Showing posts with label Biden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biden. Show all posts
Thursday, April 14, 2022
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
DEFIANT BIDEN
Gold Star mothers' hearts ache after takeover.
THANKS JOE!
72 hours at Camp David: Inside Biden's lagging response to
fall of Afghanistan...
Taliban Consolidate Control in Kabul; Thousands Stranded...
Scramble to delete digital history, evade biometrics...
Fighters go door to door with 'kill list'...
Four presidents share responsibility for the missteps in Afghanistan that accumulated over two decades. But only President Joe Biden will be the face of the war’s chaotic, violent conclusion.
The president fought that reality Monday as he spread blame for the Taliban’s swift and complete recapture of Afghanistan. He pointed to a previous agreement brokered by then-President Donald Trump, expressed frustration with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and lamented the performance of Afghan national security forces. Republicans overwhelmingly criticized Biden and he found few vocal backers among fellow Democrats.
The collapse of the Afghan government is the biggest foreign policy crisis of Biden’s young presidency, recalling setbacks for past presidents such as the withdrawal from Vietnam and the botched Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. The reverberations of the Taliban’s success were startling, endangering Afghan women and girls, posing new security threats and threatening to undercut global views of America’s reliability.
In the face of such stark consequences, Biden admitted no fault for the chaotic drawdown and instead forcefully defended his move to leave a nation the U.S. has tried to safeguard since it toppled the Taliban regime after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when smoke still rose from the rubble of the World Trade Center.
“Here’s what I believe to my core: It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own armed forces would not,” said Biden. “How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghanistan’s civil war? I will not repeat the mistakes we made in the past.”
When Biden took responsibility, it was more for ending the war than for the manner in which it happened.
“I know my decision will be criticized. But I would rather take that criticism than pass this on to a fifth president,” said Biden. “I am the president of the United States, the buck stops with me.”
His firm tone differed little from just five weeks ago, when he bullishly predicted what would happen as his August 31 deadline for withdrawal neared. He declared there was going to be no repeat of the humiliating U.S. evacuation from Vietnam nearly a half century ago and “no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy of the United States from Afghanistan.”
But Monday yielded devastating images from Kabul that rivaled anything witnessed in Saigon.
Thousands of Afghan citizens, many of whom worked as translators and other aides to American troops, thronged the Kabul airport, desperate to escape the Taliban. In heartbreaking footage, some tried to desperately board a U.S. military plane flying to safety, attempting to dash alongside as it raced down the runway.
A few managed to cling to the plane before it took off and video showed several falling through the air as the airplane rapidly gained altitude over the city.
The evacuation received condemnation at home and abroad, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling the latest developments “bitter, dramatic and awful.” And security officials warned that Afghanistan would soon provide safe harbor for terrorist groups again.
The Taliban seemed poised to have total of control of Afghanistan on Sept. 11, just as they did on the date two decades earlier when al-Qaida terror attacks plotted from its soil toppled the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon. The fallout from 2001 attacks reshaped America’s relationship with the Middle East, and more than 3,000 American and NATO forces died in the resulting combat in Afghanistan during the manhunt for Osama bin Laden and beyond.
Under the command of President George W. Bush, American forces stormed into Afghanistan soon after the terror attacks on a hunt for bin Laden while trying to disrupt al-Qaida’s ability to conduct further assaults on the West. There was immediate success: The Taliban were routed, the terror group disrupted.
But after that came the grinding second phase of the war and a surge of troops from President Barack Obama in 2009. Though Obama later moved to reduce the number of troops, the volume of insurgent attacks and civilian causalities prevented a full drawdown.
Trump mulled meeting the Taliban at Camp David on an earlier Sept. 11 anniversary, only to back away from the idea amid an uproar. But he announced that the U.S. would pull all its forces out by May 2021, an agreement Biden honored and delayed only slightly.
Efforts were made, at great expense, across all the administrations to train and arm the Afghan forces once the U.S. departed. But that investment of American blood, time and treasure proved useless as the Taliban conquered much of the nation without a fight and Afghanistan’s president fled the country as soon as the invading forces reached Kabul.
In the upper ranks of Biden’s staff, the rapid collapse in Afghanistan only confirmed the decision to leave: If the meltdown of the Afghan forces would come so quickly after nearly two decades of American presence, another six months or a year or two or more would not have changed anything.
His move to withdraw troops this summer, though polarizing in the national security community, had been praised by some on both sides of the aisle as timely and appropriate. But on Monday, Republicans were eager to slam Biden’s decision and blame him for the chaos, though many of them had supported a withdrawal when it had been proposed by Trump a year ago.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, however, had consistently advocated keeping troops in Afghanistan, and he said the military briefings he attended suggested the Taliban would be able to quickly regain power.
“I think the president felt strongly about this, obviously,” McConnell said. “He overruled his own military leaders to do it and he owns it.”
Biden has argued for more than a decade that Afghanistan was a kind of purgatory for the United States. He found it to be corrupt, addicted to America’s largesse and an unreliable partner that should be made to fend for itself. His goal was to protect Americans from terrorist attacks, not building a country, and his aides have pointed to polling — taken before the chaos of the last week — that shows that a majority of Americans favor bringing troops home.
But that political gamble could prove risky as the scenes of fear and violence from Afghanistan are broadcast around the globe, especially if the chaos in Kabul makes “Saigon look like Disney World,” warned Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a veteran who served in Afghanistan.
“The bottom line is that there’s going to be a lot of people that are very let down by the United States of America,” Kinzinger said in an interview. “We will inevitably, inevitably be in conflict again somewhere. How are we going to convince those locals that we’re going to follow through when we’ve abandoned those in Afghanistan?”
Lemire has covered politics and the White House for the Associated Press since 2013.
Associated Press journalists Zeke Miller, Darlene Superville, Ellen Knickmeyer and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report.
Sunday, August 15, 2021
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
EXCLUSIVE: 'The Russians have videos of me doing crazy f***ing sex!' Hunter Biden is seen in unearthed footage telling a prostitute that Russian drug dealers stole ANOTHER of his laptops for blackmail while he was close to overdosing in a Vegas hotel roo
- WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT
- Hunter Biden claims Russian drug dealers stole another one of his laptops for blackmail while he was drugged out in a Vegas hotel room in 2018
- Video obtained by DailyMail.com shows Hunter with a naked hooker in 2019 after filming a sex tape and explaining how he believed his laptop was stolen
- Hunter left the camera rolling as he recounted a Las Vegas bender in which he spent '18 days going round from penthouse suite to penthouse suite'
- The incident would mean Hunter lost a total of three computers, each likely to hold sensitive information on President Joe Biden
- The laptops contain embarrassing pictures, videos and communications of the president's son
- 'They have videos of me doing this,' he said, referring to the filmed sex he just finished. 'They have videos of me doing crazy f***ing sex f***ing, you know'
- Hunter's claims also raise the possibility that he was targeted as a vulnerable conduit to Joe Biden as part of a foreign intelligence operation
Hunter Biden claimed Russians stole another one of his laptops for blackmail while he was close to overdosing in a Las Vegas hotel room, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The alleged incident would mean Hunter lost a total of three computers - the first abandoned at a Delaware computer store and the second seized by federal agents - each likely to hold sensitive information on President Joe Biden and the embarrassing pictures, videos and communications of his son.
The third laptop still appears to be missing – and was taken by Russian drug dealers after they partied with Hunter in Vegas, he told a prostitute in a conversation caught on camera.
After filming himself having sex with the woman using his laptop in January 2019, Hunter left the camera rolling as he recounted a Vegas bender in which he spent '18 days going round from penthouse suite to penthouse suite,' sometimes costing $10,000 a night.
'I spent f***ing crazy amounts of money,' Hunter said. 'I was with these guys. The one guy was, not like you anyway… each night he'd be like 'there's going to be so many people here, crazy f***ing party' and each night it's nobody.'
Hunter Biden claims Russian drug dealers stole another one of his laptops for blackmail while he was close to overdosing in a Vegas hotel room in 2018. Video obtained by DailyMail.com shows Hunter with a naked hooker in 2019, explaining how he believed his laptop was stolen
After filming himself having sex with the woman using his laptop in January 2019, Hunter left the camera rolling as he recounted a Vegas bender in which he spent '18 days going round from penthouse suite to penthouse suite,' sometimes costing $10,000 a night
Throughout the video Hunter and the unidentified hooker appear to be doing drugs off the bedside table
Hunter said it was after that debauched night he realized his computer was missing. 'I think he's the one that stole my computer,' he said
The alleged incident would mean Hunter lost a total of three computers, each likely to hold sensitive information on President Joe Biden
Hunter's claims raise the possibility that he was targeted as a vulnerable conduit to Joe Biden as part of a foreign intelligence operation.
His 2015 Macbook Pro became infamous after he abandoned it at a Delaware computer store two years ago.
DailyMail.com obtained a copy of its hard drive, commissioned experts who verified its authenticity, and exposed evidence of shocking corruption and illegal activity in its contents.
Hunter's claims raise the possibility that he was targeted as a vulnerable conduit to Joe Biden as part of a foreign intelligence operation
A second laptop belonging to the president's son was reportedly seized by federal agents when they raided the office of his friend, disgraced psychiatrist Keith Ablow, last year.
Two sources told NBC that the DEA found the device when executing a search warrant on Ablow's Massachusetts office after he was accused of professional misconduct and had his medical license suspended.
Ablow has not been charged with a crime and the laptop was returned to Hunter's lawyer.
Hunter described how his third laptop was 'stolen' one night during the summer 2018 bender when he almost overdosed on drugs.
'I went out to the hot tub by myself, which hangs over the edge of the f***ing top floor, with glass, it's ridiculous.
'And so I'm sitting there and that's the last I remember. And I don't ever pass out, ever.
'I wake up and the only people that are there are Miguel, the guy frantically running round gathering things up, ok – and Miguel, and Pierce, this guy, his friend.
'They had kicked everybody out. And they had cleaned up the entire place, everything ok? And they were getting ready to leave, and I woke up. And there was this Russian 35-year-old, really nice, pure brunette.
'She refused to leave and they wouldn't call an ambulance. And they didn't know whether I was dead or not, at first.'
Hunter said it was after that debauched night he realized his computer was missing.
'I think he's the one that stole my computer. I think the three of them, the three guys that were like a little group. The dealer and his two guys, I took them everywhere. F***ing everywhere, crazy out of your mind sh**.'
The laptops contain embarrassing pictures, videos and communications of the president's son. 'They have videos of me doing this,' he said, referring to the filmed sex he just finished. 'They have videos of me doing crazy f***ing sex f***ing, you know'
The president's son told the prostitute that the allegedly stolen laptop was also full of compromising sex videos.
'They have videos of me doing this,' he said, referring to the filmed sex he just finished. 'They have videos of me doing crazy f***ing sex f***ing, you know.
'My computer, I had taken tons of like, just left like that cam on. And he would always put in a passcode and all that, you know what I mean? It was f***ing crazy sh**. And somebody stole it during that period of time. He did all this kind of like pretend search and sh**.
The prostitute asked Hunter if he was worried the Russian alleged thieves would try to 'blackmail' him.
Hunter replied: 'Yeah in some way yeah.'
'My dad [inaudible] running for president,' he told her in a hushed voice. 'He is. I talk about it all the time.
'If they do, he also knows I make like a gazillion dollars.'
Hunter appeared to be dismayed that if the video was sold by the alleged thieves to porn or news companies he would be unable to cash in on the explicit videos himself.
In the video Hunter, seen Sunday with his wife Melissa Cohen and their one-year-old son Beau Jr., appeared dismayed that if the video was sold by the alleged thieves to porn or news companies he would be unable to cash in on the explicit videos himself
'I'm worried he gets the money up front and maybe it doesn't do a million dollars, maybe it does three. Maybe nobody wants to see me naked,' he said.
'Maybe it's 'news interest' and because my dad's a public figure they say 'we don't have to pay you anything because you're of interest in regular news.'
'I think you should just beat him to the punch,' the prostitute replied. 'I think you should release your own video.'
Photos on the laptop hard drive obtained by DailyMail.com include pictures of a woman's Russian passport, and photos of Hunter topless pulling the woman's brunette hair while she kneels on a bed.
Other photos show the woman and three young men driving to Hunter's former Hollywood Hills rented home, drinking and partying by the pool, and two women naked with Hunter by the pool.
It is unclear whether the Russian woman and the three men are the same people Hunter accused of stealing his laptop.
Friday, June 25, 2021
Texas and Stephen Miller sue Biden over releasing COVID-19-infected migrants
Texas and an America First group associated with immigration hawk Stephen Miller this week sued to stop the Biden administration’s catch-and-release border policy, claiming it was releasing coronavirus-infected illegal immigrants into the United States and spreading the virus.
In documents filed in federal court, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Miller’s America First Legal said the policy was dangerous to the health of Texas and the U.S. and would cost taxpayers millions of dollars to clean up.
“By allowing tens of thousands of people to flow across the border, the defendants have increased the public health and safety risk to Texas,” said the request for an injunction.
At issue is the Biden administration’s decision in February to suspend the Trump administration’s policy of returning illegal immigrants during the height of the coronavirus crisis. The Trump team, worried that illegal immigrants would spread the virus, used a provision, Title 42, to block their entry. Biden ended that and has instead released families and unaccompanied children into dozens of major cities.
Texas and America First Legal argued that the new policy will be expensive and would not cause any “harm” to the administration if stopped.
“In this case, the harm to Texas,” said the documents, “is both imminent and irreparable, and could be easily avoided by the defendants’ continuation of practices used prior to the February order. At stake for Texas is the health of the people of Texas. Conversely, there is no harm to the defendants from their resuming their operations as they were prior to the February order. Nor is there any legal harm to persons removed pursuant to those procedures, as such individuals are aliens who lack lawful status in the United States, and whose rights are not being violated.”
Since he took office, Biden has allowed in hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and signaled that the border is open. His policy reversed those of Trump and Miller that saw a sharp decline in illegal crossings.
Miller said that Biden’s catch-and-release policy also violated the administration’s own focus on fighting the virus, mask-wearing, and demanding that people get vaccinated to protect the health of the U.S.
“This anarchistic catch-and-release policy plainly and facially violates the administration’s own public health guidelines, regulations, and directives. While Americans are still required to wear masks on planes and the CDC is still trying to shut down many aspects of daily life, the government is actively facilitating the entry of illegal aliens whose journey is defined by the radical absence of health protocols. The mass release of untested, unvaccinated, unvetted and unscreened border-crossers threatens the health of all Americans — and is explicitly contrary to the administration’s publicly stated goal of reopening through vaccination,” Miller said.
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