I witnessed a CNN anchor's determined effort to get Congressman Dan Crawford - a veteran of Afghanistan - to pin the blame on either Biden or Trump. Crawford basically wasn't having it, and noted mistakes were made by every administration. The anchor wasn't accepting nuance or complexity...she wanted BLAME. If blame has to be assessed, why not start (and end) with George W. Bush? The mission of driving bin Laden out of Afghanistan was accomplished in December of 2001. Training an Afghani army....just as training a South Vietnamese army and an Iraqi army...was a fool's mission. We. Never. Learn.
Unfortunately this has nothing to do with "we never learn". On the contrary, we have learned. We have learned that the military industrial complex makes a lot of money for a lot of people.
Who's to blame for this twenty year debacle? George W. Bush and the Press, that's who! Where was the media two decades ago when Bush, the Republicans, and yes, many Democrats voted to go to war with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11? Where were the articles that pointed out or tried to force the country to take a different approach with this new style war? Our country is one built on the Industrial Military Complex. We spend how much every year to build more and more weapons of war when in this modern world they are simply not needed, at least to the degree that we turn them out. God forbid an article or two should show up in the media in that regard. The winner of it all was Osama Bin Ladin. He lured the US into a shit storm that he new would cost countless lives and billions of dollars for decades. Biden's decision is correct. We fucked up, now it's time to cut our losses.
The coverage has been extraordinarily bad, even by normal piss poor standards. People like George Packer have some gall. So many of these journalists wanted the invasion of Iraq—which had a detrimental impact on our original mission in Afghanistan—and papers like the Times and the Post slanted their coverage, burying stories that went against the Bush Admin line on page A20 while giving front page prominence to BS like Judith Miller’s stenography stories.
Where was this outrage when Trump gave away the store to the Taliban, including releasing thousands of a Taliban prisoners and negotiating without the Afghani Govt? (Besides the outrage of inviting them to Camp David near 9/11)? How much did the lack of cooperation in the Pentagon hurt the incoming Biden Admin vis a vis its planning of the withdrawal—because you know the previous admin had no plan at all? The Biden Admin had four months to devise and implement a plan—which for such a massive undertaking is almost impossible, even with a three-month extension. And the press howled when Biden wouldn’t answer immediately if we were staying or going (and would have blathered on about losing our honor if he reneged).
There are many legitimate questions, but our beltway press isn’t up to the challenge.
Michael Morell and David Ignatius it isn’t lack of cooperation from the Pentagon that is the problem, it’s that they were warned for years by the CIA that they were overly optimistic about their ability to succeed in Afghanistan. I would bet that Biden has been acting on their assurances that the Afghan military and government would not collapse if we withdrew. The media is loathe to criticize the military just like they are refusing to blame Bush for getting us into this no win situation. I am not saying Biden doesn’t deserve any blame but the media is giving him all of it without acknowledging the other option was to stay forever.
There's good reason why some of us olds were against the invasion since Day 1: History, primarily.
Afghanistan had a history of a weak central government, if at all, and violent hatred of foreigners -- ask the British or Soviets. At the same time, we have a history of doing no good in the name of bringing freedom. Just to name a few that come to mind:
Indigenous American nations
The Philippines
Cuba
Nicaragua
Guatemala
Iran
Italy (CIA rat fucking of elections during a couple of decades following WWII)
Uh, Afghanistan
Iraq
Chile
While espousing freedom, we never bring freedom; we bring fascist leaders and de facto slave labor, a few crumbs of material improvement at a pretty shitty price (IMO; western business interests' opinion -- and that of their puppets -- obviously differs).
Afghanistan, contrary to the GOP liars and their irresponsible mainstream media tools, wasn't lost by anyone. It was waiting to be lost by any fool thinking to invade it.
Also willfully ignored is the inconvenient truth that the Taliban's existence in very large part is the result of actions by [checks notes] the US in forming and arming the Islamic fundamentalist mujhadeen to fight the Soviets and the continuing support for them up to this very minute from our very good ally, Pakistan.
But, you know, hubris and narcissism are blinding as fuck.
As for the establishment media bleating, it's not like their track record on important matters heretofore was anything to be proud of. Conservatives are correct; the mainstream press is awful. They just don't know what's true and what's their own delusion and denial. But the press has seriously failed the nation. In the old days, when opposing info was hard if not impossible to find, it was okay enough. But these days, it's a huge problem.
The conclusion of the Afghan war/occupation/nation building is another example of the Left being right all along, but the Media will not ever mention that.
I have been furious that the coverage I have seen doesn’t even mention that it was Bush and his idiotic belief that we could nation build Afghanistan and Iraq into stable western-style democracies. I remember Bush excoriating people who dared point out that these countries don’t have a history or culture that is conducive to democracy. Bush’s hubris, ignorance and naïveté has created this no-win situation but God forbid anyone mention that. It also seems to me that the military must have told Biden the Afghan military could hold on at least for a few months. If they had warned him this would happen I would bet we would be hearing that.
I have seen almost no mention of the military’s miscalculation of the stability of Afghanistan. David Ignatius did say this morning that for years the CIA has been warning the military they wouldn’t succeed in stabilizing Afghanistan but military leaders refused to listen. They were confident they had things under control. Yet it is Biden and his team, not military leaders, who are getting all the blame for miscalculating as if they didn’t base their assumptions on what the military has told them.
This morning David Ignatius said that the CIA repeatedly warned the military over the years but they wouldn’t listen. Michael Morell is also defending the CIA but he is a member of the intelligence community. I would bet the military will say the CIA didn’t give them accurate information. I wonder if we will ever find out.
May not be relevant, but I remember in the run up to the Iraq invasion the military, the Bush administration, the military, the press and the public were bound and determined that we go to war. People who opposed the invasion were silenced and demonized. Phil Donahue, whose show had highest ratings on MSNBC, was fired because of his opposition (one reason I've never ever trusted MSNBC). The only voices who persistently contradicted Bush's claims about WMD and the threat Iraq supposedly posed were the analysts in the CIA. Dick Cheney was so disturbed he tried to pressure CIA to "cherry pick" intelligence reports. I clearly remember the stories that WaPo reporter Walter Pincus wrote about the CIA's findings which the editorial board and Pundiratties completely ignored as they beat the drums for war. I found the stark contrast between Pincus and the pundits surreal. Based on what happened with Iraq my money would be on the CIA analysts.
The complete lack of context from our Failed Political Press ™ is the shocking part of this story. It seems that no one in the elite DC cocktail party circuit knows how our military got into Afghanistan. It’s a complete mystery.
Watching some of the Sunday Talkies was also revealing: what heretofore unknown insights was Liz Cheney (!) going to bring to the table? What about nuanced discussion with the other Neocons? I’m so glad the networks had the brainy idea of booking them.
Who else remember Tommy Friedman endlessly writing in the Times that we need "six more months" to win. Endlessly recited that to the point Atrios coined the term "Friedman Unit", or "F.U." for short.
40 "F.U's" later we find out that it was all for naught because we ignored the lesson History taught that no outside force can conquer Afghanistan.
How about pointing out that the media is saying that “Afghans” and “civilians” are storming the airport to try to flee to safety but it appears from footage that only men are at the airport. So much for women and children in the lifeboats first.
I looked more closely at that tightly packed C-17 hold, and there are women and children on that plane. I just want to see more of them. Did you see that picture?
The Corporate Controlled Conservative Press acted as they always do which is why I ignored them and just listened to music yesterday. And we can see The Usual Gang Of $tenographer$ reciting GOP talking points while Ronna was having Winston Smith erase every mention of the deal Trump made with the Taliban from the GOP website.
And the Presstitutes have dialed up their hatred of Joe to 11 just a their Republican masters decreed led by the predictable Maureen Dowd who increased the amount of venom in her poison pen because she didn't get to go to Obama's party.
Oh and it's also predictable to see the Usual Idiots linking this to Carter's hostage situation...
Maureen’s piece was another whiny, needless and inane column. Did she call him Barry this time? Couldn’t bring myself to read the whole thing. Sounds like she has a fear of missing out or FOMO as the kids say😎. Party envy.
This morning on Morning Joe Adrian Elrod said she was surprised to see Dowd criticize Obama since Dowd spent the last umpteen years criticizing the Clintons.
Dowd went after ‘Barry’ as she always called him plenty while he was our prez. She’s a snob. Love how she often throws in some out of left field French, to impress who exactly?
It’s the breathlessness with which Mika et al report about the Afghanistan withdrawal that frosts me, the almost joy like tenor they tout as Biden’s ‘disaster.’ I’ve been cringing with anxiety since this evacuation story began to be told knowing the press would happily and repeatedly crucify him (Oh goodie, another awful crisis to hype and blame solely on Biden) . Pompeo was quoted as saying that under the FG, the evacuation HE negotiated would have gone very differently/ie better had they still been in office. Duh. MSNBC keeps replaying the same scene over and over of Afghans at the airport trying desperately to get on a US plane for escape, and, of course, it’s now Biden’s Vietnam. Every story should include the history of failed forays into the country by the Brits, the Russians and now us. Hopeless and costly. Eric cited the popularity of this policy among the American people. Nary a word about that little tidbit mentioned in reporting. I’m heartsick by this most recent display of handwringing by the press. Not a good look for us.
"Yes, Biden finally did something we can turn into a scandal if we squint at it just right! Damn, we all miss the Orange Tangerine; he was so much easier to write about!"
This weekend brought the most disgusting display of bullshit badly disguised as journalism. I was in a word unwatchable. Anyone old enough to remember the debacle that was Vietnam is having deja view all over again.
The comparison to Vietnam is inevitable, but the difference is the current American climate. Where have the war protesters been against all the losses in Afghanistan? Where is the indignation at all the lives lost? America no longer cares about anyone but itself. We want to build walls to keep out other desperate persecuted immigrants. We demand our right not to be vaccinated to save others' lives. Why? Why? What has happened to a country that said 'give me your tired, your poor.' What about 'ask not what your country can do for you?' We have become the nation of the most selfish people on earth, while we remain the most fortunate and safest nation and forget that this entire nation began as immigrants.
There was the draft/lottery when Vietnam was fought. Middle/high class kids, let alone disadvantaged kids did not want to fight when called to serve. No draft anymore, no involuntary lives on the line. Maybe that’s part of the reason for no protest demonstrations?
I was one of those anti war protestors and I volunteered at Veterans Hospital while in HS. And because not everyone in the country was affected by the war the concern for those fighting was basically only families of those serving
Sadly, us Americans have a very short memory. By the time Santa is sliding down the chimney we will have moved back to the Dems trying to cancel Christmas and this present MSM outrage will have passed.
David Rothkopf on Twitter) "Tapper(Jake) is unhappy that Joe Biden did not make the speech Jake wanted to hear. His summation was an editorial as was the beginning of the post-speech roundtable, designed to advance the views of the reporters but not to objectively assess what was realistic or in the US interest.' Great analysis; "reporters want to advance their view but not objectively assess what was realistic."
Looks like the Afghanistan withdrawal frees up enough funds to cover the SNAP benefit increases thrice this year. At least the changes with a $ call out.
Where was all that money going when it was being spent on Afghan adventures? Follow the money. You can probably do that just by listening for the screams of outrage.
I witnessed a CNN anchor's determined effort to get Congressman Dan Crawford - a veteran of Afghanistan - to pin the blame on either Biden or Trump. Crawford basically wasn't having it, and noted mistakes were made by every administration. The anchor wasn't accepting nuance or complexity...she wanted BLAME. If blame has to be assessed, why not start (and end) with George W. Bush? The mission of driving bin Laden out of Afghanistan was accomplished in December of 2001. Training an Afghani army....just as training a South Vietnamese army and an Iraqi army...was a fool's mission. We. Never. Learn.
Press does seem relish the idea of dinging Biden…seems oddly personal for them
Fact check: It was Congressman Crenshaw, not Crawford. Mea culpa.
Unfortunately this has nothing to do with "we never learn". On the contrary, we have learned. We have learned that the military industrial complex makes a lot of money for a lot of people.
Black Sabbath - War Pigs
Politicians hide themselves away.
They only started the war.
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah!
Who's to blame for this twenty year debacle? George W. Bush and the Press, that's who! Where was the media two decades ago when Bush, the Republicans, and yes, many Democrats voted to go to war with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11? Where were the articles that pointed out or tried to force the country to take a different approach with this new style war? Our country is one built on the Industrial Military Complex. We spend how much every year to build more and more weapons of war when in this modern world they are simply not needed, at least to the degree that we turn them out. God forbid an article or two should show up in the media in that regard. The winner of it all was Osama Bin Ladin. He lured the US into a shit storm that he new would cost countless lives and billions of dollars for decades. Biden's decision is correct. We fucked up, now it's time to cut our losses.
yr pt was really highlighted yesterday when military pundits flooded the airwaves, along w/ pro-war pundits who got the Iraq War all wrong
There is only one member of Congress who got it right from the start: Barbara Lee. https://news.yahoo.com/rep-lee-who-voted-against-war-says-taliban-takeover-proves-there-is-no-military-solution-for-afghanistan-165235631.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
The coverage has been extraordinarily bad, even by normal piss poor standards. People like George Packer have some gall. So many of these journalists wanted the invasion of Iraq—which had a detrimental impact on our original mission in Afghanistan—and papers like the Times and the Post slanted their coverage, burying stories that went against the Bush Admin line on page A20 while giving front page prominence to BS like Judith Miller’s stenography stories.
Where was this outrage when Trump gave away the store to the Taliban, including releasing thousands of a Taliban prisoners and negotiating without the Afghani Govt? (Besides the outrage of inviting them to Camp David near 9/11)? How much did the lack of cooperation in the Pentagon hurt the incoming Biden Admin vis a vis its planning of the withdrawal—because you know the previous admin had no plan at all? The Biden Admin had four months to devise and implement a plan—which for such a massive undertaking is almost impossible, even with a three-month extension. And the press howled when Biden wouldn’t answer immediately if we were staying or going (and would have blathered on about losing our honor if he reneged).
There are many legitimate questions, but our beltway press isn’t up to the challenge.
yep, Packer a Iraq War cheerleader now lecturing WH on foreign policy
Michael Morell and David Ignatius it isn’t lack of cooperation from the Pentagon that is the problem, it’s that they were warned for years by the CIA that they were overly optimistic about their ability to succeed in Afghanistan. I would bet that Biden has been acting on their assurances that the Afghan military and government would not collapse if we withdrew. The media is loathe to criticize the military just like they are refusing to blame Bush for getting us into this no win situation. I am not saying Biden doesn’t deserve any blame but the media is giving him all of it without acknowledging the other option was to stay forever.
There's good reason why some of us olds were against the invasion since Day 1: History, primarily.
Afghanistan had a history of a weak central government, if at all, and violent hatred of foreigners -- ask the British or Soviets. At the same time, we have a history of doing no good in the name of bringing freedom. Just to name a few that come to mind:
Indigenous American nations
The Philippines
Cuba
Nicaragua
Guatemala
Iran
Italy (CIA rat fucking of elections during a couple of decades following WWII)
Uh, Afghanistan
Iraq
Chile
While espousing freedom, we never bring freedom; we bring fascist leaders and de facto slave labor, a few crumbs of material improvement at a pretty shitty price (IMO; western business interests' opinion -- and that of their puppets -- obviously differs).
Afghanistan, contrary to the GOP liars and their irresponsible mainstream media tools, wasn't lost by anyone. It was waiting to be lost by any fool thinking to invade it.
Also willfully ignored is the inconvenient truth that the Taliban's existence in very large part is the result of actions by [checks notes] the US in forming and arming the Islamic fundamentalist mujhadeen to fight the Soviets and the continuing support for them up to this very minute from our very good ally, Pakistan.
But, you know, hubris and narcissism are blinding as fuck.
As for the establishment media bleating, it's not like their track record on important matters heretofore was anything to be proud of. Conservatives are correct; the mainstream press is awful. They just don't know what's true and what's their own delusion and denial. But the press has seriously failed the nation. In the old days, when opposing info was hard if not impossible to find, it was okay enough. But these days, it's a huge problem.
good historical perspective
Thanks, Eric!
The conclusion of the Afghan war/occupation/nation building is another example of the Left being right all along, but the Media will not ever mention that.
You said it 'blinding as fuck' and you are so right...and can we also say TRIBAL, TRIBAL, TRIBAL and MOUNTAINS, MOUNTAINS, MOUNTAINS.
I have been furious that the coverage I have seen doesn’t even mention that it was Bush and his idiotic belief that we could nation build Afghanistan and Iraq into stable western-style democracies. I remember Bush excoriating people who dared point out that these countries don’t have a history or culture that is conducive to democracy. Bush’s hubris, ignorance and naïveté has created this no-win situation but God forbid anyone mention that. It also seems to me that the military must have told Biden the Afghan military could hold on at least for a few months. If they had warned him this would happen I would bet we would be hearing that.
I have seen almost no mention of the military’s miscalculation of the stability of Afghanistan. David Ignatius did say this morning that for years the CIA has been warning the military they wouldn’t succeed in stabilizing Afghanistan but military leaders refused to listen. They were confident they had things under control. Yet it is Biden and his team, not military leaders, who are getting all the blame for miscalculating as if they didn’t base their assumptions on what the military has told them.
I was wondering; was it intel or miltary failure? Yes, I believe hubris of the military.
This morning David Ignatius said that the CIA repeatedly warned the military over the years but they wouldn’t listen. Michael Morell is also defending the CIA but he is a member of the intelligence community. I would bet the military will say the CIA didn’t give them accurate information. I wonder if we will ever find out.
May not be relevant, but I remember in the run up to the Iraq invasion the military, the Bush administration, the military, the press and the public were bound and determined that we go to war. People who opposed the invasion were silenced and demonized. Phil Donahue, whose show had highest ratings on MSNBC, was fired because of his opposition (one reason I've never ever trusted MSNBC). The only voices who persistently contradicted Bush's claims about WMD and the threat Iraq supposedly posed were the analysts in the CIA. Dick Cheney was so disturbed he tried to pressure CIA to "cherry pick" intelligence reports. I clearly remember the stories that WaPo reporter Walter Pincus wrote about the CIA's findings which the editorial board and Pundiratties completely ignored as they beat the drums for war. I found the stark contrast between Pincus and the pundits surreal. Based on what happened with Iraq my money would be on the CIA analysts.
Probably not...in CYA mode now for sure.
Nicole on MSNBC:
95% of the American People support Joe's decision.
95% of the Media opposes Joe's decision.
She nailed it for sure
Beautiful; tells it like she sees it.
Beat me to the punch Joe. I loved that she said it. Truthful.
Here's my response: Thank You President Biden. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/16/2046108/-Thank-you-President-Biden
I loved this...thank you for posting the link.
Thank YOU. Well said.
Amen.
The complete lack of context from our Failed Political Press ™ is the shocking part of this story. It seems that no one in the elite DC cocktail party circuit knows how our military got into Afghanistan. It’s a complete mystery.
Watching some of the Sunday Talkies was also revealing: what heretofore unknown insights was Liz Cheney (!) going to bring to the table? What about nuanced discussion with the other Neocons? I’m so glad the networks had the brainy idea of booking them.
they have a story they want to tell. period.
And as usual their story is a fairy tale.
Who else remember Tommy Friedman endlessly writing in the Times that we need "six more months" to win. Endlessly recited that to the point Atrios coined the term "Friedman Unit", or "F.U." for short.
40 "F.U's" later we find out that it was all for naught because we ignored the lesson History taught that no outside force can conquer Afghanistan.
The stupidity is believing that there was anything to "win."
Ah but there were winners--Defense contractors, Blackwater, Halliburton and other Wall Street parasites!
How about pointing out that the media is saying that “Afghans” and “civilians” are storming the airport to try to flee to safety but it appears from footage that only men are at the airport. So much for women and children in the lifeboats first.
I noticed the very same!
I looked more closely at that tightly packed C-17 hold, and there are women and children on that plane. I just want to see more of them. Did you see that picture?
The Corporate Controlled Conservative Press acted as they always do which is why I ignored them and just listened to music yesterday. And we can see The Usual Gang Of $tenographer$ reciting GOP talking points while Ronna was having Winston Smith erase every mention of the deal Trump made with the Taliban from the GOP website.
And the Presstitutes have dialed up their hatred of Joe to 11 just a their Republican masters decreed led by the predictable Maureen Dowd who increased the amount of venom in her poison pen because she didn't get to go to Obama's party.
Oh and it's also predictable to see the Usual Idiots linking this to Carter's hostage situation...
Maureen’s piece was another whiny, needless and inane column. Did she call him Barry this time? Couldn’t bring myself to read the whole thing. Sounds like she has a fear of missing out or FOMO as the kids say😎. Party envy.
She’s a major reason I cancelled my decades long subscription to the Times. Her pathological hatred of all things Clinton was revolting
This morning on Morning Joe Adrian Elrod said she was surprised to see Dowd criticize Obama since Dowd spent the last umpteen years criticizing the Clintons.
Dowd went after ‘Barry’ as she always called him plenty while he was our prez. She’s a snob. Love how she often throws in some out of left field French, to impress who exactly?
She got some epic trolling for that column.
https://www.thewrap.com/maureen-dowd-trolled-obama-birthday-party-orgy-of-1-percent/
Great article. I agree, she got trolled as deserved. She asked for it.
I saw a lot of pushback on Twitter against Tapper, Mika, MSNBROC in general, Ashley somebody at WaPo, and a few others who aren't worth remembering.
It’s the breathlessness with which Mika et al report about the Afghanistan withdrawal that frosts me, the almost joy like tenor they tout as Biden’s ‘disaster.’ I’ve been cringing with anxiety since this evacuation story began to be told knowing the press would happily and repeatedly crucify him (Oh goodie, another awful crisis to hype and blame solely on Biden) . Pompeo was quoted as saying that under the FG, the evacuation HE negotiated would have gone very differently/ie better had they still been in office. Duh. MSNBC keeps replaying the same scene over and over of Afghans at the airport trying desperately to get on a US plane for escape, and, of course, it’s now Biden’s Vietnam. Every story should include the history of failed forays into the country by the Brits, the Russians and now us. Hopeless and costly. Eric cited the popularity of this policy among the American people. Nary a word about that little tidbit mentioned in reporting. I’m heartsick by this most recent display of handwringing by the press. Not a good look for us.
i agree, there does seem to be a creepy excitement in the coverage in terms of seeing Biden the center of controversy, on the defensive
Absolutely. They were getting tired and frustrated with “Boring Biden” and are gleefully taking him over the coals.
Mika looks for opportunities to get on her high horse. High dudgeon is her favorite mode.
Now I can understand why Rachel is considering leaving MSNBC when her contract expires.
"Yes, Biden finally did something we can turn into a scandal if we squint at it just right! Damn, we all miss the Orange Tangerine; he was so much easier to write about!"
This weekend brought the most disgusting display of bullshit badly disguised as journalism. I was in a word unwatchable. Anyone old enough to remember the debacle that was Vietnam is having deja view all over again.
The comparison to Vietnam is inevitable, but the difference is the current American climate. Where have the war protesters been against all the losses in Afghanistan? Where is the indignation at all the lives lost? America no longer cares about anyone but itself. We want to build walls to keep out other desperate persecuted immigrants. We demand our right not to be vaccinated to save others' lives. Why? Why? What has happened to a country that said 'give me your tired, your poor.' What about 'ask not what your country can do for you?' We have become the nation of the most selfish people on earth, while we remain the most fortunate and safest nation and forget that this entire nation began as immigrants.
There was the draft/lottery when Vietnam was fought. Middle/high class kids, let alone disadvantaged kids did not want to fight when called to serve. No draft anymore, no involuntary lives on the line. Maybe that’s part of the reason for no protest demonstrations?
There were big protests before we started both these wars but the mainstream “liberal” media ignored or downplayed them.
I was one of those anti war protestors and I volunteered at Veterans Hospital while in HS. And because not everyone in the country was affected by the war the concern for those fighting was basically only families of those serving
Sadly, us Americans have a very short memory. By the time Santa is sliding down the chimney we will have moved back to the Dems trying to cancel Christmas and this present MSM outrage will have passed.
The Republicans are already shaping this as Joe's Benghazi...
I'm surprised Rethugs and Beltway propatainers haven't labelled it "Biden's PBO Birthday Party".
David Rothkopf on Twitter) "Tapper(Jake) is unhappy that Joe Biden did not make the speech Jake wanted to hear. His summation was an editorial as was the beginning of the post-speech roundtable, designed to advance the views of the reporters but not to objectively assess what was realistic or in the US interest.' Great analysis; "reporters want to advance their view but not objectively assess what was realistic."
If Rothkopf doesn't have perfect pitch politically, he nearly does.
I usually love Susan Glasser from the New Yorker, but this time, she has totally lost me as well as many of her readers...people are so disgusted.
HIs piece today on Twitter, Top 30 things that have hurt our standing in the world and AFGHANISTAN is NOT one of them. https://twitter.com/djrothkopf/status/1429095976917143560
Biden did a great job just now...let's see how MSM spins this....because you know that they will.
Seems like the food stamp story is kind of a big deal.
Pulling out of Afghanistan frees up enough moneys to pay for the food stamp changes...
Let's see, $2 Trillion, spread over 20 years, that's $100 Billion annually.
From the USDA site:
https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/fns-001020
Looks like the Afghanistan withdrawal frees up enough funds to cover the SNAP benefit increases thrice this year. At least the changes with a $ call out.
Where was all that money going when it was being spent on Afghan adventures? Follow the money. You can probably do that just by listening for the screams of outrage.
Biden has been in favor of leaving Afghanistan since before he was elected president.