Writing about the United States withdrawal, more resembling dismal surrender, from the twenty-year-war in Afghanistan is going to be difficult as a United States Army veteran, as a human being viewing great suffering, and as a citizen of one of the nations potentially placed into danger of increasing terrorism. Almost every single update reveals new information about who knew what and when, who ordered such a large amount of top-line military equipment to be surrendered to the Taliban and other acts of incompetent malfeasance. Even listing each and every failure over the last six-weeks, if not six-months, is next to impossible as they are legion. Still, there are the few errors which are so far beyond the pale that they stick out head and shoulders above the rest, and we will examine a few errors and ramifications of the Biden pullout from Afghanistan.
Probably the greatest of tactical military blunders is the surrendering of Bagram Air Base which led directly to the liberation of Parwan Detention Facility and the thousands of terrorists and America’s enemies detained therein. The release of these ‘people of interest’ into a population where they can melt away only to form-up and plot attacks on the Western World, Israel and especially opposing Arab and Islamic nations not following the Taliban version of strict Shariah should be a concern for everyone. Also, about the surrender of Bagram Air Base also muted any ability for immediate responses to any situation using air power. This was probably the second largest reason for the apparent chaos around Kabul International Airport and its single runway. Bagram Air Base, by comparison, has a pair of longer runways and is located centered in open area making defense far superior to the situation in central Kabul. Lastly, the majority of plans provided to President Biden included retaining the Bagram Air Base in order to retain deterrence against the reforming of the terror groups including but not limited to ISIS, al-Qaeda and the Taliban and project real power for any future situations including terrorist plots to attack the American mainland.
Hamid Karzai International Airport Last Call in Afghanistan
We have read about how military advantage after advantage surrendered away by President Biden gave the appearance that the obvious ineptness was intentional. The Taliban rapidly and steadily took control of regions including numerous major cities and regional capitals. Refusing to retain control of Kabul, the American plan was to hold only the airport and surrender control over who reached Kabul International Airport to the Taliban. This led directly to the catastrophic terror bombing at one of the gates killing thirteen American service heroes and nearly two-hundred Afghanis including numerous children while injuring numbers beyond those reported by the media. As far as many could ascertain, the sole overarching motivation pressing decisions made during the withdrawal appeared to be which is the fastest means to get all military forces back to the Embassy and Kabul International Airport, subsequently only the airport after losing the Embassy. These plans were the reason there was no pushback to the Taliban advance and performed with such urgency that a vacuum was left in the wake of the withdrawal allowing for the collapse of all Afghani forces who were being denied the necessary air cover and support they depended upon.
The most egregious malfeasance was leaving United States citizens, and to a slightly less extent our Afghan allies and translators, behind on the ground and behind Taliban enemy lines. There should have been numerous escort squads of United States Rangers allowed to go out into the Taliban controlled regions in order to bring every last American out who desired to leave Afghanistan. Please do not believe the mistruths and propaganda which claims that only one or two-hundred Americans remaining in Afghanistan under total Taliban and other terror groups rule as the math does not balance. We were initially informed that ten to fifteen thousand American citizens remained in Afghanistan desiring to be taken home as promised by American Military Code. Only orders from the Commander in Chief, General of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Defense or Central Command in the Pentagon would allow for such actions. Now the United States Military, one of if not the finest in the world, has to wear the stain of leaving Americans behind to the tender mercies of the Taliban, et al. The only pertinent item affecting us directly is the placing of ourselves and all Israelis in greater danger of renewed and rejuvenated terror attacks from Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Sinai Peninsula, Syria, Jordan or from the Mediterranean Sea. Further, the weaponry, including combat vehicles, C17’s, Blackhawk Helicopters, machine guns, armored vehicles, night vision scopes, sniper rifles and unbelievable amounts of other material and supporting materials as all of Bagram Air Base was left completely intact will be used against the free world. There are and were so many egregious blunders committed during the withdrawal and ensuing vetting of thousands of Afghanis who had received no clearance or even background checks, that it pains us to even think about the entirety of the Afghanistan disaster, let alone writing about them. Thus, we will allow the news, for the time being, to try and ignore Afghanistan as if it occurred years ago.
Donald Trump has barely had the votes counted and has yet to even been elected officially into the office by the Electoral College, let alone been sworn in and the tests he will be facing from day-one onward are already manifesting themselves. In a fair and basically sane world an incoming President elect could expect the current administration to work with their transition team and address the most threatening and serious problems in order to maintain a smoother transition of power. That is very unlikely to be what we will be witnessing. President elect Trump can fully expect that in its final two and a half months in office that President Obama and his top cabinet officials and others in his administration will be want to raise a finger to remedy any situation. Instead we can expect inaction at best and complete failure to resist or hold any ground with withdrawals seemingly so poorly planned as to give the appearance of having been routed and lost all nerve to stand to defend any position anywhere. The announced suspension of routine services by the United States Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan in response to increasing terror threats as a “temporary precautionary measure” will set the pattern for the remainder of the time until the Inauguration in late January of 2017. These partial and potential complete closures of embassies, consulates, smaller military instillations and virtually anywhere that American foreign based personnel even hear a loud “Boo!” in the night will simply make hitting the ground running impossible as much of the advanced frameworks will need extensive re-manning and rebuilding before they will even return to normal operations, let alone execute any needed actions.
This should be no surprise as it has been the modus operandi of the entire Obama eight years in the Presidency. We witnessed this with the immediate pull down and collapse of everything accomplished in Iraq, the debacle which was Libya, the response when bluff was called by Bashir al-Assad in Syria as well as reactions to Syria generally, the lack of coordination within NATO to the obvious infiltration of Europe and starting in the United States with embedded terror forces included as a fair percentage of the “refugees” allowed to enter in torrents. This resulted in waves of unvetted and unchecked immigrants against any terror watch lists. We saw it as the response to the situation in Benghazi which cost the lives of Ambassador to Libya John Christopher “Chris” Stevens and four others (pictures below) left unaided and alone to fight a hopeless battle holding on desperately waiting for the cavalry to ride over the hill and rescue them, but the cavalry was never even permitted to try. The assault on the Benghazi Consulate and Safe House will be recorded by history as an embarrassment not of Embassy staff or the meager security attachment as Former Navy Seals Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty put up a resistive fight holding a surrounded position under both direct and indirect fire for up to eight hours through the night before succumbing to a withering mortar barrage backed by significant RPG fire coordinated on their position all but destroying the entire structure. Theirs was a herculean and heroic stand which deserved being rescued and given, at a minimum, air support from the Mediterranean Fleet or any of numerous United States military operation throughout Europe. The abandonment of these four individuals was an unconscionable act of pure cowardliness and dereliction of duty on both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her superior, President Barack Hussein Obama. This will also be the model for any coming security threat, pull out all unessential personnel or even simply flee completely leaving everything behind, even those printouts with a large letter ‘C’ in the top corner classifying the document as sensitive information contained within. There will be no holding of ground between now and the inauguration under the guise, the excuse, of not wishing to establish policies and impose them on the incoming President though that is exactly what they are doing, imposing a policy of tucking tail between legs and scampering away and never fight any day.
Ambassador John Christopher Stevens and Information Officer Sean Smith Former Navy Seals Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty
Meanwhile, as the enemies and others seeking to make threats and force the hand of the United States into complete routing before even the slightest of offensive gestures will be gaining more and more courage as these cowardly tepid responses at best and flight responses at worst become more and more evident as an actual policy. This will place incoming President Trump in a tighter spot than was necessary, but that is the whole idea. When your rules of engagement (ROE) read something along the lines of when facing any threat to security or personnel, at all costs do not discharge weapons as this may provoke a situation. The proper response is to hastily pack your personal belongings and any pictures adorning your cubicle or office, grab your awards and then make all haste to departing vehicles and depart. Those with weapons and charged to guard the building and personnel should depart last as once the people have left the building, why guard the building. Any classified State Department documents inside have likely already been pilfered from selected computer systems within the State Department which were cracked way back during a previous Secretary of State whose computers in her basement or wherever fed on the darkest recesses of the State Department and who knows where else, the White House, Pentagon, Joint Chiefs of Staff and even NORAD central command. Whatever was left behind is not worth defending as it is only information which has reached around the world twice over after being hacked. The new mission statement for overseas personnel is please do not make waves or cause a need for anybody to make a stand or protect anything as if it has value, just stay out of the way and maybe the President will get out of Washington D.C. without any further legacy, oh, wait, we mean damage, not necessarily legacy, that would have been mean spirited and we are supposed to be magnanimous because, hey, anybody remember why we’re supposed to be magnanimous? Well, somebody suggested we be nicer from now on and we promised, well, promised absolutely nothing of the kind, we will remain the mean-spirited skeptics we’ve always been. As the saying goes, “It’s worked this far, why change now?”
These actions of retreat first will collectively be one item which will have a definite and hard-hitting effect on the incoming administration as well as on President Trump. Hopefully the damage can be mitigated and a reversal can be implemented. Such a policy directive on day one or two can prevent further damage and should Trump manage to have any input before being sworn in, this should be high on the priority list as it will parallel with his intent to restore military funding and strengthen American forces making them more readily deployed. Trump would be advised to have ready to submit to the Senate an entire list of Ambassadors, chiefs of operations where the position is an appointee, any changes to the General Staff and other high ranking military positions, placement of ranking and overseeing staff for intelligence gathering and making the President’s daily briefings and all the major cabinet and other positions such as Attorney General. President Trump should also announce the name of the person to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by the unfortunate and untimely passing of Antonin Scalia and pass it along to the Senate. These items need to be a top priority and Trump needs to find where to strike the balance between established political entities and bringing in people from the private sector in order to make the changes promised and run the government as a profit making entity as far as productivity and strict budgeting. Granted, we understand that President Trump is somewhat stuck with the budget as it has already been laid out and approved but that does not mean that this is a completed job. Just sticking to the budget as written will be sufficient challenge. That said, President Trump’s first major hurdle where the bar could be raised higher than desired will be the next yearly budget and though it is not necessary to get approval until the fall, starting to propose and work with Congress as soon as possible will pay off in that the excessive lead time will permit using the secret weapon possessed by this administration, the people who voted for change.
Donald Trump’s Presidency may require utilizing the public pressure method of pressing Congress to ally with the President’s efforts. President Trump might consider making prime time (6:00 PM on the West Coast) addresses to the nation every three weeks or even more frequently and lay out his plans on what need be accomplished in the ensuing period. A President Trump should announce appointments he feels are necessary and explain who and what each appointee brings to the table. Such announcements will work best for those people Trump can convince to take the bite of a huge drop of income and placing their investments with a trusted investment agent who manages their financial affairs while they serve the people and the President. These actual civilians who are not beholden to any party or lobbying groups will be the greatest tool that Trump will be able to pursue and we hope he succeeds in getting those people he most desires and trusts. Vice President elect Mike Pence is going to be an indispensable assistant and advisor on who from amongst the political community can be trusted to perform in a position serving to cut waste and trim the budget with skill and ample enthusiasm. People brought from the business world already understand the idea of getting the most possible for the least treasure spent, allocated rather than the spend as much as possible so we can demand even more next year in order to finally take a stab at last year’s set goals. Trimming the government does not mean less services for the population, it means doing more with fewer employees and having only one team of four people to present a simple report instead of eight teams of five people and a committee to hear all the proposals and choose which three get to spend yet another year working on the project before the final team is selected and then set off to start from the beginning because objectives changed over the two and a half years it took to get this far. That is much of the current system which produces some of the greatest boondoggles known to mankind; oh, sorry, not mankind, peoplehood, that’s the word from the newspeak dictionary of double-plus good and approved words.
There is one set of events which are seldom talked of but which can break a President and fill them with such dread that they are reduced to inaction. These are the briefings from Military Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an alphabet soup of agencies and departments we have and never will hear about that exist in the darkest crevices of the world and country. An incoming President earns one-third of their grey hairs on these first days and the briefings they receive. A few weeks or even months the President will awaken sweat pouring off his body, eyes fluttering, breathing hard and unable to speak immediately. Once relatively composed he tells his wife to go back to sleep, it’s nothing and then goes to his study in the White House and grabs the secure phone and sets up meetings for 6 A.M. and everybody better be there and be sharp. Then the President will demand an update on what was first discussed right during that first week where everything was a whirlwind and the memories are blurred some. The President will know it is important when Generals and other advisors are made to leave the briefing due to not having ample clearances. These are the briefings we the people will never learn about but are behind a rare few of the conspiracy, world is about to end, martial law is coming lunatic fringe stories. That’s right, there are little grains of truth the size of a grain of sand within that gallon can of end of the world stories. The secret is finding that little grain and combining it with other grains of sand plucked from an hourglass, just one grain, and from a sandbox around the corner, another single grain and then there are many along the beach, the trick is knowing which grain and where it fits in the great sculpture which nobody has ever viewed the entirety all at once. There are those working on the knee joint, another on the big toe and yet another the parting of the hair but all except three never see beyond where their piece is to fit, the three seeing it all are the appointed head of the agency, the head of the entire project and the President, and the President gets to see most of these programs and their designs and this is what ages them, knowing exactly how close the world is to falling beyond the cusp and into the chasm of oblivion. Such knowledge and then watching the insane dancing with nuclear weapon of Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean Dictator and Supreme Leader; the bombastic proclamations for the destruction of America and death of Zionism by the Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei of Iran (what is it with this ‘Supreme Leader’ titles?); the madness of island building and militarily arming them to the teeth by Chinese President and an up and coming choice for Paramount Leader (they stress this term should not be translated incorrectly as Supreme Leader, whew, that’s a relief, not!) Xi Jinping, and Bashir al-Assad and Islamic State and Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (isn’t Caliph kind of like supreme leader?) or Putin or who knows who or what else as for all we know there might also be the Supreme Leader Gnodsnarkch who rules the Seven Planets and Three Systems of the Lizard Elites Empire who are negotiating with the leaders, all the other Supreme Leaders of Earth and we expect Presidents not to completely lose it from time to time. The only thing I can think to add is to pat Donald Trump on the shoulder and state, “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!” full poem Gunga Din by Rudyard Kipling.
The campaigns are rounding the final turn and are readying to make the final sprint to the November 8, 2016 Election Day finish line. The television and radio advertisements are being stacked up with additional slots being purchased in the questionable battleground states. These include Colorado, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and a few others with the leaning states displayed with stripes giving the side they appear to favor (see map below). This prediction gives Hillary Clinton two-hundred electoral votes leaving her seventy short while Donald Trump having one-hundred-sixty-three electoral votes leaving him one-hundred-seven short. Both candidates have their plans and campaign strategy to break the magic two-hundred-seventy votes required. There are one-hundred-seventy-five votes presumably up for grabs and both candidates will be giving it everything they have to get the required Electoral College votes to win and both will choose certain states to contest and some they will surrender to their opponent and will spend what campaign cash they have accordingly. The largess of the campaign cash of each camp could very well decide who will be the next President which may prove to surprise many people about which team is likely to be capable of affording to contest the largest number of states.
Current Predictive Election Day Map as Indicated by Polling
The immediate response from many people would be that Donald Trump has the larger war chest and will be capable of outspending Hillary Clinton and thus the advantage is in his court. The reality is completely the opposite as Hillary Clinton is excessively wealthy in her own right being worth an estimated at over one-hundred-billion-dollars while Donald Trump is thought to be worth a mere four-and-a-half-billion-dollars. This is probably a shock to many people, especially many outside the Washington Beltway. Apparently selling access to the United States Federal Government and favors from the United States State Department and allowances in trade deals is far more profitable than selling merely real-estate. Golf Clubs and casinos lack the glamor of high stakes political influence which the Clintons play at. They get paid healthily to give the same half hour or hour speech week in and week out. We assume that William Jefferson Clinton is far better and more interesting than Hillary the robotic device. We saw her style which was far amplified by the media with that smile smeared on her face as if held in place by Botox injections, not that we are making such an accusation. We will claim it did have an eerie similarity to the Joker from the Batman movies and equally frightening.
Still, Hillary Clinton will be easily capable of outspending Donald Trump by a factor of at least twenty to one which means we will be seeing Hillary Clinton campaign advertisements even here in Israel on cable as it is doubtful she will leave even a single potential vote escape her web which will be cast wide as ever possible. Trump will need to spend smart if he is going to win the White House as he is at a distinct disadvantage as he will be cash starved by comparison, not a position he likely is familiar with or comfortable with, but that is what he faces. What is even more frightening is that much of Hillary Clinton’s funding comes from foreign sources such as Saudi Sheiks; the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) n wealthy Arab NGO and UN agency set up to influence Western leaders, governments and corporations; George Soros, who has left little doubt that he has been influencing Western elections including getting President Obama elected for sure with a Democrat Congress which was capable of passing whatever legislation the Democrats desired; and likely other dictators and people who desire manipulating the world against freedoms and traditions which Americans and other Western people have treasured and are now watching it fade and quiver becoming shakier than a fiddler on a roof.
Traditions
This election pits two megalomaniacs with radically different views of the United States against one another. Only one can become President and that choice will decide the direction of the United States and also Europe and the majority, if not all, of the free world. The coming challenge between two radically different societies, one with freedom and choice allowed and the other where every soul must surrender and walk a straight and narrow path under the cruel and suffocating cloak of Islam smothering all other religions and societal norms from every corner of the globe. One candidate will refuse to surrender and the other believes that she and her ilk will be capable of co-opting Islam once the Imams have slaughtered their way to ruling the world using terrorism and infiltration as well as simply reproducing until their mere numbers grant them control. The problem is that once Islam has spread through use of the United Nations and politicians more greedy than smart and use of the freedoms against the Western societies eventually simply slaughtering those who refuse to surrender and bow before them, there will be nothing left in this world but Islam and it will not be run by the progressive Democrats. Granted, many of these greedy politicians will live out their lives enjoying some liberties and may even die of old age but their children and those of everyone else will face this world of oppression which they will sell their souls and create. This is the election and should what President Obama began be permitted to run its course there will be no freedom and there will be camps where people either bow to Allah or be tortured until they break or die. There will be no future; no colonization of space, no music, no movies, nothing which we take for granted will remain. The election campaigns are about to enter overdrive and one will be overly financed beyond anything the other will be capable of placing before the people. If this election is bought with the money taken in through selling out the United States then the world will suffer the consequences. Our lives will never see the beauty of art, music, entertainment, or even bad commercials and television will be channel after channel of Islamic programming within twenty years and conceivably sooner. May the American people wake up to the potential for a coming horror show and choose well.
Beyond the Cusp 