Somewhere over the horizon

[Valin]

Power Line

Scott Johnson

Apr. 24 2023

The Biden administration has conducted a comprehensive campaign of misinformation, disinformation, lying, and deception of the storied Gaslight variety. My personal favorite is the “success” of Biden’s open borders program, but you may have your own. The frequently derided White House press secretary KJP may be the perfect person for the job after all.

The humiliating fiasco of our withdrawal from Afghanistan is another case in point. “Twas a famous victory, and to the extent that it wasn’t, it was Trump’s fault.

Remember the robust over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability that Biden administration officials promised in the wake of the withdrawal fiasco? Now the Washington Post reports — well, take it for what it’s worth, but it comports with common sense:

(Snip)

Hot Air’s David Strom explicates the Post story here.

The Post story is reported by Dan Lamothe and Joby Warrick. Warrick is the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book on the rise of ISIS, but I don’t believe either Lamothe or Warrick had any of the many hands in the Post’s godawful Pulitzer Prize-winning Russia hoax coverage. Neither is pictured in the Pulitzer Prizes’ photo posted here (featuring the 2018 award-winning staff reporters of the New York Times and Washington Post including Maggie Haberman, Jo Becker, Matt Apuzzo, Rosalind Helderman, Tom Hamburger, Ellen Nakashima, Adam Entous, Greg Miller, and Mark Mazzetti).

[Valin]

ISIS Using Afghanistan As Terror Base: Leaked Pentagon Documents
Fidel Rahmati
April 23, 2023

Afghanistan has become a significant coordination hub for the Islamic State as the terrorist organization plans attacks across Europe and Asia and engages in “aspirational plotting” against the U.S., a leaked Pentagon document revealed.

According to a classified Pentagon assessment that portrays the threat as a rising security concern, less than two years after President Biden withdrew U.S. personnel from Afghanistan, the country has developed into a significant coordination hub for the Islamic State as the terrorist organization plans attacks across Europe and Asia and engages in “aspirational plotting” against the United States, Washington Post reported.

The attack planning reveals specific efforts to target embassies, churches, business centres and the FIFI World Cup soccer tournament, which drew more than 2 million spectators last summer in Qatar. Such plots were coordinated by Daesh leaders in Afghanistan, which Pentagon officials were aware of on December 9, the Washington Post cited the leaked documents.

“ISIS has been developing a cost-effective model for external operations that relies on resources from outside Afghanistan, operatives in target countries, and extensive facilitation networks,” says the assessment, “The model will likely enable ISIS to overcome obstacles — such as competent security services — and reduce some plot timelines, minimizing disruption opportunities.”

(Snip)

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What a Surprise. Or should I say, What, A Surprise?