Page 9 – Political Puff

Obama freed the Taliban Commander who spearheaded Afghanistan takeover

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19 Aug 2021

Obama freed the Taliban Commander who spearheaded Afghanistan takeover

When President Barack Obama released five Taliban commanders from the Guantanamo Bay prison in exchange for an American deserter in 2014, he assured a wary public that the dangerous enemy combatants would be transferred to Qatar and kept from causing any trouble in Afghanistan.

In fact, they were left free to engineer Sunday’s sacking of Kabul.

Soon after gaining their freedom, some of the notorious Taliban Five pledged to return to fight Americans in Afghanistan and made contacts with active Taliban militants there. But the Obama-Biden administration turned a blind eye to the disturbing intelligence reports, and it wasn’t long before the freed detainees used Qatar as a base to form a regime in exile.

Eventually, they were recognized by Western diplomats as official representatives of the Taliban during recent “peace” talks.

Continuing the trend, President Biden restarted Obama’s program to release Gitmo detainees as part of a renewed push to close the prison. This was also a reversal of Trump administration policy.

Bidens lead in Foreign Affairs places Taiwan at risk

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18 Aug 2021

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Bidens lead in Foreign Affairs places Taiwan at risk

Taiwan President Tsai Youk-tsung says US withdrawal from Afghanistan has raised concerns over Washington’s defence of the island.

Taiwan may need to think more deeply about whether to put its eggs in the US basket. Observers say withdrawal from Afghanistan and Vietnam should not be compared to its security commitment to Taiwan. US President Joe Biden pledged less than three weeks ago that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would never play out like events in South Vietnam 46 years ago, and that it was unlikely the Taliban would completely overrun the country.

US personnel were evacuated from the Afghan capital as the Taliban took control of the city on Sunday.

There were parallels of the fall of Saigon after the Vietnam War in 1975, and it sparked questions in Taipei about how much faith the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government should put in Washington’s security promise to Taiwan.

Beijing continues to claim sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened to use force if necessary to bring it under its control.

China offering friendly relations with Taliban

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18 Aug 2021

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China offering friendly relations with Taliban

‘The Taliban have repeatedly expressed their hope to develop good relations with China, and that they look forward to China’s participation in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan,’ said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

Beijing has sought to maintain unofficial ties with the Taliban throughout the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, which spurred an advance by the Islamist hardliners across the country that saw them capture the capital Kabul on Sunday.

China shares a rugged 76-kilometre border with Afghanistan.

Beijing has long feared Afghanistan could become a staging point for Muslim minority Uyghur separatists in Xinjiang.

But a top-level Taliban delegation met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tianjin last month, promising that Afghanistan would not be used as a base for militants.

In exchange, China offered economic support and investment for Afghanistan’s reconstruction.

Inflation Gas and Used Car Prices up by 41%

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16 Aug 2021

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Inflation Gas and Used Car Prices up by 41%

President Joe Biden on hit back against inflation concerns and took a victory lap for his recent Senate wins, citing a series of economic reports released in recent days that he says show his plans for the American economy are working.

The President also outlined a number of new steps his administration is taking to lower consumer costs, like groceries and oil.

A report on showed that U.S. consumer price increases slowed in July, signalling a possible peak, though inflation remained at a 13-year high.

The rising tide of inflation has sparked worries that the Fed will begin to pull back on its policies designed to stimulate the economy.

Higher prices of everything from homes to gasoline and shortages in supplies that were affected by COVID-19 social-distancing protocols threaten a recovery that has been Biden’s focus since taking office in January, along with ending the public health crisis.

Additional read: Biden Town Hall: Fact-Checking His Inflation & Infrastructure Claims | National Review

Border crisis is a failure of leadership

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16 Aug 2021

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Border crisis is a failure of leadership

Numbers released on Thursday show that U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended over 212,000 illegal immigrants in July.

This included about 19,000 unaccompanied minors. These are the highest numbers in twenty-one years and are occurring in July, a month where border apprehensions are typically down due to the heat. Since Biden took office in January, U.S. Border Patrol agents have arrested over a million people at the border. There is a serious problem at the border, which is now impossible to deny.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called the surge “unprecedented” at a news conference following the release of the numbers.

“The situation at the border is one of the toughest challenges we face,” Mayorkas said. “It is complicated, changing, and involves vulnerable people at a time of a global pandemic.”

This is a terrible time to have hundreds of thousands of barely filtered people entering the country every month.

It’s directly running against the administration’s message about the seriousness of containing the coronavirus pandemic and the Delta variant. As cities and states consider returning to indoor mask mandates and other restrictions, it seems there are now significant numbers of people infected by the disease being introduced into the U.S. population.