Shock revelation: Afghanistan is back as terrorist central!

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Who could have predicted it?

Certainly not me. I would never have guessed that handing over the country to a bunch of misogynistic thugs could have turned out badly for everybody involved.

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Totally unpredictable. I thought that if we handed over billions of dollars in US military equipment, the hundreds of thousands of allies who helped us for 20 years, and a continuing stream of foreign aid to murderous thugs, everything would turn out just fine for everyone involved,

Apparently not.

To be honest, it’s not even news that this happened. Everybody with half a brain knew that it was going to happen, so while the details are indeed important and worth diving into, the real news is that the Washington Post is reporting on an obvious failure of the Biden Administration.

This suggests that there is an active effort to replace Joe Biden at the top of the Democrat Party, which again is hardly shocking. Prepare for the Gavin Newsom presidential campaign, which is obviously gearing up.

Less than two years after President Biden withdrew U.S. personnel from Afghanistan, the country has become a significant coordination site for the Islamic State as the terrorist group plans attacks across Europe and Asia, and conducts “aspirational plotting” against the United States, according to a classified Pentagon assessment that portrays the threat as a growing security concern.

The attack planning, detailed in U.S. intelligence findings leaked on the Discord messaging platform and obtained by The Washington Post, reveal specific efforts to target embassies, churches, business centers and the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, which drew more than 2 million spectators last summer in Qatar. Pentagon officials were aware in December of nine such plots coordinated by ISIS leaders in Afghanistan, and the number rose to 15 by February, says the assessment, which has not been disclosed previously.

“ISIS has been developing a cost-effective model for external operations that relies on resources from outside Afghanistan, operatives in target countries, and extensive facilitation networks,” says the assessment, which is labeled top-secret and bears the logos of several Defense Department organizations. “The model will likely enable ISIS to overcome obstacles — such as competent security services — and reduce some plot timelines, minimizing disruption opportunities.”

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Blah blah blah. All undoubtedly true, none of which required a deep dive analysis to have predicted. In fact, pretty much everybody knew this was going to happen, and it is one of the reasons why Afghanistan became such a quagmire, to begin with. Afghanistan is a cesspool of corruption, dominated by a tribal political system that is inimical to coalescing into a modern nation-state, and a safe haven for the scum of the Muslim world.

The US was the biggest tribal warlord on the block when we were there, and now the Taliban are. The politics are basically the same; it’s the personnel and policies that have changed.

Nation-building was never going to work and didn’t. So it is no surprise that two decades of trying to do something that was impossible failed. We handed back the same Afghanistan that existed before to the Taliban. When we were there we imposed our will; now that we are gone the Taliban does.

But cutting and running wasn’t going to work either, and the manner in which we did so made things so much worse. Running away with our tails between our legs simply proved to the Taliban and their allies that they were on the right path. They learned the lesson, and are back to their old ways. Instead of simply oppressing their own people, they see an opening to get back to business as usual. And ISIS is a new tribal warlord in the mix.

What is the upshot of these (non-surprising) revelations that the Washington Post takes away? Exactly what you suppose:

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The documents will almost certainly be used as a political cudgel by congressional Republicans and others still seething about the Biden administration’s chaotic management of the U.S. exit from Afghanistan in August 2021.

The fact that a disaster is brewing in Afghanistan, once again, is really bad because…the Republicans will use this as a political cudgel against the Democrats. It could hurt Joe Biden. That is the problem that needs to be solved, not the terrorism thing.

Yep, they are going with that. Sure, ISIS is looking to make chemical weapons and planning kidnappings, but the real problem is that this might help Republicans. It makes Democrats look bad.

Republicans are worse than ISIS and the Taliban. Really. That is how the Washington Post thinks.

The details of the revelation are of course important. But what is interesting and relevant to you and me–after all, the resurgence of terrorism was baked in the cake as soon as Biden was elected–is that the Democrat civil war is heating up as Biden prepares to announce his bid for reelection, which is rumored to be happening very soon, perhaps this week.

Democrats always thought of Biden as a transitional figure–somebody they could sell as a safe alternative to Bad Orange Man and not as a scary leftist ideologue. And while the Left wanted a scary Leftist ideologue, Biden seemed a safe election-winning choice.

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Ironically, Biden has been every bit the scary Leftist ideologue the Left wanted, likely in a bid to maintain support for his presidency on the Left. But the Left wants a vital ideologue who can run for two terms, not a decrepit old hair sniffer to carry the torch.

So the even Lefter wing of the Party wants Biden gone, along with Kamala who if anything is stupider than a senile Joe Biden.

Clearly, Newsom is being groomed to be that guy, and while it is not a done deal that he will replace Biden on the ticket–being president gives you some job security–the bid to take Biden out is kicking into high gear. Members of the media are taking sides in this, which is why you are seeing more negative stories about Biden.

Is it too late? What do I know? Democrats don’t confide in me, so all I can do is read the tea leaves just like you. But something like this doesn’t show up in the Washington Post these days without some prominent Democrats wanting it to, they are so in the tank to the party.

Gavin Newsom isn’t galavanting around the country for his health. He is running for president, and some big donors clearly want him to be the successor. He looks like a president, is smooth in an oily sort of way, and his only baggage is that he is a raging communist, which appears not to be a significant problem these days. Certainly not among Democrats, who have embraced both economic and cultural Marxism.

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For those of us who scoff at Newsom as the governor who has driven California into the ground and thus must be unviable as a Democratic candidate for president, I would remind you that people voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and reelected Democrats just last year despite the country being in the crapper.

Enough people voted for John Fetterman, who can barely speak, to make him a US Senator. Gavin Newsom is much prettier and smoother than he.

Will the Democrat coup against Biden work? Who knows? You have the IRS whistleblower, the Anthony Blinken leak, the China payments, and many other scandals popping up in the media, and it all adds up.

But none of that means diddly squat if Biden doesn’t give in to the pressure, and I would be surprised if he did. He loves being president and wants to return for another term.

If it comes down to a game of chicken, I would bet on Biden.

What are his opponents within the Party going to do? Drop a dime on his corruption and perhaps fatally wound their own chances at winning the presidency? Right now it is all hints and leaks.

The Democrats bet on Biden in 2020 and carried him across the finish line. They are likely stuck with him if they absolutely have to.

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 22, 2024
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