Tag Archives: United States

Afghanistan: The Agreement and the Numbers – from TPC

29 Saturday Feb 2020

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As promised, from TPC (a bit faster than I expected):

VICTORY in Afghanistan!!!

Seventy-five years ago, on V-J Day, US Sailor George Mendonsa was feeling especially triumphant and perhaps a little frisky. He grabbed a total yet pretty stranger, nurse Greta Friedman, and planted a long, wet kiss on her. It was in Times Square, New York, New York, in a completely different era. There is a picture of the two of them, said (like virtually everything else since 1066) to be “iconic.” Now, with stunning news out of the Middle East, expect a similar incident to unfold in the Big Bagel. Things being what they are, we might have to settle and iconize a drag queen lip-locked with Panhandle Me Elmo.

But, for once in a good while, we do have legitimately great news about that hideous monstrosity bestraddling the Potomac: The US and the Taliban have signed an Agreement to End the War in Afghanistan. 

Please click that link and scroll down to the document. It’s short, only four pages. The implications are huge. The main gist of concern to Americans may be summarized in the first paragraph of Part One:

The United States is committed to withdraw from Afghanistan all military forces of the United States, its allies, and Coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian personnel, private security contractors, trainers, advisors, and supporting services personnel within fourteen (14) months following announcement of this agreement, and will take the following measures in this regard:

Fourteen months, and we’re outta there! It’s about damned time. There’s more – again, read the whole thing. But, the main point – if this agreement holds – is that America’s longest war will soon be over. I know you’ve all read the Afghanistan Papers, not that you needed to, and you realize that this martial expedition was a mistake from the beginning.

The Afghan War by the numbers:

0 Legitimate causes of action or objectives

0 Declarations of War (antiquated concept, pursuant to your Holy Parchment Thing)

1 Nation, already in bad shape, wrecked

2 times the CIA/DOD reported Osama Bin Laden died

12s of other nations destabilized, stressed, or otherwise afflicted

19 long years (20 years before total disengagement)

50/50 chance the Deal falls apart and the US remains…

2,400+ Americans killed

1,000s of American Afghan Veteran suicides

1,000s of other Coalition casualties

20,000+ Americans wounded

110,000+ Afghans killed

360,000+ Afghans wounded

2.6 million+ Afghan refugees (95,000 in the US)

$1 Trillion+ in Military-Industrial/Oil/Corporate revenues*

$2.5 Trillion+ in nominal US taxpayer expenses (for on-books outlays only)*

$10 Trillion+ in associated Central/Commercial banking theft*

Unlimited ill-will generated by the foregoing (likely to include the ire of the Almighty)

* The “Trillions” figures are speculative, based on intentionally nefarious accounting, and could likely be larger; the bankster graft could range much higher. We simply do not (will not) know.

People, places, and things acquire nicknames for various reasons. Perhaps you recall a few years ago when, at Sea World or somewhere they keep sea creatures confined in swimming pools, a woman swam happily with an Orca. Families were delighted! Then, for no reason at all, Willy decided to toss the woman around for a football. She died, of course, and everyone was shocked, especially those delighted families! All I could think at the time was: well, it’s an animal the size of a bus, with a mouth large enough to hold a refrigerator, and it has KILLER in it’s (alternative) name! Afghanistan’s nickname is “the Graveyard of Empires.” The moniker was allegedly bestowed by Emperor Babur of the Mughal Dynasty (“India,” 1483-1530). His point was that the land was unconquerable. History bears witness to this truth, with the failures of Alexander, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, among others. Those specific three, upon withdrawing from lost Afghan campaigns, soon collapsed. More than one sign points to the US Empire joining them.

Like all recent US Imperial wars, the objective was not necessarily to win. “Congress gives us money to spend and expects us to spend all of it. … The attitude became we don’t care what you do with the money as long as you spend it.” – B. Gen. Brian Copes, Feb. 25, 2016. Yes. And all that spending helped kill all those people. Destroying either to make some parties richer and/or simply for destruction’s sake. Yet today, the Empire still stands, barely and shakily.

This Agreement is the first thing in the long, pointless conflict that in any way benefits the American people. It hypothetically sets the tone for further foreign de-escalations and renewed attention to that neglected region between Mexico and Canada. Thus, I have declared it a victory! Now, minding you the #metoo movement, go on out and kiss a nurse.

READ MORE (INCLUDING A BONUS) AT TPC

I suppose this means I’ll have to do another TPC/CFF article for the coming week. March madness…

Victory in Afghanistan!

29 Saturday Feb 2020

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The US Empire never had a military strategy in its two-decade quagmire in Afghanistan. Now, I suppose that the banksters are satisfied to the point that we can call it quits. The Empire has signed a peace agreement with the Taliban. READ IT – ONLY 4 Pages. Troop withdrawal and the ending of hostilities and sanctions.

The United States is committed to withdraw from Afghanistan all military forces of the United States, its allies, and Coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian personnel, private security contractors, trainers, advisors, and supporting services personnel within fourteen (14) months following announcement of this agreement, and will take the following measures in this regard:

More on this, I think, next week at TPC.

If the Devil’s Lawyers Wrote a Study

20 Thursday Feb 2020

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It would look a lot like this BS.

I honed in on this one because of the headline that the USA ranked 39th in the world for raising children. We’ve slipped. But, I prefer honest metrics, which these globalists don’t even pretend to offer. Rather, half of their metrics is “climate change,” the other half is … (Surprise!) communism.

 

The Imperial Grand Strategy

18 Tuesday Feb 2020

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At least there was a strategy. And it may have worked when the Empire was ascendant. Now, we daily see the painful retractions.

The United States has attacked, directly or indirectly, some 44 countries throughout the world since August 1945, a number of them many times. The avowed objective of these military interventions has been to effect “regime change”. The cloaks of “human rights” and of “democracy” were invariably evoked to justify what were unilateral and illegal acts.

The aim of the United States is to protect and reinforce national interests rather than to create a better world for all humankind. It is an “imperial grand strategy” of global dimensions designed to ensure unlimited and uninhibited access, notably to strategic resources, notably energy, and to markets. Rather than to establish a direct colonial presence, the preferred strategy is to create satellite states, and this requires constant, and often repeated, military interventions in countries around the world, irrespective of their political regime.

Other Empires in the past have had maps to rival the US’s. Oddly, none of them are still on the map.

Fred on China

09 Sunday Feb 2020

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Fred Reed breaks down the differences between the US Empire and the stable, growing, and the proud and coherent nation of China.

In a democracy the rabble, sensing their numerical advantage, will always try to pull their superiors down. They will not make an effort, probably futile, to rise. A central strain in American culture is hostility to elitism, which means a preference for the better to the worse. The deep resentment of the superior leads to a celebration of inadequacy seen in affirmative action, the abolition of standardized tests and advanced placement courses for the bright, and the lowering of academic standards. We call this “inclusiveness.”

I suspect the Chinese call it “lunacy.” China finds its very brightest young and sends them to the best schools in China or the US. The notion that virtue requires that a country suffer mildly retarded brain surgeons or barely numerate physicists is peculiarly American.

Elections, inevitable in democracies, are a terrible idea. An election is a competitive shooing of fools in directions profitable to those doing the shooing. Democracy is thus a mechanism for the promotion of rogues and rascals. It works. America now has a most wonderfully ineffectual and embarrassing government.

The holding of elections–these being combinations of raffles, vaudeville, and popularity contests–every two, four, or six years ensures that the beneficiaries will concentrate their thoughts more on shooing than doing.

Mr. Reed must not be aware of the stellar events of say, Iowa, last week.

Gary Barnett on the Official Religion

20 Monday Jan 2020

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Of the state. That is, of course, the state itself. Barnett writes a brief tour de force:

The weak-minded cattle called the general population accept government as their god, observe all of its bogus laws, support its worldwide murders, use it to steal from their neighbors, worship its hired killers even while in so-called religious houses on Sunday, vote in fraudulent elections meant to give power to those who rule over them, and call these elected criminals representatives while ignoring their nefarious deeds; never taking responsibility for the evil they commit in the name of that same population. This is today’s America, and this is the result of a national religion that worships the State.

There is no such thing as “representative government,” and there never has been such a system. That is a myth, and that myth was planted into the psyche of the common man long ago. The fantasy of representative government has been accepted and embraced by the sheep since the beginning, and voting has been the shameful tool used to fool the people into believing they have a say. Those that still cling to these ridiculous notions are seemingly lost in a vacuum of ignorance, and no longer attempt to break the chains of the slavery that binds them. Who among you has broken those chains, denounced the state, and has rebelled against the misplaced authority and tyranny that is now so obvious? Sadly, this is reserved for only the few that seek, accept, and embrace truth in this hostile environment.

Those of us that attempt to tell the truth, and to expose the lies of the state, strive to help free the masses from the servitude they accept without question. These mostly unaccepted and unappreciated attempts to help those who continually refuse to help themselves are frustrating, but are necessary in order to change this false worship.

I am one of the few, and friends, the results are sometimes less than thrilling. Worse than the general disdain for the truth and freedom is the insouciant attitude of the masses. It brings to mind the reminder of a certain Carpenter about the hatred of the world. Lonely work maybe, but with excellent company.

Perspective on the Cornsternation and War

13 Monday Jan 2020

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It’s been said before, but Gary Barnett says it again very well:

Any conversation about American liberty should begin and end with the false notion that the United States Constitution was written for the purpose of protecting that liberty. The opposite of course is true. This was a document in the form of a contract written by powerful men in secret, in the dark of night, and behind closed and locked doors. It was never signed by any others than those drafting this tyrannical set of rules, and was never agreed to by anyone. It was politically motivated, and used to set up a federal system with extreme centralized power, which had little restriction by any state or individual. This is a worthless document that is revered by many due to what seems to be a brainwashing technique that causes a limitation of intellect.

He even gets the war angle right: “In fact, no war in the history of the U.S. has been warranted, with the possible exception of the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and the South’s defense of its independence.”

Crap! Should I have entitled this one with “Holy” Cornsternation?? Don’t drone me, bro.

 

 

 

“US” Pride? Or American Pride?

02 Tuesday Jul 2019

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July may be the “pride” month that really counts. Then again, too many people don’t even know what they’re proud of or not proud of.

As Americans prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, their pride in the U.S. has hit its lowest point since Gallup’s first measurement in 2001. While 70% of U.S. adults overall say they are proud to be Americans, this includes fewer than half (45%) who are “extremely” proud, marking the second consecutive year that this reading is below the majority level. Democrats continue to lag far behind Republicans in expressing extreme pride in the U.S.

These findings are explored further with new measurements of the public’s pride in eight aspects of U.S. government and society. American scientific achievements, military and culture/arts engender the most pride, while the U.S. political system and health and welfare system garner the least.

Decreasing Percentage in U.S. Are Extremely Proud to Be American

U.S. adults’ extreme pride in being American has been steadily weakening in recent years, and the current reading, from a June 3-16 Gallup poll, marks the lowest point to date. However, the latest two-percentage-point decline from last year’s 47% is not a statistically significant change.

The highest readings on the measure, 69% and 70%, were between 2002 and 2004, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when the American public expressed high levels of patriotism and rallied around the U.S. government. Yet, since the start of George W. Bush’s second presidential term in 2005, fewer than 60% of Americans have expressed extreme pride in being American.

Semantics are fine and dandy. There is a difference. America is the home nation of the AMERICANS, a distinct people with a distinct heritage and culture. The US was merely a collection of American States before it turned into a usurping, omnipresent Empire, replete with NOT Americans. The number of literal Americans in America (or the US) is probably less than 45% of the population at this point. It is certainly below the 70% figure.

The idiots and the BBQs of Thursday aside, where is all this headed? We’ll find out in the next, exciting TPC column.

UN Concerned with Racism in the USA

24 Thursday Aug 2017

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Of course, the story only reports the usual one side of the racial divide. And, as with anything from the UN, a grain of salt is in order. Yet, here, they may be on to something.

A UN committee tasked with combatting racism has issued a formal “early warning” over conditions in the United States, a rare move often used to signal the potential of a looming civil conflict.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said it had invoked its “early warning and urgent action procedure” because of the proliferation of racist demonstrations in the US.

It specifically noted the unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a woman was killed after an avowed white supremacist ploughed his car into a group of anti-racism counterprotestors.

The racism committee, part of the UN human rights office, can issue a formal early warning to help prevent “existing problems from escalating into conflict” or to “prevent a resumption of conflict where it has previously occurred”, according to the rights office website.

…

The US warning marks the seventh such alert issued in the past decade.

They mainly concern countries gripped by ethnic and religious strife, including Burundi, Nigeria, Iraq and Ivory Coast.

One wonders if this is escalation or resumption.

At any rate, at least we’re in good company. Burundi, Nigeria, Iraq, and Ivory Coast are all advanced nations with strong economies, nuclear power, outstanding schools, and thriving space programs… USA! USA! USA!

And this seeming a tad late for an early warning. Probably, the time for early action would have been in the 60’s, better addressing civil rights and halting the Immigration Act of 1965. The time for emergency action was probably 30 years ago. What comes now? Who knows? Peace and happiness, surely.

Someplace Like Home

08 Wednesday Feb 2017

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U.S. News & World Report just released its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the U.S.A. If you’re thinking about relocating, retiring, or just window shopping, this might be a good tool. Otherwise, it’s still nifty.

boston

Trip Advisor.

This, mind you, is a list of the 100 largest metropolitan areas – all with populations over 500,000. If you’re looking for a small town, there are other lists. Still, for what this is, it’s a pretty comprehensive assessment. I suppose respect for the ranking order is subjective though USN did stick to a particular methodology.

Their Top Ten:

Austin, TX

Denver, CO

San Jose, CA

Washington, DC

Fayetteville, AR

Seattle, WA

Raleigh & Durham, NC

Boston, MA

Des Moines, IA

Salt Lake City, UT

I might reorder those. That’s just me.

With a handful of exceptions I think I’ve been to most every town on the list. I split my time between two of the 100 – neither of which made the top spots. One is a “medium” sized city – by USN’s measurement – the other is “X-Large”. If I’m honest, both have their charm and draws. Odd, considering I’m really a smaller town kind of guy.

Anyway, check it out and see how your city ranks.

Oh, by the way: No. 8, Boston (Foxborough), Mass., is home to the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. No. 50, Atlanta, is home to the Coca-Cola Museum and a traffic jam.