Day 213 – Traitors, Idiots, and Incompetents

Thursday August 19, 2021

The other day I saw a piece on Rachel’s show that pointed out that the head of the Taliban had been in jail and Trump let him out so he could have Pompeo “negotiate” a deal.

Mr. Art of the Deal gave away Afghanistan to this man and Pompeo got a photo-op. What a deal!

Now I’m hearing these stories of former military trying to get their interpreters out of the country. It’s a mess. I remembered that Stephen Miller had worked to make it harder for the interpreters to get out. He pushed through some rule that said they had to have worked for the U.S. for two years. If you worked for the U.S. for a day the Taliban will kill you. Now I’ve read a headline that an ex-CIA says Miller should be charged with war crimes over this. 

I wonder if any of these criminals will be brought to justice.

Don’t forget:

Trump let the head of the Taliban out of jail.

Trump told him we’d leave Afghanistan. This allowed the Taliban to negotiate the take over of the country without a fight.

Trump then drew down the troop level in that country to 2,500 just before the election making any other alternative impossible, except another surge.

I saw a photo yesterday of girls in mini-skirts walking the streets of Kabul in the 1970s. Now? There are women covered head to toe in blue burkas.

I’ve read about the loyalty and help that various interpreters have given to our troops. I’ve read how the upper echelons in that country were corrupt. I’ve seen how the Taliban has been willing to fight for years, decades even. How can there be such a division? 

How can one side be so dedicated and the other so incompetent and corrupt at the upper levels? The same was true in Vietnam. 

I remember seeing a bumper sticker near Fort Dix that said, “Give Was a Chance.” A play on John Lennon’s song, “Give Peace a Chance.” 

Jimmy Carter wrote that our nation has been at war for most of its existence. That there are only 16 years we haven’t been at war. 

I’d say we’ve given War a chance. It hasn’t worked out so well for us. 

I’ve traveled around the world and we are admired, not for our military but for our way of life. People see the houses and the TV shows and movies. They know that what we have for individuals is different than what they have. They admire it. They want something like what we have.

In most of the world people are oppressed in one way or another. It might be a dictatorship. It might be a weak government and a crime syndicate, or a religious ideology. Whatever it is, most people live in much different conditions than we do. Roads are narrow and unpaved. Yards are dirt. Houses are small one or two rooms affairs. Sanitation is spotty. Most countries there is a small trash can next to the toilet for you to put your used toilet paper in. The sewage system can’t handle the paper. The pipes are too small. The world is different than the America of the United States. 

It’s time we started helping people, especially those who live everyday lives. Giving money to their leaders doesn’t work.

PS River scene – The Ganges at night