Tactical Peek
Tactical Peek's Journal
Deaths reported at Kabul airport as Afghans try to flee Taliban
Source: BBC News
There have been scenes of panic at Kabul airport as desperate residents try to flee following the seizure of the Afghan capital by the Taliban.
Witnesses say at least three civilians died on Monday in the chaos at the airport, which is being secured by US troops. It is not clear whether they were shot or died in a stampede.
With scheduled flights suspended, many foreigners and Afghans are stranded.
The US and other countries are rushing to evacuate staff and allies.
Read more:
SNAFUBAR
Take the 'A' Train - Eddie Jefferson
1961
Eddie Jefferson - vocals
Wynton Kelly - piano
Louis Hayes - drums
Sam Jones - bass
James Moody - flute, alto sax
Arthur Clark - baritone sax
Johnny Griffin - tenor sax
Ernie Royal - trumpet
Clark Terry - trumpet
Joe Newman - trumpet
Jimmy Cleveland - trombone
Ernie Wilkens - arranger
Nice band.
Statement by President Joe Biden on Afghanistan
Statement by President Joe Biden on Afghanistan
August 14, 2021
• Statements and Releases
Over the past several days I have been in close contact with my national security team to give them direction on how to protect our interests and values as we end our military mission in Afghanistan.
First, based on the recommendations of our diplomatic, military, and intelligence teams, I have authorized the deployment of approximately 5,000 US troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of US personnel and other allied personnel and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance.
Second, I have ordered our armed forces and our intelligence community to ensure that we will maintain the capability and the vigilance to address future terrorist threats from Afghanistan.
Third, I have directed the Secretary of State to support President Ghani and other Afghan leaders as they seek to prevent further bloodshed and pursue a political settlement. Secretary Blinken will also engage with key regional stakeholders.
Fourth, we have conveyed to the Taliban representatives in Doha, via our Combatant Commander, that any action on their part on the ground in Afghanistan, that puts US personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong US military response.
Fifth, I have placed Ambassador Tracey Jacobson in charge of a whole of government effort to process, transport, and relocate Afghan special immigrant visa applicants and other Afghan allies. Our hearts go out to the brave Afghan men and women who are now at risk. We are working to evacuate thousands of those who helped our cause and their families.
That is what we are going to do. Now let me be clear about how we got here.
America went to Afghanistan 20 years ago to defeat the forces that attacked this country on September 11th. That mission resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden over a decade ago and the degradation of al Qaeda. And yet, 10 years later, when I became President, a small number of US troops still remained on the ground, in harm’s way, with a looming deadline to withdraw them or go back to open combat.
Over our country’s 20 years at war in Afghanistan, America has sent its finest young men and women, invested nearly $1 trillion dollars, trained over 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, equipped them with state-of-the-art military equipment, and maintained their air force as part of the longest war in US history. One more year, or five more years, of US military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country. And an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me.
When I came to office, I inherited a deal cut by my predecessor—which he invited the Taliban to discuss at Camp David on the eve of 9/11 of 2019—that left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001 and imposed a May 1, 2021 deadline on US forces. Shortly before he left office, he also drew US forces down to a bare minimum of 2,500. Therefore, when I became President, I faced a choice—follow through on the deal, with a brief extension to get our forces and our allies’ forces out safely, or ramp up our presence and send more American troops to fight once again in another country’s civil conflict. I was the fourth President to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan—two Republicans, two Democrats. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/08/14/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-afghanistan/
Christ, what an asshole!
https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1426293004831240196
Ashton Pittman@ashtonpittman
With MS State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs standing behind him wearing a mask, Gov. Tate Reeves criticized reporter for wearing a mask despite being vaccinated.
"If you really want to virtue signal, why are you in this room? Why don't you go to your house & lock yourself up?"
With Mississippi Hospitals Near Calamity, Gov. Reeves Left State For GOP Political Event
Source: Mississippi Free Press
With Mississippi Hospitals Near Calamity, Gov. Reeves Left State For GOP Political Event
by Ashton Pittman
August 11, 2021
“Hospitals and healthcare workers need you to help us,” Neshoba General Hospital CEO Lee McCall tweeted desperately at Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves yesterday as COVID-19 continued to overwhelm the state’s least vaccinated county. “Where are you?”
The answer, Arizona’s governor inadvertently revealed, was that the Mississippi governor was once again out of state. He was attending a Republican Governors’ Association meeting just one day after the state health officer announced that no intensive-care beds remained statewide. Mississippi Today’s Adam Ganucheau also reported that Reeves was attending the RGA event yesterday.
“Excited for day 2 at @The_RGA 2021 Candidate Conference to continue discussing what’s next for our nation and the importance of conservative principles with our future leaders,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted yesterday. He attached a photo showing GOP governors seated in a conference ballroom, with Reeves visibly seated on the right side of the podium.
Meanwhile, Neshoba County’s hospital was overflowing with patients and, according to McCall, he and hospital workers were “all at our breaking point.” Meanwhile in Jackson at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where there is no longer enough staff to tend to all patients in need of ICU treatment, officials were asking the federal government for help setting up a field hospital in the medical center’s parking garage.
Read more: https://www.mississippifreepress.org/14669/with-mississippi-hospitals-near-calamity-gov-reeves-left-state-for-gop-political-event/
Fourth officer who responded to the US Capitol on January 6 dies by suicide
Source: WUSA9
Fourth officer who responded to the US Capitol on January 6 dies by suicide
MPD confirmed Officer Kyle DeFreytag died by suicide, hours after the department confirmed Ofc. Gunther Hashida died by suicide. Both defended the Capitol on Jan. 6.
WASHINGTON -- Four law enforcement officers who responded to the Capitol insurrection have now died by suicide, a sobering toll which doubled on Monday, after Metropolitan Police confirmed two of the department's officers who responded on January 6 recently took their own lives.
Officer Kyle DeFreytag served in the city's 5th District and was at the Capitol to enforce curfew violations, Metropolitan Police confirmed. Chief Robert J. Contee III sent a message to the police force notifying personnel of DeFreytag's death last month.
"I am writing to share tragic news that Officer Kyle DeFreytag of the 5th District was found deceased last evening," Contee wrote in a mid-July message to the department. "This is incredibly hard news for us all, and for those that knew him best."
The confirmation of DeFreytag's death came hours after a spokeswoman for MPD said Officer Gunther Hashida was found dead at his residence last Thursday. Hashida, who joined the department in May 2003, was most recently assigned to the department's Emergency Response Team.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1422382940806426642
Read more: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/dc-police-officer-suicide-kyle-defreytag-defended-us-capitol-on-january-6/65-fb00a7ff-1884-46ee-819a-448e2f55a61e
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action". ― Ian Fleming
Four times ? ? ?
Marco Rubio speaks, and removes all doubt.
https://twitter.com/mcspocky/status/1420561223641403393
Proverbs 16:18
Robert Moses, SNCC veteran, is no longer with us.
SNCC 60th @SNCC60th
·3h
Today we mourn the loss of our colleague and SNCC Veteran Robert P. Moses, age 86. Born and raised in Harlem, New York City, Bob became a SNCC Field Secretary in 1960.
https://twitter.com/SNCC60th/status/1419305686580727817
https://twitter.com/esglaude/status/1419325999477624841
https://www.pbs.org/video/american-experience-seeking-radical-change/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Moses_(activist)
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