Archives for August 2021

Tuesday August 17, 2021

As I watched the clips of what is happening in Kabul and heard the commentators say Trump set this up I didn’t understand because I had not followed the facts closely enough.

But now? I got de facts.

Last year Mike Pompeo had a meeting with the Taliban leadership. He struck a deal. The deal, like most Trump deals, was one sided and not in favor of Trump or the U.S. The deal was “We’re leaving.” Donald wanted to be gone last May, but was talked out of it. He drew down our troops to 2,500. That’s not enough to do much in Afghanistan. Then he left office.

What were Biden’s choices? According to Biden and most others, it was build up or get out. Biden had been opposed to Obama’s 100,000 build up. He had seen the pull out in Vietnam. He didn’t want a repeat. He choose to get out.

Some will argue that he should have done it differently. Yeah. Agreed. However, the fact remains that after twenty years nothing had really changed. 

Richard Engel did a great job explaining the recent history. 

The Washington Post did more to explain how the Taliban took over the country so quickly, and a veteran who was in Afghanistan in 2010 finished the job for me.

Engel explained that the warlords had driven out the Russians and for the next twenty years rode on their reputation of doing so. They had gotten old. The troops they claimed to command were non-existent. The Taliban became the strongest group in Afghanistan. The government propped up by the U.S. was corrupt and incompetent. The siphoned off billions. They build lavish homes for themselves. 

The army was trained but they were starving and they had seen their wages stolen by the upper echelon. They were not going to fight for this government.

The Taliban had started making deals as soon as Pompeo had capitulated. They started at the rural provincial level and worked their way up to the towns and cities. The troops had agreed to basically switch sides. The politicians to keep things running.

How did we get it so wrong? 

The same way we did in Vietnam.

The best and the brightest lied to us there and to themselves.

I read “Facts and Fears” James Clapper’s hagiography. He was in Vietnam. He gave Westmorland intel. Westmoreland barely paid attention. 

Veterans who served in Afghanistan, correspondents who reported, have been warning and screaming for months. Trying to warn the Biden administration. It seems that they don’t have their ears to the ground. Where is the Roosevelt like “can do” team of Franklin and Eleanor? Or Teddy? People could write them letters and they’d do something to help. Why can’t we seem to do that now?

Wednesday August 4, 2021

Someone asked me why the shopping cart push was not an Olympic sport. 

Frankly, it is beyond me, given all the wacky sports they have that I’ve never heard of before the Olympics.

I used to think it was silly.

Now, I’m all for it.

Better than lots of other things young people could be doing.

So, in my training, I think it is important to focus on all aspects of the sport. This includes “The Speech.”

I am speaking about the gold metal acceptance speech. So Here goes:

“This has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. I am honored. All the hard work and dedication paid off. I couldn’t have done it without my family. They are my biggest supporters.”

Here is my Silver Medal Speech:

“I am pleased with this award, even though I fell short of my goal. I think I represented my country well. I thought my last push had sealed my victory, but the judges disagreed. I am disappointed, but I’ll be back in four years.”

Here the Bronze:

“Wow, I am pleased beyond words. The competition was really really good. I did not expect the Germans to do so well. I was also stunned by the Sudanese, whom I don’t think have the fields or equipment for this sport. It was great and I am pleased to have done so well. I will be traveling the world for the next four years as an ambassador for the sport. Some want to make this both a summer and winter sport, which would be fantastic. I hope the committee considers the application. Winter shopping cart pushing is a whole different level.”

Here’s the 4th and below speech:

“We did not do as well as we had hoped. Obviously, I’m disappointed. The coaches are disappointed. It’s frustrating to have trained so hard and not to even get a mention. I think the Russians were using some trick grease and I hope the committee examines that. There is just no way they could do what they did without having a small motor in their cart. We’ll see. Peace out.”