Trump Has Plans To Win Afghanistan War But Doesn't "Want To Kill 10 Million People"

During a press event in the Oval Office today with Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, Donald Trump told reporters he could end the Afghanistan war “in a week,” but that doing so would cause millions of deaths.

“I could win that war in a week," said Trump. "I just don’t want to kill 10 million people."

The president added that Afghanistan would be “wiped off the face of the earth” in 10 days if he chose to bring a quick end to the nation’s longest war.

Note - the United States is not at war with Afghanistan.

WATCH: President Trump says that he could win the 18-year Afghan War in 10 days, because he has plans that could wipe Afghanistan off the face of the Earth and kill 10,000,000 people, but "I don't want to go that route." pic.twitter.com/IftsRmBjpG

— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 22, 2019

Donald the Dove just casually threatened to nuke Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/NamZFIhOrv

— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) July 22, 2019

do you think the president understands that we're not actually at war *with* afghanistan https://t.co/FcEArdp9Mt

— the norms misser (@cd_hooks) July 22, 2019

Of the several, uh, minor details that seem lost on the President here one worth pointing out is that we are not at war with the nation of Afghanistan — we are at war *for* the nation of Afghanistan.

So, the President just said he has a plan to wipe an allied country off the map

— Warax, Prince of Hippos. 🦛💨 (@iAmTheWarax) July 22, 2019

Military Records Offer Insight Into Mayor Pete's Service In Afghanistan

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (images via social media)

Political news site The Hill has obtained military documents that offer some insight into Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s time spent in Afghanistan as a Navy intelligence officer.

Buttigieg has mentioned on the campaign trail he took a seven month leave during his first term as mayor to serve in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom launched by President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

According to The Hill, the documents show the then-32-year-old served in the Afghanistan Threat Finance Cell (ATFC) in Kabul from March to September of 2014. The files indicate that assignment put him in “an imminent danger pay area.”

The focus of the ATFC was to identify and disrupt “insurgent financial support networks in Afghanistan” related to the Taliban and Al-Qaida.

The Hillreports his duties included representing ATFC at “high level briefings, and he also “coordinated intelligence sharing and targeting deconfliction” methods with several organizations.

As Buttigieg mentioned in his book Shortest Way Home, he imagined he would spend most of his time in Afghanistan “behind a sophisticated computer terminal in a secure area.” But it turned out he had to venture some 119 times “outside the wire,” which meant leaving his fairly secure base. During those trips into Kabul, he served as vehicle commander on convoy security detail.

While he’s never claimed to have engaged in direct combat, Buttigieg did describe in his book the dangers unpredictable Kabul neighborhoods could present.

“In a ritual to be repeated dozens of times, I would heave my armored torso into the driver’s seat of a Land Cruiser, chamber a round in my M4, lock the doors and wave a gloved goodbye to the Macedonian gate guard,” wrote Buttigieg.

“My vehicle would cross outside the wire and into the boisterous Afghan city, entering a world infinitely more interesting and ordinary and dangerous than our zone behind the blast walls at ISAF headquarters,” he added.

Even in an armored vehicle, he was trained to be on the lookout for possible explosive devices hidden along the roads, or a number of telltale signs of a surprise ambush around any corner. “A suddenly empty neighborhood. A nervous-looking lone driver of a vehicle with a heavy trunk load. An obviously male hand coming out from underneath a woman’s blue burqa.”

Mayor Pete is one of the few Democratic presidential candidates whose resume includes active duty military experience.

Donald Trump did not serve in the military due to reported ‘bone spurs’in his feet.

(Source: The Hill)

Teen Refugee Denied Asylum For Not Being 'Gay' Enough

(stock image via Pixabay)

A gay 18-year-old Afghan refugee has been denied asylum in Austria because officials determined he wasn’t ‘gay’ enough to be gay.

Scared for his safety in Afghanistan, the young man originally applied for asylum based on the fact that he’s part of the persecuted Hazara minority in his home country. He later appealed citing his sexual orientation, which in his home country is illegal due to Sharia Law and can be prosecuted resulting in a possible death penalty. He told advocates that he was initially afraid to come out.

But the immigration officials wrote in their report, “The way you walk, act and dress does not show even in the slightest that you could be homosexual.”

Also, the official noted that the young man had been involved in fights at the refugee center where he was being temporarily housed. The official decided that his “potential for aggression” undermined the Afghan’s claims since that “wouldn’t be expected from a homosexual.”

Additionally, the young man’s preference to spend time alone caused the official to wonder, “Aren’t homosexuals rather social?”

When asked at what age he realized he was gay, the Afghan told the case worker he came to that determination at the age of 12. But again, he was rebuffed by the official who said that was "rather early" since “there is no public sexual stimulation through fashion and advertisement” in Afghanistan.

Even when the teenager admitted to kissing men, the official decided it wasn’t true since the young man would have been beaten for such behavior.

Ultimately, the Austrian government rejected the 18-year-old’s application for asylum.

According to reports, the Afghan says he will appeal.

(h/t DW.com)

Video: Drone Footage Of "Mother Of All Bombs"

Silent video footage, shot by a drone during the dropping of the "mother of all bombs" yesterday in Afghanistan by the U.S., shows the massive impact and range of the GBU-43/B.

According to reports, no civilians were hurt in the bombing - only a base used to launch attacks and a "tunnels complex" were destroyed, along with 36 ISIS militants.

The bomb, the largest non-nuclear in the U.S. arsenal, is dropped via Air Force planes and detonated before hitting ground which results in an enormous blast radius.

Watch below.

(source)

U.S. Drops Largest Non-Nuclear Bomb In Afghanistan

From CNN:

The US military has dropped an enormous bomb in Afghanistan, according to four US military officials with direct knowledge of the mission.

A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed the "mother of all bombs," was dropped at 7:32 pm local time Thursday, the sources said. A MOAB is a 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition that is America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb.

The bomb was dropped by an MC-130 aircraft, stationed in Afghanistan and operated by Air Force Special Operations Command, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump told CNN.

Officials said the target was an ISIS cave and tunnel complex and personnel in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province.

"The United States takes the fight against ISIS very seriously and in order to defeat the group we must deny them operational space, which we did," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said later Thursday. The strike "targeted a system of tunnels and cave that ISIS fighters use to move around freely."

The military is currently assessing the damage. Gen. John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, signed off on the use of the bomb, according to the sources. The authority to deploy the weapon was granted to Nicholson by the commander of US Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, Stump said.

This is the first time a MOAB has been used in the battlefield, according to the US officials. This munition was developed during the Iraq War.

Big. Literally! For 1st time US used most powerful non-nuclear bomb, 21,000 lb MOAB, targeting #ISIS in #Afghanistan https://t.co/RfDtxiXvIS

— Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) April 13, 2017

Trump Spokesperson: Obama Started The Afghanistan War

As we all know, the U.S. war in Afghanistan began October 7, 2001, when President George W. Bush launched what was then known as "Operation Enduring Freedom" with the UK.

That war lasted 13 years, 2 months and 3 weeks, until December 28, 2014, NATO formally ended combat operations in Afghanistan.

Now that we have actual history facts out of the way, someone please send this information to Donald Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson who appeared on CNN today and told the world that President Obama "took the U.S. into Afghanistan."

The comment came as Pierson was trying to explain that Donald Trump's "sarcastic/not so sarcastic" remarks about Obama being the "founder of ISIS.

From Mediaite:

Remember how Pierson blamed Obama for Captain Humayun Khan‘s death in 2004?

Well, on CNN this morning, as she was arguing with anchor Victor Blackwell about Trump’s “founder of ISIS” remark, Pierson actually said, “Remember, we weren’t even in Afghanistan by this time. Barack Obama went into Afghanistan, creating another problem.”

Blackwell asked, “You’re saying Barack Obama took the country into Afghanistan post-2009?” Pierson said, “That was Obama’s war, yes.”

To be honest, I don't know which is more shocking - Pierson's woeful understanding of history or the fact that she actually gets paid to represent a presidential candidate.

Large majority supports ending war in Afghanistan by 2014

Last week Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the U.S. and its allies are hoping to scale back from taking the lead in combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of next year.

While the announcement caused quite a stir in the media, Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno noted that it “has been our strategy all along.”

Nevertheless, a new poll out today found that, by a large margin, Americans support it. According to Rasmussen, 67% favor the plan Panetta outlined last week, while only 22% opposed ending combat operations by that time.