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Biden’s debacle in Afghanistan

Posted: July 6, 2021 by chrisharper in Uncomfortable Truths
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By Christopher Harper

The Biden administration’s pullout of the U.S. military from Afghanistan is deployable and disheartening.

After 20 years in the country, the United States left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, the Associated Press reported.

“We (heard) some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram … and finally by seven o’clock in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,” Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram’s new commander, told the AP.

Before the Afghan army could take control of the airfield, which lies about an hour’s drive from the Afghan capital of Kabul, it was invaded by a small army of looters, who ransacked barrack after barrack and rummaged through giant storage tents before being evicted, according to local military officials.

The sprawling air base was at the center of America’s war to unseat the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida planners of the 9/11 attacks on America.

Used by the U.S. and NATO forces, Bagram includes two runways and more than 100 parking slots for fighter jets known as revetments because of the blast walls that protect each aircraft. The base also consists of a prison with about 5,000 prisoners, many of them from the Taliban.

The U.S. forces reportedly left behind thousands of civilian vehicles, many of them without keys to start them. The departing troops took heavy weapons and blew up ammunition on the base.

The military did leave tens of thousands of bottles of water, energy drinks, and military ready-made meals, known as MREs, which will prove of little use in the fight against the Taliban.

The AP spoke with Afghan soldiers at the base that had once seen as many as 100,000 U.S. troops. The Afghans criticized how the United States left Bagram, escaping in the night without telling the Afghan soldiers who patrol the perimeter.

“In one night, they lost all the goodwill of 20 years by leaving the way they did, in the night, without telling the Afghan soldiers who were outside patrolling the area,” said one Afghan soldier.

Biden plans to pull out all U.S. troops by August, leaving a vacuum that will almost certainly lead to the Taliban taking power once again.

In northern Afghanistan, for example, district after district has fallen to the Taliban, and most analysts think the group will retake the country.
Although I concede that the United States stayed too long in Afghanistan, the departure of troops under the cover of darkness sends a clear signal to allies that the United States can no longer be trusted.

Hypocrisy on the Fourth

Posted: June 29, 2021 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

The Biden battle to prevent a July 4th celebration at Mount Rushmore is yet another example of the disingenuous notion that this president intends to bring the nation together. 

Instead, Joe Biden and his cronies want to divide and conquer.

In an eloquent response to Biden’s crew, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem examines the hypocrisy of Biden’s arguments.

“There is no better place than Mount Rushmore to celebrate America’s birthday. Independence Day is the celebration of our nation and our founding principles of freedom, equality, and opportunity. Thomas Jefferson wrote the beautiful document that declared the United States of America free and independent. George Washington’s leadership in the American Revolution ensured that our independence was established and protected,” Noem wrote in  The National Review.

Point One: The Biden administration argues that the pandemic should preclude a fireworks celebration. But South Dakota’s COVID cases are the lowest they’ve been in 14 months. Moreover, there were no cases from last year’s event.

Point Two: The administration argues that there were environmental concerns with holding the event. But the National Park Service determined that no significant impact occurred from last year’s celebration.

Point Three: The administration points maintains that certain Native American tribes opposed the event. But Noem said she and others consulted with them before last year’s celebration and included programming to celebrate Native American heritage.

A federal district court judge recently sided with the Biden administration, but Noem promised to continue the legal battle.

As Noem puts it, the cancellation is simply another example of the Democrat tilt to the far left. “They wish to cancel the great men on that mountain who accomplished so much to make America the most special nation in history. It’s but their latest attack on American history and our founding principles.”

I’ve spent a lot of time in the state. In fact, I graduated from high school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I couldn’t agree more with the governor!  

A good man gone too soon

Posted: June 22, 2021 by chrisharper in media
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By Christopher Harper 

I lost a former colleague and good friend last week. 

Jim Sicile worked as a cameraman for many news outlets, particularly ABC, covering many of the most significant national and international events over the past 30 years. See https://www.yahoo.com/gma/abc-news-photographer-jim-sicile-175104719.html 

Jim started in the ABC News mailroom at the age of 18 and worked his way up to become a well-respected cameraman. He covered everything from the World Trade Center attacks and Hurricane Katrina to the Haiti earthquake and the Olympics. He interviewed world leaders and covered every president from Nixon to Biden, which was his final assignment that stopped abruptly because of illness. 

Jim was compassionate. At his funeral, ABC news anchor John Quinones recalled how Jim called one time about an ethical question. Jim had interviewed a man who had lost his job and his home because of the pandemic. Jim took some cash out of his wallet and handed the man the money. 

A bit later, Jim called Quinones to ensure he hadn’t violated some network rule to give the man the cash.  

I worked with Jim for nearly a decade at 20/20. In fact, he was there for my first segment for the broadcast in 1986. The shoot had been complicated, involving a helicopter, a speedboat, and an ill reporter. 

In the end, Jim, a bona fide foodie, remarked on only one facet of the seven-day extravaganza. He loved the huevos rancheros at a nearby San Diego diner! 

His taste buds became renowned. For example, he created a line of hot pepper sauces. Moreover, the prayer card at Jim’s funeral included a background of his famed peppers.

His family organized a bevy of food trucks from jerk barbeque to crepes for a “celebration of his life” after the funeral. A rock ‘n’ roll band played Jim’s favorites from Elton John and Billy Joel.  

But there’s also a maddening part of Jim’s death. During the pandemic, his doctors focused on COVID-19 and misdiagnosed his illness. During several conversations with Jim, an incredibly patient man, he told me about his frustration with his doctors.  

It turned out that Jim, who had never smoked, did not have COVID. Instead, he had lung cancer. It is unclear whether the several months of misdiagnosis would have made any difference, but I bet it would have given Jim some more time.  

Before he died, Jim told his family and friends: “People say I am stronger than the cancer. The cancer didn’t take my sense of humor from me, I am still a good husband and a good father and friend. In those ways, yes, I am stronger. The cancer did not win.”

At 66, a good man was gone much too soon!  

Foreign follies

Posted: June 15, 2021 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

If the recent international trips of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are any indication, the next four years will be a disaster.

At the G-7 conference in Great Britain, Biden interrupted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask for an introduction of the leader of South Africa. He was greeted with snickers from other leaders as he somehow missed that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the only black man in the room, had already been introduced.

Later, at a news conference, Biden continually confused Libya and Syria. 

“There’s a lot going on where we can work together with Russia. For example, in Libya, we should be opening up the passes to be able to go through and provide — provide food assistance and economic — I mean, vital assistance to a population that’s in real trouble,” he told reporters.

After confusing the two countries several more times, Biden aides had to inform journalists that the president meant Syria rather than Libya. 

What a comfort as Biden headed for Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin!

But the media played along and ignored the gaffes, reveling in the lack of Donald Trump’s presence and puffing up Biden’s “accomplishments.”

“G-7 leaders come Together on Global Minimum Tax, Democratic Ideals.” The New York Times bellowed at the end of the meeting. “The agreement represented a dramatic return of America’s postwar international diplomacy, and Biden said it was evidence of the strength of the world’s democracies in tackling hard problems.”

I am genuinely heartened that the G-7 can agree on democratic ideals. Unfortunately, I still haven’t figured out precisely what the global minimum tax will do other than stifle business and individual enterprise throughout the developed world. 

The Washington Post reported, “[P]erhaps the most striking part of the first G-7 summit in the post-Trump era was its sheer normalcy and even the bland scriptedness that undergirded most of the proceedings.”

I think it’s grand that the leaders of the developed world can agree on normalcy and blandness. What a great accomplishment! 

Harris, the designed hitter on the border crisis, didn’t perform much better in her brief swing into Latin America to talk with the leaders of Mexico and Guatemala. 

The vice president hasn’t even visited the border since being anointed as the border crisis queen, and the administration has failed to articulate what it plans to do about the problems. In May, the U.S. Border Patrol reported that it stopped 180,034 people trying to cross through there, the highest number since Biden took office and nearly eight times the 23,000 stopped in May 2020.

Harris has fumbled several interviews about the border crisis.

The most awkward was an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, when she told him, “We’ve been to the border.” 

He corrected her, pointing out that she has not been to the border. 

That’s about the only aggressive question anyone from the mainstream media has made about the growing incompetence of Biden and Harris’ foreign policy. 

Silly me, why should I be surprised? Everything is just great because Trump is no longer president. 

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