Monday, August 30, 2021

How to Build a Terrorist

 The frenzy is still on to pin the blame for the quagmire in Afghanistan on President Biden. I suppose the Republicans are so dogged on this issue because they finally have something with pictures they can point to and say, “Ooooh. That’s bad.” And they’re right, in that it is very bad.

In the world of GOP politics, no one bothers to see what’s true or not, they just throw the poo and hope it sticks. And in this case, they’re relying on the fact that regardless of the former guy’s hand in “negotiating” our exit with the Taliban and freeing 5000 Taliban prisoners, the mess went public when Biden was president so it must be his fault. Or in other words, it’s the Hot Potato principle of the fault going to the one who last had it.

Everyone he negotiates with seems to be great negotiators. Is there a country out there that hasn't handed him his own ass in negotiations? (Source)

As I’ve said in a prior post, I think it’s a massive failure of the intelligence community. No president is out there gathering intel, they’re dependent on the military and intelligence agencies, both of whom apparently got things horribly wrong.

It just irks me watching Fox “News” and the GOP meme machine working overtime to make it all about Biden. Like with many issues, anything that (verifiably) happened in the past doesn’t matter, only the message that it’s all the evil Democrats’ fault.

Biden didn’t send his Secretary of State to have talks with the Taliban last year. Biden didn’t release the Taliban captives, including many who are fighting us right now and one who is about to assume control of the country. Biden didn’t slow-walk plans to pull our allies out of there in advance. That’s a new angle I just heard about this week, from our friends at Progressive Eruptions.

The story is that Olivia Troye, former national security staff member during the former guy’s administration, personally witnessed Steven “The Anti-Christ” Miller bending over backward to keep the government from bringing any Afghans into the US, regardless of what they’d done for us. She attests to the fact that there was no plan in place to evacuate Afghan nationals.

“I sat in cabinet meetings about getting Americans and our Afghan allies out of the country. In them, Stephen Miller would peddle his racist hysteria. He and his enablers across the government undermined anyone who worked on solving the issues in getting special immigrant visas (SIVs) for our Afghan allies by undermining the system at Homeland Security and the State Department.

I tracked this issue personally in my role at the White House. I met with many refugee advocate organizations who pleaded for help in getting U.S. allies through the process.

“But we got nowhere because Trump and Miller had watchdogs in place at the Justice Department, Homeland Security, State, and other agencies that made an already cumbersome SIV process even more challenging.

“Trump had four years to develop a plan. We could have used that time to lay the groundwork to evacuate our Afghan allies. They were the lifelines for many of us who spent time in Afghanistan.

“They’d been waiting a long time, all the while under the threat of death at the hands of the Taliban. The process slowed to a trickle for reviews and “other priorities.” Ultimately, they came to a halt.”

But sure, blame Joe Biden.

To me, this story tracks with what we see. The talking heads on Fox “News” keep pivoting between “It’s Biden’s fault these poor people may be killed by the Taliban,” and “But we certainly don’t want them HERE!

They just can’t help seeing everything through that ever-present veil of racism. They claim they’re afraid of letting terrorists in, but tell me, if they really are terrorists, why are you blaming Biden for not getting them out? So then if they’re NOT terrorists, why not allow them to resettle here? The chaff that’s threshed out of this conundrum is racism. They know it and we know it. They just won’t admit it.

The conservatives are basically creating a self-fulfilling prophesy. Let’s say some Afghans end up settling here, somewhere or another. By raging against them nightly and scapegoating them for problems real and imagined, their racist viewers will inevitably start confronting these new immigrants in less than welcoming terms. We’ve already seen how “Real ‘Murcans” have treated Asians as of late and every strain of Middle Easterner since 2001. Eventually, some newcomers will tire of the abuse and want to strike back.

Congratulations, Republicans, you’ve just created a terrorist.

On the other hand, I’d wager if these people are welcomed into the fold and treated with respect, you’ll find most become A+ citizens and unsurpassed supporters of America. We’ll have been their very salvation from a life of abuse and depravity. Not exactly a hotbed of terrorism, is it?

But that’s a non-starter for the Fox “News” brigade, who can’t see past the color of their skins or the beards on their chins.

4 comments:

Bohemian said...

Vanilla Isis is what we have here in America and they'd just as soon act like the Taliban and force their extremist Beliefs upon everyone if they could get away with it. During the Administration of their Orange Idol they worshipped, they knew any form of corruption could be encouraged and backed so long as they showed complete devotion. Racism is at the core of most of these Extremist Groups, anyone not of them and like them is considered an enemy and vilified. The whole Afghanistan situation was never going to End well... for 20 Years I'm quite sure it was known how corrupt the Govt. and Leaders were, how deprived of proper support their Military was by their own Military Leaders and Govt., so once America wasn't supporting the whole thing, it was bound to collapse into complete chaos. You cannot go into a Theocracy that is totally Tribal in Nature and not really like a cooperative "Nation" at all, filled with poorly educated people who had previously lived as if in Medieval times and Hope to change the Culture and set up a true Democracy. I think some good things were accomplished, at great cost, so that at least the past two decades exposed the population to benefits they never would have had. It just could never have been Enough. Frankly, not everyone wanting to escape a corrupted Govt./Country can ever all get out, that's an unrealistic expectation. Out exit there was poorly executed, no doubt, but the fact so many were evacuated in a brief time is Testimony to how hard everyone worked who could make a difference and Save the very lives of at least some... even tho' not all.

bluzdude said...

It doesn't matter what the Democrats do anymore. To Republicans, whatever happens is the worst thing in the world and it's the Democrats' fault. Until the next thing. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Democratic leadership has to forget about currying favor with the Right, because it will never happen. They need to just do what they were elected to do. And yes, I realize they can't even do that because of two DINOs, Manchin and Sinema.

Bohemian said...

I'm embarrassed that Sinema represents our State... and that here in AZ we have so many shams going on that the Far Right are insisting upon to attempt to corrupt future Elections while pretending they're Auditing to ensure the last one was legit... give me a break, that Fraudit with the Cyber Ninja Grifters is a Global Spectacle and a total embarrassment. Honest, not all Arizonans are that baked by our Sun, some of us are still holding onto Sanity. *winks*

bluzdude said...

It's alarming that so many people still believe The Big Lie, despite the fact that many groups of highly motivated people who would just love to break the whole thing wide open, can't find jack-shit to act on.