Operation White Elephant (Afghanistan)

Operation White Elephant is a nonprofit organization that coordinates, synchronizes and deconflicts humanitarian assistance, provides necessary emergency communications support and equipment, conducts media efforts to educate and raise awareness, and assists with legal needs for issues arising during the crisis.

Biden 2007 Videos Make Comeback To Haunt This Administration

Biden in 2007: You Leave Weapons Behind in Middle East, They’ll Be Used Against Your Grandchild (Editor’s Note: Month Withdrawal and left billions in weapons)

In 2007 Biden said “no great country can say it is secure without being able to control its borders” and called for ramping up the number of border patrol agents. Now he refuses to do any of that as we face a historic border crisis. (Editor’s Note: Biden is doing the opposite. The border is abandoned for all intent-and-purpose)

“Biden Had His Hands Tied” Nonsense Refuted

I AM COMBINING A COUPLE OF POSTS TO MAKE THE POINT — IN OONE PLACE — THAT THE BIDEN ADMIN COULD HAVE WITHDRAWN FROM AFGHANISTAN DIFFERENTLY.

100% FED-UP notes the following: “VIDEO Emerges of Biden Saying Timeline And Manner Of Afghanistan Withdrawal Was His Decision

  • ….Social media and leftist mainstream media are frantically trying to spin the military failure in Afghanistan on anyone but Biden, but he said it was “his decision.” Biden ignored Trump’s phased plan to leave just as he ignored President Trump’s border policy. Both are now epic failures……

JUST THE NEWS had a decent little blurb worth sharing — because I care:

Trump bombed Taliban to negotiating table; some fear Biden let them waltz to Kandahar

…..“We’re going to come back and hit you harder than any country has ever been hit,” Trump said he told Akhundzada, recounting the threatened consequences if the Taliban failed to make peace. “And your village, where I know you are and where you have everybody, that’s going to be the point at which the first bomb is dropped.”

A few hours after that March 2020 call, Trump put an insurance payment down on the threat. When the Taliban attacked an Afghan checkpoint shortly after Trump hung up, U.S. fighter jets rained down fury on the attackers. A stung Taliban immediately called for de-escalation, saying it was committed to the “plans to implement all parts of the agreement one after another to prevent conflict escalation.”

[….]

Trump and his advisers relentlessly used air power to keep the Taliban in check, making the appearance of a deadly Predator drone or warplane a constant threat. In 2019, the year before the Taliban agreed to peace talks, U.S. aircraft flew 2,434 strike sorties, releasing 7,423 weapons, the highest total ever recorded by the Air Force’s Central Command.

But since the Biden transition, the Taliban have refused the negotiation table and instead marched with surprising speed, capturing control of two-third of Afghanistan after the fall of its second biggest city Kandahar on Thursday.

The U.S. Air Force recently acknowledged a steep decline in air sorties on Biden’s watch…..

  • The Trafalgar Group surveyed over 1,000 potential 2022 American voters and found that 69.3% of the overall participants disapproved of Biden’s handling in Afghanistan, according to the Convention of States Action’s Monday press release. The majority in the bracket, 59.5%, said they “strongly disapprove” of the president’s performance, while the other 10% said they “disapprove.” (DAILY CALLER)

FLASHBACK:

  • In March 2009 Barack Obama reached out to the Taliban terrorist organization for peace talks.
  • Joe Biden at the time told reporters “only 5% of the Taliban is incorrigible.”
  • In August 2010 Barack Obama removed the Taliban from the national terror list.
  • In May 2012 Barack Obama rewarded the Taliban terrorists with their own office in Qatar for peace talks.
  • Also in May 2012 the Taliban bombed Kabul two hours after Obama announced peace talks with the terrorist group.
  • In 2012 the Obama administration even paid for the Taliban peace office in Qatar.
  • In 2013 Barack Obama secretly released five deadly Taliban prisoners from Gitmo in exchange for peace talks.
  • In 2014 the Taliban officially released a statement on victory in Afghanistan 6 years into the Obama presidency.

(GATEWAY PUNDIT)

So, in a previous post it is shown the Biden Admin nixed many key components to the withdrawal part of getting out Afghanistan. Now, we know that the treaty the media, Democrats, and Biden keeps referring to….

    • But here’s the deal: You know — I wish you’d one day say these things — you know as well as I do that the former President made a deal with the Taliban that he would get all American forces out of Afghanistan by May 1. — JOE BIDEN

….was in fact conditional.

DEFINITION

    • conditional: subject to one or more conditions or requirements being met; made or granted on certain terms. “the consortium has made a conditional offer”
      1. synonyms: subject to ✦ dependent on ✦ depending on ✦ contingent on ✦ hingeing on ✦ resting on ✦ hanging on ✦ based on ✦ determined by ✦ controlled by ✦ tied to ✦ bound up with ✦ contingent ✦ dependent ✦ qualified ✦ with conditions (attached) ✦ with reservations ✦ limited ✦ restrictive ✦ provisional ✦ stipulatory ✦ provisory

ASSOCIATED PRESS update via SAN DIEGO TRIBUNE and WESTERN JOURNAL (and 17-ABC [WTVO]/FOX 39/EYEWITNESS NEWS) — will emphasize:

But according to the Associated Press:

Biden can go only so far in claiming the agreement boxed him in. IT HAD AN ESCAPE CLAUSE: The U.S. could have withdrawn from the accord if Afghan peace talks failed. They did, but Biden chose to stay in it, although he delayed the complete pullout from May to September.

Chris Miller, acting defense secretary in the final months of the Trump administration, chafed at the idea that Biden was handcuffed by the agreement.

If he thought the deal was bad, he could have renegotiated. He had plenty of opportunity to do that if he so desired,” Miller, a top Pentagon counterterrorism official at the time the Doha deal was signed, said in an interview.

The piece goes on to acknowledge that that course of action may have led to difficulties of its own, but Biden should have been able to rely on the decades of foreign-policy experience he has boasted as having to craft a better deal…..

(LIBERTY UNYEILDING)

AGAIN, for the hard of reading, via ABC:

…IT HAD AN ESCAPE CLAUSE: The U.S. could have withdrawn from the accord if Afghan peace talks failed. They did…

So according to the “deal itself” and the Biden Admin ignoring that and getting rid of the Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau (CCR) — as the original post details below — Afghanistan is 100% Biden’s issue. Period!

The UPDATED VIDEO can be found at the bottom of the post. (Originally posted Aug 18th)

Here is an excerpt, you should read the whole article!

Joe Biden’s State Department moved to cancel a critical State Department program aimed at providing swift and safe evacuations of Americans out of crisis zones just months prior to the fall of Kabul, The National Pulse can exclusively reveal.

[….]

The document is dated June 11, 2021, though The National Pulse understands the decision to pause the program may have come as early as February, both undermining the original Trump-era date for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and certainly giving the Taliban time to threaten American assets and lives on the run up to Joe Biden’s September 11th date of withdrawal.

The subject line reads: “(SBU) Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau,” and the body of the document recommends: 

“That you direct the discontinuation of the establishment, and termination of, the Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau (CCR), and direct a further review of certain associated Department requirements and capabilities.”

It goes on: 

“That you direct the discontinuation of the establishment, and termination of, CCR, consistent with the applicable legal requirements, necessary stakeholder engagement, and any applicable changes to the Foreign Affairs Manual and other requirements.”

The document reveals the recommendations were approved on June 11th 2021. 

Speaking exclusively to The National Pulse, former President Donald J. Trump blasted Biden’s irresponsible move:

“My Administration prioritized keeping Americans safe, Biden leaves them behind. Canceling this successful Trump Administration program before the withdrawal that would have helped tens of thousands Americans reach home is beyond disgraceful. Our withdrawal was conditions-based and perfect, it would have been flawlessly executed and nobody would have even known we left. The Biden execution and withdrawal is perhaps the greatest embarrassment to our Country in History, both as a military and humanitarian operation.”

In a lengthy article in Vanity Fair from May 2021, the Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau (CCR) – also referred to in overlap with a predecessor/partner bureau called “OpMed” is described as a “little-known team of medics and miracle workers—hidden deep within the U.S. Department of State.”

“Even before COVID reared its head, OpMed was finding ways to do all sorts of things, serving as the hidden hand behind daring and often dangerous operations to rescue Americans from peril abroad,” the article states, before going on to quote Secretary of State Tony Blinken on the importance of the program’s goals.

“The Bureau of Medical Services’ Directorate of Operation—or ‘OpMed,’ as we call it—is a lifeline for the Department of State and the American people… Though perhaps lesser known outside of the Department, it’s vital to our operations. That’s because OpMed provides the platform and personnel to save American lives around the world, especially in times of crisis. During the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, OpMed was integral to our evacuation and repatriation of 100,000 Americans to the United States as countries began locking down their borders.”

But The National Pulse understands that career officials inside the State Department objected to the Trump-era aim of creating a Contingency and Crisis Response bureau with the express purpose of avoiding a future Benghazi-style situation for Americans overseas.

Instead, Biden’s team revoked the funding and the approval for the plan, even as the COVID-19 crisis reasserted itself, and and Afghanistan withdrawal loomed………

NEWSBUSTERS has this updated CNN clip where Darrell Issa schools Jim Acosta

There’s a reason why you don’t see conservatives on CNN very often. 

Hack journalist Jim Acosta couldn’t keep up as his Republican guest, Rep. Darrell Issa [R-CA], schooled him on his own show, Sunday, over President Biden’s Afghanistan debacle. Acosta repeatedly tried to blame President Trump for the Taliban takeover, but Issa exposed the journalist’s pathetic hypocrisy…..

Sky News Dropping Truth Bombs on “Team” Biden

Sky News host Andrew Bolt says it is “hard to exaggerate” how dangerously bad US President Joe Biden is. Mr Bolt said,

  • “the world is at a dangerous tipping point”.
  • “You’ve got America – leader of the free world in obvious decline.
  • “You’ve got China, the biggest dictatorship in history, on the rise – wanting to be top dog.
  • “And now, at this dangerous moment, the US gets a president who’s obviously senile.
  • “It’s hard to exaggerate just how dangerously bad Joe Biden is”.

Sky News host Rita Panahi says the mental decline of the “utterly deplorable and inept” US President Joe Biden, can no longer be ignored. Ms Panahi said President Biden’s mental decline can no longer be ignored, “not by the Democrats, not by his handles and not even by his media allies who steadfast refused to cover his cognitive issues during the election campaign”.

  • “Anyone who has observed Joe Biden in recent years could attest to his cognitive decline, his incoherent rants, his inability to answer the simplest of softball questions”.
  • “This is a man who has been in public life for decades. He used to be an elegant, authoritative speaker.”
  • Ms Panahi said President Biden seemed to be “inattentive and fatigued” during recent public events.
  • “It’s clear that the leader of the free world isn’t even free to decide when to answer questions,” she said.
  • “How many monumental screwups will Biden oversee before he is impeached.”

Biden Nixed Trump Era Evacuation Plans for Afghanistan (Updated)

ASSOCIATED PRESS update via SAN DIEGO TRIBUNE and WESTERN JOURNAL (and 17-ABC [WTVO]/FOX 39/EYEWITNESS NEWS) — will emphasize:

  • But here’s the deal: You know — I wish you’d one day say these things — you know as well as I do that the former President made a deal with the Taliban that he would get all American forces out of Afghanistan by May 1.

But according to the Associated Press:

Biden can go only so far in claiming the agreement boxed him in. IT HAD AN ESCAPE CLAUSE: The U.S. could have withdrawn from the accord if Afghan peace talks failed. They did, but Biden chose to stay in it, although he delayed the complete pullout from May to September.

Chris Miller, acting defense secretary in the final months of the Trump administration, chafed at the idea that Biden was handcuffed by the agreement.

If he thought the deal was bad, he could have renegotiated. He had plenty of opportunity to do that if he so desired,” Miller, a top Pentagon counterterrorism official at the time the Doha deal was signed, said in an interview.

The piece goes on to acknowledge that that course of action may have led to difficulties of its own, but Biden should have been able to rely on the decades of foreign-policy experience he has boasted as having to craft a better deal…..

(LIBERTY UNYEILDING)

AGAIN, for the hard of reading, via ABC:

…IT HAD AN ESCAPE CLAUSE: The U.S. could have withdrawn from the accord if Afghan peace talks failed. They did…

So according to the “deal itself” and the Biden Admin ignoring that and getting rid of the Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau (CCR) — as the original post details below — Afghanistan is 100% Biden’s issue. Period!

The UPDATED VIDEO can be found at the bottom of the post. (Originally posted Aug 18th)

Here is an excerpt, you should read the whole article!

Joe Biden’s State Department moved to cancel a critical State Department program aimed at providing swift and safe evacuations of Americans out of crisis zones just months prior to the fall of Kabul, The National Pulse can exclusively reveal.

[….]

The document is dated June 11, 2021, though The National Pulse understands the decision to pause the program may have come as early as February, both undermining the original Trump-era date for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, and certainly giving the Taliban time to threaten American assets and lives on the run up to Joe Biden’s September 11th date of withdrawal.

The subject line reads: “(SBU) Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau,” and the body of the document recommends: 

“That you direct the discontinuation of the establishment, and termination of, the Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau (CCR), and direct a further review of certain associated Department requirements and capabilities.”

It goes on: 

“That you direct the discontinuation of the establishment, and termination of, CCR, consistent with the applicable legal requirements, necessary stakeholder engagement, and any applicable changes to the Foreign Affairs Manual and other requirements.”

The document reveals the recommendations were approved on June 11th 2021. 

Speaking exclusively to The National Pulse, former President Donald J. Trump blasted Biden’s irresponsible move:

“My Administration prioritized keeping Americans safe, Biden leaves them behind. Canceling this successful Trump Administration program before the withdrawal that would have helped tens of thousands Americans reach home is beyond disgraceful. Our withdrawal was conditions-based and perfect, it would have been flawlessly executed and nobody would have even known we left. The Biden execution and withdrawal is perhaps the greatest embarrassment to our Country in History, both as a military and humanitarian operation.”

In a lengthy article in Vanity Fair from May 2021, the Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau (CCR) – also referred to in overlap with a predecessor/partner bureau called “OpMed” is described as a “little-known team of medics and miracle workers—hidden deep within the U.S. Department of State.”

“Even before COVID reared its head, OpMed was finding ways to do all sorts of things, serving as the hidden hand behind daring and often dangerous operations to rescue Americans from peril abroad,” the article states, before going on to quote Secretary of State Tony Blinken on the importance of the program’s goals.

“The Bureau of Medical Services’ Directorate of Operation—or ‘OpMed,’ as we call it—is a lifeline for the Department of State and the American people Though perhaps lesser known outside of the Department, it’s vital to our operations. That’s because OpMed provides the platform and personnel to save American lives around the world, especially in times of crisis. During the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, OpMed was integral to our evacuation and repatriation of 100,000 Americans to the United States as countries began locking down their borders.”

But The National Pulse understands that career officials inside the State Department objected to the Trump-era aim of creating a Contingency and Crisis Response bureau with the express purpose of avoiding a future Benghazi-style situation for Americans overseas.

Instead, Biden’s team revoked the funding and the approval for the plan, even as the COVID-19 crisis reasserted itself, and and Afghanistan withdrawal loomed………

NEWSBUSTERS has this updated CNN clip where Darrell Issa schools Jim Acosta

There’s a reason why you don’t see conservatives on CNN very often. 

Hack journalist Jim Acosta couldn’t keep up as his Republican guest, Rep. Darrell Issa [R-CA], schooled him on his own show, Sunday, over President Biden’s Afghanistan debacle. Acosta repeatedly tried to blame President Trump for the Taliban takeover, but Issa exposed the journalist’s pathetic hypocrisy…..

SEE ALSO:

  • The Fatal Failure Of Gen. Mark A. Milley Over Closing Bagram Air Base (NY POST)

(Video hat-tip to POST MILLENNIAL)

Did The Biden Admin Hand Over A Kill List?

As GATEWAY PUNDIT notes, “Just when we thought things couldn’t get worse. The Biden regime provided the Taliban with a kill list.”

RIGHT SCOOP introduces the topic for us:

  • We are just learning today that Biden officials actually gave the Taliban a list of the names of American citizens and Afghan allies to expedite the evacuation process. This has caused great consternation and pushback from lawmakers and defense officials [….] Biden has said from the beginning that we were depending on the Taliban for a successful evacuation. Little did we know just how much we were depending on them….

HOT AIR notes a possible conversation before we get to the meat of the Politico article:

Especially since we’ve now apparently dimed them out to the Taliban. Intentionally this time, not inadvertently like before.

How did this conversation go, exactly?

— “We’ll secure the airport perimeter for you, but how will we know who should be allowed through and who shouldn’t?”
— “What do you suggest?”
— “The names of all of your remaining citizens and every Afghan who assisted you in your infidel occupation.”
— “Consider it done.”

Here is the story via POLITICO:

U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city’s airport, a choice that’s prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials.

The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan’s capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport.

But the decision to provide specific names to the Taliban, which has a history of brutally murdering Afghans who collaborated with the U.S. and other coalition forces during the conflict, has angered lawmakers and military officials.

“Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” said one defense official, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.”

A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command declined to comment.

The issue came up during a classified briefing on Capitol Hill earlier this week, which turned contentious after top Biden administration officials defended their close coordination with the Taliban. Biden officials contended that it was the best way to keep Americans and Afghans safe and prevent a shooting war between Taliban fighters and the thousands of U.S. troops stationed at the airport.

After the fall of Kabul, in the earliest days of the evacuation, the joint U.S. military and diplomatic coordination team at the airport provided the Taliban with a list of people the U.S. aimed to evacuate. Those names included Afghans who served alongside the U.S. during the 20-year war and sought special immigrant visas to America. U.S. citizens, dual nationals and lawful permanent residents were also listed.

“They had to do that because of the security situation the White House created by allowing the Taliban to control everything outside the airport,” one U.S. official said.

Someone I would rather be in charge makes a point I think many feel:

 

Ben Shapiro: President Empathy Doesn’t Actually Give A Damn

President Biden tells Americans in Afghanistan they’re supposed to rely on the mercy of the Taliban; America’s enemies accelerate their aggressive behavior; and the hard Left signals that conservatives are the real Taliban.

  • 00:00 – Conditions in Afghanistan continue to deteriorate
  • 16:59 – Biden won’t answer hard questions
  • 23:52 – NATO says they will rely on the Taliban
  • 37:37 – General Mark Milley needs a new job
  • 43:59 – Nancy Pelosi defends Joe Biden

Biden: Emboldening and Arming Our Enemies

My thoughts on the Middle-East have been pretty consistent., in that any hope of a stable area over there had the linchpin as Iraq. I think if we had committed to Iraq in a way we had with Japan and Germany, We would have had a country closer to Kuwait in governing, and headed in a faster pace than Kuwait toward more freedom. Once we pulled out of Iraq rather than continuing our presence there, all surrounding foreign policy was moot. Years and years ago I posted a short statement by KEN JOWITT that is still true today, but our chance to change the Middle-East was set on Iraq, in my opinion.

RELATED POST: Some SOFA/Iraq History (RPT FLASHBACK)

So, what I see Biden doing is both a horrible withdrawal as well as sending a message to our biggest enemies that we are weak. Before I show why I think both China and Russia will make some geo-political land grabs, here is an excellent article via PJ-MEDIA:

I’ve been fatalistic about the future of Afghanistan for so long now that I can barely remember when mission creep made our failure there a certainty.

Afghanistan isn’t a country. It’s a hole in the map where neighboring countries aren’t. Sometimes, a foreign power like Great Britain, the Soviet Union, or the United States will attempt to fill that hole. But as has been proven yet again, the hole labeled “Afghanistan” is essentially bottomless.

Absent occupying foreigners, Afghan localities typically rule themselves (badly) while the strongman-style central government tries to rule from Kabul (even more badly). In this age of renewed Islamic fundamentalism, the strongmen, local and central, were always going to be the meanest and most brutal fundamentalists.

Always.

Routing the Taliban in late 2001 was a necessary and proper response to the 9/11 attacks on this country. But there was never going to be a permanent fix.

Had President George W. Bush pulled us out when he damn well should have, in 2002 or ’03, the result would have been the same as it was on Sunday: a rapid takeover by the Taliban.

Had President Barack Obama pulled us out after killing Osama bin Laden in 2012, same result.

Had President Donald Trump pulled us out last year, yep, same thing.

But it didn’t have to be like this:

Dear God, not like this.

Presidentish Joe Biden told people just like the ones being shed from that cargo plane like so much detritus that he had a plan for getting them out.

He did not.

Biden told the world that we had weeks or even months to bring home those Afghans who had put their lives on the line to help our mission.

We did not.

In fact, the Biden administration gave the order that made the rapidity of this weekend’s Taliban takeover inevitable:

THIS is what people around the world will remember: that the United States left our Afghani friends and their families behind to be tortured and then slaughtered….

And the first to act? China… “China likely to recognize Taliban as Afghan rulers with fall of Kabul” (WASHINGTON EXAMINER). China is emboldened with US weakness in the region, the historic collapse of Afghanistan, and the frail puppet installed in Washington DC.

  • On Monday Steve Bannon warned that the US economy will implode if Taiwan falls to the Communist Chinese. According to Bannon he entire American economy centers around the chips, and in particular, the advanced chips designed, made, and manufactured in Taiwan. (GATEWAY PUNDIT)

All this said, I doubt Biden and his VERY progressive team would even bother with unenforced red-lines like Obama.

And then there is this:

The Taliban seized a staggering quantity of American military vehicles, equipment, and weapons when it overran Afghanistan in a week.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat obsessed with gun control, ended up giving billions of dollars of American weapons to the Islamist fanatics who helped perpetrate 9/11.

Only a month ago, Biden was bragging about the terrific quality of the modern “tools, training, and equipment” sent to the Afghan military at the expense of U.S. taxpayers over the past two decades.

Biden scoffed at the notion of an easy Taliban victory on July 8:

Together, with our NATO Allies and partners, we have trained and equipped over three hu- — nearly 300,000 current serving members of the military — of the Afghan National Security Force, and many beyond that who are no longer serving.  Add to that, hundreds of thousands more Afghan National Defense and Security Forces trained over the last two decades.

We provided our Afghan partners with all the tools — let me emphasize: all the tools, training, and equipment of any modern military.  We provided advanced weaponry.  And we’re going to continue to provide funding and equipment.   And we’ll ensure they have the capacity to maintain their air force.

“Do I trust the Taliban?” Biden said in response to a reporter’s question. “No. But I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more competent in terms of conducting war.”…..

AMERICAN MILITARY NEWS has quite a few pics for the visually attentive:

On Friday, the Taliban seized control of Firoz Koh, the provincial capital of Ghor, Afghanistan, marking at least 17 Afghan provincial capitals the Taliban have seized in the span of a week. Videos and photos have surfaced on social media showing the Taliban taking over swaths of U.S.-donated military equipment that the Taliban is using to continue overtaking Afghanistan.

Taliban forces have reportedly captured around 100 U.S.-made Humvees and MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs) as well as U.S. ScanEagle drones left behind and the Kunduz Airport.

The Taliban captured Kunduz Airport on Wednesday and on Thursday, German journalist Julian Röpcke tweeted, “The #Taliban not only seized appr. a hundred US humvees and (MaxxPro) MRAPs at Kunduz airport, but also several US ScanEagle drones. Billions of US tax payer $ going to Islamist extremists, thanks to the administration’s hasty withdrawal without a peace deal or follow up mission…..

[pics of Tweets from article and more]