Afghanistan government is collapsing and the Taliban is taking over the country as USA pulls out. The Republicans are out in full force trying to hide from the blame & shame
This is ALL their fault
But it is not that simple. It is WORSE than that..
Afghanistan Thread 2/
The Afghanistan War for America has lasted 20 years. Most who are commenting about it today have no history about it. Consider that in your comments. This was my FIRST comment about Afghanistan on Twitter TEN YEARS ago, a retweet:
Some suggest Biden has committed some 'mistake' now. No. It was the War Criminals Dick Cheney, W and Rumsfeld who took America to this quagmire that is UNWINNABLE
Let us examine BRIEFLY why it was OBVIOUSLY a lost cause
Afghanistan Thread 4/
100 years ago, after the First World War ended, the British Empire had grown to its peak (year 1921) when 23% of the planet's population was governed by the British. It is the largest empire the world has ever seen, before or since. And that was its peak.
Afghanistan Thread 5/
As Britain had just won in the First World War (ended 1918) it was also the MILITARY PEAK of British dominance. UNPRECEDENTED dominance of the world in a military sense. An army now rested, and overflowing with brand new weapons of mechanized war
Afghanistan Thread 6/
India was the "Crown Jewel" of the British Empire. Strategical touch-point to Russia (was Soviet Union) China, & French empire in Indo-China (Vietnam etc). The British army in India was exceptionally powerful
This army fought Afghanistan in 1919
And lost.
Afghanistan Thread 7/
Britain was not 'busy somewhere else'. The First World War had ended a year earlier. There was literally nothing else going on. Yet the biggest empire humankind had ever seen, with the most powerful military OF ALL TIME (up to then) lost. In Afghanistan
Afghanistan Thread 8/
After this loss in Afghanistan, the British Empire started to lose it wars, and the empire fell apart. It is a fair claim by the Afghans that they put an END to the most powerful empire that ever existed. Or, they delivered the first blow to the beatings..
Afghanistan Thread 9/
Move ahead 60 years. Just 42 years ago, in 1979, there still existed the Soviet Union (the remnants of that nation are now Russia, a far smaller and far weaker nation). The Soviets had the world's biggest military back then, by a LARGE MARGIN.
Afghanistan Thread 10/
The Soviet military was FAR LARGER than the COMBINED military power of NATO, including European allies PLUS the USA, plus Canada. Yes. The Soviets were that big. They had 40,000 tanks. ALL OF NATO combined had 24,000 tanks including all American reserves
Afghanistan Thread 11/
I need to underline this point for my American followers. In NATO drills in late 1970s, TOTAL NATO military would have lost a shooting war to a Soviet attack in 72 HOURS. That was CONSENSUS. Look it up. All of Europe trembled, fearing when will they come
Afghanistan Thread 12/
We don't need to count Navy, as Afghanistan is a land-locked country. The Aghan air force was barely more than a club of hang-glider pilots. Afghanistan was going to be a LAND WAR. And the Soviet army of 1979 was BY FAR the most powerful army ever built
Afghanistan Thread 13/
The Soviet Army was the first mechanized military in history, that could place its TOTAL army inside ARMORED vehicles, safe from nuclear radiation or gas or biological weapons. And fight with a MILLION MEN like this, at the same time. Inside steel vehicles
Afghanistan Thread 14/
Having seen America fight in Vietnam, Soviets had studied use of helicopters and identified their weakness. They were too easy to shoot down. So Soviets deployed the Mil 24, the world's first BULLET-PROOF helicopter. Armored like a light tank in the air
Afghanistan Thread 15/
This unprecedented mechanical monster, the most powerful and unstoppable military ever created, riding inside literally bullet-proof armored veichles, rolled into Afghanistan in 1979.
Ten years later in 1989 they had lost and left Afghanistan, defeated
Afghanistan Thread 16/
MOST military experts in 2001 warned, that war in Afghanistan will be long and bloody, and PROBABLY unwinnable. They said it will last AT LEAST as long as US in Vietnam (10 years) or Soviets in Afghanistan (10 years). Many said it is CERTAINLY unwinnable
Afghanistan Thread 17/
It is fair to say that in 2001, when war criminals Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld & W decided to invade Afghanistan, there had been TECHNOLOGICAL advances, which MIGHT change the battlefield. Most obviously smart weapons, and drones. MAYBE victory might be possible
Afghanistan Thread 18/
By 2004, evidence was OVERWHELMING, that there will NEVER be victory in Afghanistan. Most American experts agreed by then. Since 2004 it has been a war of the PSYCHOLOGY of GETTING OUT OF THE WAR
Except to a few in GOP, Afghanistan gamble had been LOST
Afghanistan Thread 19/
In the 2008 Presidential election, Obama wanted out of Iraq and Afghanistan. John McCain wanted to remain in both
Obama won, was able to take USA out of Iraq, but not out of Afghanistan. He reduced US troops there drastically, but did not get out
Afghanistan Thread 20/
In 2012 Presidential election Republican Romney agreed with Obama, that USA needs to get out of Afghanistan.
In 2016 Republican Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton both promised to take USA out of Afghanistan
Trump won. But he BROKE HIS PROMISE
Afghanistan Thread 21/
In 2020 Presidential election Joe Biden promised he will take USA out of Afghanistan & Trump promised the same.
Everybody knew, Afghanistan war was a mistake & the war is lost. It falls to the Taliban. Republicans have promised since 2012 they will leave
Afghanistan Thread 22/
For ANY Republican now to blame Biden for cleaning up a Republican shitstorm, is absurd
It's like the arsonist blames the fireman for putting out the fire. Republicans? Shut. The. Fuck. Up. You served this turd sandwich
Blame THESE ASSHOLES for your loss
PS to all in this thread
I have written a follow-up piece. It explores the Taliban
To all who retweeted this Thread. This series of Tweets has been read by over 340,000 people. That is nearly 4x larger reach than my TOTAL audience of people who follow me. It is because of you, who kindly retweeted this to your followers. THANK YOU
PS PS PS
I have now completed my third and final part in the Trilogy on Afghanistan. Looking forward, what is happening now and into near future:
On Monday Judge Chutkan in DC (Jack Smith 2) case will hold a hearing about putting a gag order on Herr Hezbollah, the nation's Terrorist-In-Chief. Trump was under protective order. He breached it many times. So this is now his 'final warning'
Let's do a Thread
GAG ORDER THREAD/2
Don't look at me like that! This is JUSTICE. It is EXACTLY the same legal standard that would apply to you and me. Nothing more, nothing less. Trump is a FIRST TIME OFFENDER; has NEVER been convicted of any crime (yet). He was put on a 'protective order' FIRST
GAG ORDER THREAD/3
Then Trump repeatedly broke that protective order. We WITNESSED IT LIVE on TV and on social media, REPEATEDLY
But the Judge CANNOT do anything about it. Until she is FORMALLY told by the prosecution. She CANNOT do anything yet. It would be same for you and me
We certainly feel it was taking too long. In reality this is about par for the course, in some ways FASTER than normal, for such a large criminal conspiracy. Timing is similar to Watergate
FIRST of PLANNERS of Jan 6 go to trial, in Georgia in two weeks !!!
So January 6th, 2021 was two years and 9 months ago. Over 1,000 of the violent mob have been caught, over half prosecuted, and prison sentences for those running up to more than a decade in prison. That is justice
The ORGANIZERS of the Jan 6th plot are Trump, the Seditious Six..
The ORGANIZERS of Jan 6 are
Trump
Seditious Six (Giuliani, Flynn etc)
Evil Eleven of Congress (Gosar, Gym, Gaetz etc)
and a handful others (Roger Stone, Bannon etc)
They are ALL CAUGHT
Jack Smith STARTED to prosecute the organizers. Look who he has as WITNESSES to this crime
Trump calls Hezbollah "very smart" for their terrorist attack? Same Senile Man called Putin smart for invading Ukraine. And called murdering dictators MBS and Kim Jong Un smart
Meanwhile Trump has called HIS OWN CABINET and HIS OWN GENERALS idiots & stupid
General Mattis: Trump's not mature, a 5th grader
General McMaster: he's a dope, kindergartner idiot
Colonel Esper: irresponsible
General Milley: crazy
General Hytin: an idiot
General Kelly: Trump's crazy, an unhinged idiot
Next...
Then let's ask Trump White House staff, people Trump selected:
VP Pence: Trump is reckless
CoS 1 Priebus: he's an idiot
CoS 2 (Kelly, in above)
CoS 3 Mulvaney: terrible human being, a clown show
CoS 4 Meadows: Trump is worthless
SoS Tillerson: he's a fucking moron
Trump was massively embarrassed in New York, and that trial still continues. But this incident (Trump sitting in NY court for 3 days and then bailed) exposes insight into how incredibly stupid, and self-destructive Trump is
Let's do a Thread
New York New York Thread /2
So what happened? Trump sat in the civil trial - he is NOT required to be there (he must attend all criminal trials which start in March 2024). He feuded with the judge, got hit with a gag order, then stormed out of New York. Let's see how dumb it was
New York New York Thread /3
Donald the Duck McTrump's whole brand is based on the carefully constructed fake illusion, that he is somehow a 'billionaire'. WE know he is not. That Trump is a fake, a con-artist, living on other people's money. But his SUPPORTERS believe that lie
What happens next? The House cannot conduct any other business until it has selected a new House Speaker. The GOP is in civil war. It may be chaos for a while. Most likely they find a suitable Republican Speaker
DEMs do not have votes for DEM Speaker
BUT DEMs could make a deal
If a slice of Republicans (as few as 6) ally with DEMs, then that alliance could select (a Republican) speaker
Realistically the most logical such choice is an EX House Republican, like Liz Cheney
Because of GOP civil war, DEMs have leverage now
This is the deal I suggest:
DEMs make deal for ANY Republican who they can trust (like Liz Cheney, Kinzinger) where promise is 2 House Votes every week. One vote on legislation provided by GOP, the other vote legislation provided by DEMs. Both will get a floor vote each week
With Friday's bombshell news in court filing by Jack Smith of 3 more prosecution witnesses - now just about as big as they come - let's do a Thread about the flippers in Trump's life, the rats who all testify under oath, in criminal courts, against Trump
Flipper Thread/2
Trump committed an act of insurgency against America. That word is rarely used. The legal EFFECT is the same as 'treason'. Trump committed a crime which is essentially as bad as treason
So who does Jack Smith have as a witness? Trump's OWN Attorney General Barr
Flipper Thread/3
Bill Barr was not just the nation's top lawyer, as Attorney General, when this plot was first hatched - Barr learned of the idea - and TOLD TRUMP IT IS ILLEGAL. That is what Barr will testify under oath. That Trump KNEW this plot is illegal