ABOUT FAITH & FREEDOM

Monday, August 23, 2021

Mocking America

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Tom Brokaw, with whom I disagree on most things---certainly got it right: The men and women who defended America, liberty, and freedom in WW II were indeed the greatest generation.

Apparently, the Taliban agrees with him as well, because they have chosen to specifically mock the six US soldiers who planted our American flag on Mount Suribachi in Iwo Jima during WW II.

The photo, taken by Joe Rosenthal is the most reproduced photograph in history.

The Taliban has published a reenactment of the photo with their fighters wearing American military gear planting the Taliban flag on a hill in Afghanistan---mocking our "greatest generation" and mocking the most powerful nation on the face of the earth. 

Some thoughts on this, and a closer look at the list of  US military weaponry in the hands of the Taliban, and most likely being studied by the Chinese.

Be informed, not misled.

The Taliban's Badri 313 Battalion has released a collection of propaganda footage, which includes a recreation of the famed 1945 World War II picture of soldiers raising the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The propaganda shows the Taliban in US military gear hoisting their Taliban flag in a mirror recreation of the iconic WW II Pulitzer Prize-winning photo.

Pictures show the Badri 313 Taliban soldiers wearing camouflage, combat boots, and body armor. The soldiers are also driving Humvees and carrying M4 carbines---all US equipment, mostly state-of-the-art, that has been handed off to the Taliban.

Instead of their robes and turbans, the Badri special unit is wearing US gear, military helmets, and sunglasses.

The Badri Battalion was said to be named after the Battle of Badr that is written about in the Quran, in which their Prophet Mohammed successfully defeated an enemy force with just 313 men, about 1400 years ago.

Reports from India and elsewhere confirm that the Taliban is no longer a group of rag-tag shepherds wearing robes and turbans, but a tactical, well-trained fighting force. Now empowered with US weaponry.

Another photo shows the Taliban eating ice cream cones in an attempt to mock President Biden who has been photographed often this summer eating an ice cream cone while the world is spinning out of control.

This is a result of our President's inability to lead the withdrawal from Afghanistan--- giving the Taliban a shot of good fortune they are still trying to fully assess.

How much military stuff have we actually left behind?

It's huge, and the Taliban considers the fact that they have it is a "psychological win." 

They have captured stockpiles of weaponry that have been given to the Afghanistan army over the past 20 years. The lists vary---a Biden administration official told the press over the weekend "we don't know how much they have"--- but most reports include that in addition to the Humvees, the Taliban posses mine-resistant vehicles, Black Hawk helicopters, and "other US-funded items" in addition to thousands (600,000) M16 rifles and as many as twenty A-29 attack planes.

We do know that the US has given Afghan forces about $28 billion in weaponry between 2002 and 2017. From 2003 to 2019, the American taxpayers have funded the following to Afghanistan: 75,898 vehicles, 599,690 weapons, 162,643 pieces of communications equipment, 208 aircraft, 6,191 pieces of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance equipment, 7035 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 bombs, and 1,394 grenade launchers. 

The greatest concern: Joe Biden's view of America.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday that in just six months under President Biden, "American leadership has walked off the stage as the world watches the Taliban seize control of Afghanistan."

Pompeo, who would make a great president, said: "It looks like we're back to Barack Obama, America apologizing, American weakness, and our adversaries not fearing us and our friends not trusting us."

He's right. We are back to Barack Obama.

Obama never believed in an exceptional America. Neither does Joe Biden.

If you look back over the past 70 or so years you find presidents from both political parties---from FDR and Harry Truman and John  F Kennedy to Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan to father and son Bush to Donald Trump---they all believed America has a special role to play in the affairs of the world as an exceptional nation.

Obama's ideology or worldview never really fit reality. Neither does Joe Biden's.

Obama was obsessed with "remaking" America. And he was not shy about advancing that agenda.

Biden has been so obsessed with becoming president ---his admitted "lifelong dream"---he has no clue as to what America actually is. The result of half a century in so-called "public service," aka politics.

During a speech at Harvard University in 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden said, "There is nothing special about being an American."

Continuing, he said, "None of you can define for me what an American is. Can't define it based on religion, ethnicity, race, culture."

One year ago this past Friday, accepting the Democrat Party presidential nomination, candidate Joe Biden vowed to "move this nation past the chaos of Donald Trump's tenure and return it to its leadership role in the world."

Pompeo says Biden's handling of the exit from Afghanistan has done "an enormous amount of damage to American credibility," but says it can be restored, naming several steps that can be taken immediately.

And most of all he says today, "Make it very clear to the Taliban that you're not going to implore, not going to plead. You're not going to pay the Taliban if Americans are harmed as they move to the airport... You're going to go and crush them, put real costs on them."

We need leadership. Capable leadership.

Takeaway

Samuel Adams, as he signed the Declaration of Independence, said:

"He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of this country who tries most to promote its virtue.... He who is void of virtuous attachments in private life is, or very soon will be, void of all regard for his country."

Be Prayerful. Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged.