By Mike Huckabee
August 19, 2021
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Blessings on you and your family, and from all the Huckabee staff!
Today's newsletter includes:
- Bible Verse of the Day - Matthew 28:19
- Four Implications of the Afghan Debacle By Ken Allard
- Shocking report: millions of mail-in ballots "unaccounted for"
- Reader Response
- Even Some Democrats Agree On Afghanistan
- America The Beautiful
- Sending Prayers
Sincerely,
Mike Huckabee
DAILY BIBLE VERSE
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Matthew 28:19
Four Implications of the Afghan Debacle
By Ken Allard
Any American soldier assigned to the Afghanistan hell-hole knows far more than me. But my study of that country began seriously in fall, 1979 as a Harvard grad student preparing to join the West Point faculty. Despite being an Army intelligence officer, my unclassified sources included Dr. Louis Dupree, a former WWII paratrooper with an encyclopedic knowledge of Afghanistan and its deeply conflicted history. My term paper submitted in early December, 1979 to Dean Graham Allison and Ambassador Joe Nye predicted 3 things: that the Russians would invade; that they would do so with all available force; but that their efforts would ultimately be unsuccessful to convert the "Graveyard of Empires" into a Soviet satrap. At the end of my military career in Bosnia, I served in Bosnia alongside a Soviet major general who, as a young Spetsnaz captain, personally led the special forces squad that assassinated the reigning strong-man in Kabul. I tell you that to underline several points you may not hear elsewhere.
Immediate Implications: Her op-ed in today’s Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/17/condoleezza-rice-afghans-didnt-choose-taliban/ shows why former SECSTATE Condoleezza Rice has such a formidable reputation as a diplomatic historian and practitioner. Arguing that “It didn’t have to be this way,” she instantly de-bunked President Joseph Biden’s calumny that the Afghans had somehow chosen the Taliban. Instead, “they fought and died alongside us, helping us degrade al-Qaeda...In the end, the Afghans couldn’t hold the country without our airpower and our support. It is not surprising that Afghan security forces lost the will to fight, when the Taliban warned that the United States was deserting them and that those who resisted would see their families killed.” The most obvious implications of reversing 20 hard-fought years of progress: Taiwan, Ukraine, the Persian Gulf and our non-existent southern border. Simply take a quick glance across the globe and isolate those pressure points where US interests don't match available forces - from our hard-pressed ground forces to our over-matched Border Patrol. Do you seriously imagine that our adversaries will not test those limits in search of more low-hanging fruit? Similarly, few Americans seem to grasp the intrinsic linkage between those external threats and our internal security, already under attack from hostile criminal-political syndicates (e.g., Mexican drug cartels, BLM, Antifa.) Fewer still will recall that 10 years ago Oklahoma authorities warned that that the cartels were becoming a bigger threat to the state than tornadoes.
Deceptive Metaphors: Today there are many incautious parallels drawn between Kabul and Saigon. Officers of my generation vividly recall that the Saigon withdrawal - for all its drawbacks - was far better organized than Kabul. Wherever they happen, strategic withdrawals in the face of an armed adversary are always tough and dangerous operations. The American Army first began learning those difficult lessons under George Washington, who didn’t so much beat the British as to (narrowly) avoid being defeated by them. Ever since, Murphy’s Law has been as omni-present in American ranks as camp followers. The better metaphor may be to Dunkirk (without the English Channel) or - even more ominously - to the 1885 Siege of Khartoum. To those readers who may not recall the Charlton Heston movie, things ended badly for the British and especially for Heston’s character, General Charles Gordon. In outlook, ferocity and ideological single-mindedness, there are eerie similarities between the armies of the Mahdi and those of the Taliban. Listening yesterday to Jenn Psaki and Jake Sullivan’s ignominious presentation to the White House press corps, it was appalling to think that such mendacious, naive and utterly un-serious people were anywhere close to the halls of power. The question not posed by the fawning press munchkins: Were the same officials who planned the Kabul operation also involved with defending our southern border?
Immediate Political Consequences: National security as a political issue is much like oxygen: un-noticed and inconsequential until suddenly it seems threatened. But when those threats materialize, they immediately transform lesser political questions. Right now, that specter most benefits former SECSTATE Mike Pompeo and Ambassador Nikki Haley. Ambassador Hailey is the former South Carolina governor who overcame ethnic and gender profiling to become a compelling, highly articulate leader as Donald Trump’s Ambassador to the UN. But the big winner after Kabul may be Mike Pompeo. He calmly personifies traditional American values: e.g., Eagle Scout, West Point graduate, business leader, Congressman, CIA Director, SECSTATE, and born-again Christian). That stunning resume gives him an immediate appeal for a Republican establishment that badly needs a super-star who can help re-build Republican credibility.
Macro-Changes to Start Thinking About: We can anticipate that our enemies will do their utmost to test us, ideally while the Biden White House still resembles deer-caught-in-the -headlights. The short list certainly includes the seizure of Taiwan and the increasing likelihood of another 911. I live in San Antonio, where we grimly chuckle over the latest (and fastest-growing) Border Patrol category of illegals: OTM, meaning "Other Than Mexican." The considerably more sobering reality: If our enemies fail to take advantage of our open borders, then it contradicts everything we know about their relentless character and their endlessly adaptive tactics. If you are familiar with the Sicario movie series, then you may have already glimpsed the future. The American people need to demand an end to the PC-heavy, Woke soft-headedness that has already begun to compromise our military. To cite but one current example: Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on May 4, BG Daniel Hokanson (Chief of the National Guard Bureau) asserted that "Among my most pressing concerns are premium-free health care for every Guardsman...." Seriously, General? Aren't those the very same forces primarily responsible for our homeland defense, either in coping with disaster or deterring an enemy attack? And yet you're primarily concerned with their health care?
Fasten your seat-belts, folks, we may be in for a bumpy ride!
Colonel Ken Allard (US Army Ret.) is a former draftee who became a Cold War intelligence officer, West Point faculty member and Dean of the National War College. For ten years, he was an on-air military analyst for the networks of NBC News.
TO LEAVE KEN A COMMENT, VISIT MY WEBSITE HERE>>>
Shocking report: millions of mail-in ballots "unaccounted for"
By Mike Huckabee
If anyone ever asks you why conservatives distrust the 2020 election results, just show them this from the WASHINGTON EXAMINER. Mass mail-in balloting absolutely cannot be trusted, and we just have to stop voting this way. Period.
According to a new report from the Public Interest Legal Foundation, election officials nationwide mailed out 14.7 million mail-in ballots that, for one reason or another, were never accounted for. That means they either weren’t returned as voted, were undeliverable, or were otherwise “unable to be tracked.” These numbers alone don’t tell us whether fraud was involved, but they sure don’t lend credibility to 2020 election outcomes. Not to be too technical, 2020 was a MESS. We might never know if some close elections were accurate.
We have to be able to have faith in our elections, and to know that our vote is counted. If it isn’t, THAT is voter suppression, plain and simple. This absolutely cannot be allowed to happen again. Mass mail-in voting must be stopped.
Reader Response
From Ruth: I just don't understand. This is my country. I have no intentions of harming anyone. We are supposed to be a free country. I believe in the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of independence, 1st and 2nd Amendments. I'm no terrorist.
Ruth is responding to my piece "Homeland Security perceives us as potential threats."
Even Some Democrats Agree On Afghanistan
By Mike Huckabee
Even some Congressional Democrats are accusing President Biden of flat-out lying in his address on Afghanistan and of orchestrating a catastrophe.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2021/08/17/house-dem-rips-biden--jim-langevin-n2594296
Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton confirmed what I told you yesterday: Biden’s claim that Afghans didn’t want to leave was "bull-(BLEEP)." Congress had been begging the White House for months to expedite thousands of requests for special immigrant visas to get Afghans who’d helped the US out safely, and their paperwork backlog delayed them until it was too late.
And of course, Congressional Republicans are pulling no punches in calling out Biden’s lies, as Sen. Marco Rubio did:
America The Beautiful
God's creation is all around us. To learn more about Lassen Volcanic National Park, visit its website here.
Sending Prayers
By Mike Huckabee
Sending our prayers to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who tested positive for COVID-19, even though he is fully vaccinated. He says he’s asymptomatic so far. I’d also strongly suggest that he get a second test to be certain.
Naturally, the leftist social media ghouls gleefully wished death on Abbott, whom they blame for a huge, rising tide of COVID deaths in Texas (there isn’t one), discouraging people from wearing masks (you can wear two or three if you want, he just opposes forcing everyone to wear one), and opposing the vaccines (he’s not only vaccinated, he’s encouraged others to get vaccinated and set up one of the most effective vaccination programs in the country while inefficient blue states lagged behind Texas.)
There’s nothing so persuasive as being wrong on all the facts while exhibiting a nasty, shrunken soul and a complete lack of humanity. Stay classy, Twitter leftists!
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