taji, Iraq. They had just exploded a stack of old Iraqi artillery shells buried beside a murky lake. The blast, part of an effort to destroy munitions that could be used in makeshift bombs, uncovered more shells.How much remains buried and how much chemical agent was poured into the The Tigris & Euphrates Rivers? But I suppose we will never know or it's classified to be revealed on a need to know basis.Two technicians assigned to dispose of munitions stepped into the hole. Lake water seeped in. One of them, Specialist Andrew T. Goldman, noticed a pungent odor, something, he said, he had never smelled before.
He lifted a shell. Oily paste oozed from a crack. “That doesn’t look like pond water,” said his team leader, Staff Sgt. Eric J. Duling.
The specialist swabbed the shell with chemical detection paper. It turned red — indicating sulfur mustard, the chemical warfare agent designed to burn a victim’s airway, skin and eyes.
All three men recall an awkward pause. Then Sergeant Duling gave an order: “Get the hell out.”
The Secret Casualties of Iraq’s Abandoned Chemical Weapons
In all, American troops secretly reported finding roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells or aviation bombs, according to interviews with dozens of participants, Iraqi and American officials, and heavily redacted intelligence documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The United States had gone to war declaring it must destroy an active weapons of mass destruction program. Instead, American troops gradually found and ultimately suffered from the remnants of long-abandoned programs, built in close collaboration with the West.
The New York Times found 17 American service members and seven Iraqi police officers who were exposed to nerve or mustard agents after 2003. American officials said that the actual tally of exposed troops was slightly higher, but that the government’s official count was classified.
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