Marine Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, Relieved of Duty For Criticizing Pentagon Decision on Bagram AFB


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 27, 2021 | Sundance | 265 Comments

Lt. Col Scheller made a public Facebook post criticizing the insufferable decisions in Afghanistan that led to the deaths of 13 U.S. Marines.   The primary issue was the closure of Bagram air base, which many have looked upon at the most brutally obvious strategic blunders in the Afghan exit.  Within his remarks Scheller said:

“I’m not saying we’ve got to be in Afghanistan forever. But I am saying, did any of you throw your rank on the table and say, ‘Hey, it’s a bad idea to evacuate Bagram Airfield, a strategic airbase, before we evacuate everyone’? Did anyone do that? And when you didn’t think to do that, did anyone raise their hand and say, ‘We completely messed this up’?”  WATCH BELOW:

Shortly after Lt. Col. Scheller posted this video he was removed from command.  Despite the overwhelming agreement we share with his outlook, it is also true that compromising or questioning command leadership is a valid reason for removal.  That’s why CTH was angered at the Pentagon failure to remove Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman after he questioned the Commander in Chief, President Trump.  A brutal double standard.

In a follow-up Facebook post, Scheller noted he was relieved of command at 14:30 today.

[Facebook Link]

Taliban Ask Qatar For Technical Assistance Running Kabul Airport


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 27, 2021 | Sundance | 175 Comments

Originally the plan of the Taliban was to have Turkey send the people they need to run the airport in Kabul.  However, Turkish President Recep Erdogan told the Taliban he would willingly run the airport for them, but his 600 troops would need to remain as part of the airport security detachment.  The Taliban said no, the Turkish military needed to leave along with all the NATO troops. As a consequence Turkey said until you change your mind, run your own airport.

Here comes plan number two.  Plan number two is the Taliban calling on their second ally in the region, Qatar.

Now, remember, Qatar is home-base for the Muslim Brotherhood.  Both Qatar and Turkey are supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood (Barack Obama supports them also).  The Brotherhood is the political operation of al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, ISIS, ISIS-K and the Taliban.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the covering fabric, and the various Islamic extremist groups are the splines of the extremist umbrella.

Now the Taliban have asked Qatar to run the airport: CAIRO, Aug 27 (Reuters) – The Taliban will ask Qatar for technical assistance in operating Kabul airport, Qatari based Al Jazeera news channel reported on Friday citing a source in the Islamist movement.

The Taliban have asked Turkey for technical help to run the airport after next Tuesday’s deadline for all foreign military forces to pull out of Afghanistan, an ultimatum they say applies equally to Turkish troops.

Earlier today, two officials told Reuters Turkey will not help run the airport after NATO’s withdrawal unless the movement agrees to a Turkish security presence, after deadly attacks outside the airport highlighted the perils of any such mission. (link)

This request highlights the weird realignment we discussed two weeks ago:

(1) The Muslim Brotherhood.  There were reports from Qatar that MB leadership is heading back into Afghanistan.  This is predictable.  The Muslim Brotherhood is the political umbrella for authentic Islam (ie. extremists).  The Brotherhood supports the al-Qaeda regional affiliates including the Taliban, al-Nusra, and others.  Qatar is the financial center of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Brotherhood is political Islam.

(2) China.  Most people don’t realize that China shares a common border with Afghanistan and has issues with Islamic extremists and sympathizers.  China has benefited from the U.S. in Afghanistan keeping the Taliban in check.  A U.S. retreat now means China needs to engage with the Taliban to bolster their national security interests.  China will establish diplomatic ties with the Taliban partly because Beijing uses duplicitous diplomacy as a strategy.  [It ain’t because China likes the Taliban]

(3) Turkey.  Unfortunately for Europe, Turkey is both a NATO member (stupid decision) and aligned in common cause with the Muslim Brotherhood.  Turkish President Recep Erdogan has previously given safe harbor to the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood upon their exit from Qatar, when the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Bahrain) demanded Qatar stop supporting terrorists (the Brotherhood).

The EU will not want to recognize the Taliban, but Turkey most certainly will… regardless of what the EU wants, because Erdogan is aligned with extremist Islam.  Europe is weak and always ends up acquiescing to the threats of Turkey; so don’t look for much other than pearl clutching from NATO members about it.

(4) Europe.  As noted above, the EU doesn’t support Islamic extremism; however, the EU is now infiltrated with Islamic extremism, and the EU is too worried about cultural sensitivities to do anything about it.  They will likely try another round of multiculturalism advocacy, which will likely end just like the last time with fracture and cultural crisis because the Islamic extremists attack, murder and rape too many EU people.  It will be a mess again.

(5) Pakistan.  The Pakistani government is already aligned in common purpose with the Taliban, and have been supporting them under the table the entire time the U.S. was in Afghanistan (See UBL compound etc).  China has invested heavily in Pakistan and created reasonably strong ties.  China needs the assistance of Pakistan to help leverage their need for regional national security from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

(6) Russia.  Oddly Russia and the EU have the same outlook toward the Taliban in Afghanistan.  However, where the EU is twisted in pretzel knots of political correctness, Russia is not.  Look for Russian President Vladimir Putin to exploit his own interests in the EU via strength and a closer relationship. How? Because Russia can keep the Taliban and Turkey in check if the NATO members are blackmailed by Afghanistan and Erdogan.

*Note – NATO was formed to keep Russia in check…. and now we will likely watch Russia helping NATO keep their step-child, Turkey, in check. How’s that for some geopolitical irony?

Summary:  Qatar (Muslim Brotherhood) will help the Taliban (al-Qaeda).  China will form tenuous and conniving ties with the Taliban, likely relying on economics.  Turkey will support the Taliban and look for help, eventually, to assist Erdogan re-attain the Ottoman Empire he lusts. The EU is stuck between Russia and a hard place (Turkey), and will likely end up on team Putin.

Joe Biden will eat jello…. and the leftists in the U.S. State Department will run to their proverbial Alamo, The United Nations.

Wait for it…

HISTORY – President Obama’s February ’09 Cairo speech began a sequence of events that led to what was called the “Arab Spring“; factually an extremist uprising.  Bolstered by the resulting chaos the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power in Egypt behind Mohammed Morsi.

However, a majority of the Egyptian people rejected President Morsi’s sharia governance, and asked a well respected General Fattah al-Sisi to step in.  Accepting the request of a desperate people Sisi removed Morsi, disbanded the Muslim Brotherhood and went on to win a landslide election in 2014.   The leadership of the Brotherhood fled to Qatar.

President Obama and his policy team were not happy with this outcome.  Obama supported Morsi, not al-Sisi.  Another person who was not happy, was Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who also supported Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Undeterred, and understanding the need for urgency, Egyptian President al-Sisi then began a long process of confronting extremism.  Sisi destroyed the Hamas terror tunnels on the border between Egypt and Israel; and, despite the anxiety expressed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Sisi brokered an interim peace agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israelis.

Destroying the Hamas tunnels removed the physical terror influence of Iran.  President al-Sisi then returned his focus back to Qatar and their support for the exiled leadership of the Brotherhood.

President al-Sisi formed a coalition against Qatar. This coalition included the UAE and Saudi Arabia who withdrew their ambassadors and isolated Qatar in the region.  This was the beginning of what we now call more broadly the Arab coalition.  The coalition initiated sanctions against Qatar until they stopped financing and harboring terror.  Remember this is late in 2014 and a lot is happening really fast.

Against growing pressure from Arab states, including the Gulf Cooperation Council, Qatar agreed to expel seven leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Again reflecting his alignment with the Brotherhood, and with much more grand ambitions of a new Ottoman empire as his unspoken motive, Recep Erdogan provided the terror leaders a home in Turkey.

It is important to note timing (’13, ’14, ’15,) and the political alignments:

  • President Obama, Turkey (Erdogan), Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, and Iran, were aligned with favorable outlook toward the Muslim Brotherhood.
  • Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE and the Gulf Arab states were not favorable toward the Muslim Brotherhood.

In the background of this ideological conflict, Syria is in a state of civil war as a result of U.S. Obama policy carried out by Secretary Clinton/Leon Panetta and Secretary Kerry/John Brennan.  Obama was aligned with Turkey, again Erodgan, who wants greater influence and has a vision of his new Ottoman empire.  As gatekeeper between Europe and the Middle East, Erdogan knows the value of his geography and the influence it provides him.

Erdogan also wants to absorb Northern Syria and is willing to enlist his Muslim Brotherhood allies toward his goals.  However, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE (team anti-Brotherhood) are against the expansion of Turkish influence.

Despite President Obama’s ongoing opposition, Egyptian President al-Sisi faced down Turkey over a U.N. Security Council seat and quietly defeated them.  [In a secret ballot, Erdogan lost.]  At the same time this was happening, expansive energy reserves via natural gas, were discovered to be much larger than initially thought off the coast of Israel.

♦ TEAM One – The Department of State is aligned with the CIA.  Their media PR firms are CNN, CNNi and the Washington Post. Their ideology is favorable to the United Nations.  Their internal corruption is generally driven by relationship with foreign actors.  References: Hillary Clinton, Clinton Global Initiative, John McCain, Qatar, Muslim Brotherhood, Samantha Powers, Susan Rice, Cass Sunstein, Brookings Institute, Lawfare, China-centric, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Council on Foreign Relations.

♦ TEAM Two – The White House is aligned with the Pentagon (DoD) and National Security Council (NSC).  Their media PR firms are domestic in nature. New York Times, Politico, etc.  Their internal corruption is generally driven by domestic influence.  References: Barack Obama, George Bush, Wall St, Big Banks, Multinational Corporations, Defense Contractors, FBI (state police), Judicial Branch, and community activists writ large.

Both teams are highly political. However, the State Dept/CIA team consider themselves above political changes; essentially the deeper Deep State.

Alarming Report Showing Pfizer Vaccination Extortion Highlights Influence of Big Pharma and Multinationals on Geopolitical Stage


Posted originally on the conservative tree house August 27, 2021 | Sundance | 268 Comments

An excellent independent news report from WION points out the extortion Pfizer is conducting in order to leverage their own financial interests in various countries around the globe.  As outlined in the expose’,  The U.S. pharma company is asking for military bases and sovereign assets as guarantee for vaccines delivery.

We have noted how the U.S. government has moved to merge ideological interests with Big Tech to control information.  In this report about Pfizer,  you see the same merging of government and the pharmaceutical industry to advance their collective interests.  There is a word for government and corporations working together to control society…

BIG PICTURE – While the specifics of this report focus on multinational corporation Pfizer and the control over the COVID vaccine, it is worth remembering the same type of influence operation happens in other industries.  That is an outcome of the world being driven by government and multinational corporations working together.

What Big Pharma is to global medicines, specifically vaccines, Big Agriculture is to global food production, in every sector.

What Pfizer is doing to extort nations to maximize their profit, so too is Monsanto or Cargill operating on the same premise.  A lemon costs you .89 cents because they want it to cost you .89 cents; not because a ‘free market’ prices it at .89 cents.   The multinationals have long passed the place where ‘free markets’ exist.  Everything is now a controlled market.  {Go Deep}

White House Press Briefing – 1:45pm Livestream Links


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 27, 2021 | Sundance | 212 Comments

As our nation mourns the loss of 13 U.S. military and dozens wounded in the Kabul airport attack, the White House sends Circle Backs to the podium to obfuscate their responsibility.  The effort is scheduled to begin at 1:45pm ET

Fox News Livestream – FBN Livestream Link – Independent Livestream (live now to listen)

The Biden Blame Buck


Posted originally on GrrrGraphics.com on AUG 27, 2021 AT 10:55 AM,

Joe Biden claims the buck stops with him, but he’d rather pin the blame on circumstances, the Afghan people, and especially President Trump.

Biden now has blood on his hands. His blundering has caused the death of many. He has disgraced our nation. He has left billions of dollars worth of military equipment to our enemies and now he has provided the Taliban with a list of Americans he intends to leave behind. Biden is a traitor. Not only should he resign in disgrace, he needs to face a military tribunal.

The buck should never have been passed to Joe because he’s a counterfeit president.

— Ben Garrison

Australia Flattening the Curve


Armstrong Economics Blog/Australia & Oceania Re-Posted Aug 27, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

Australian police have won the International Award for the most morally corrupt police force of any undemocratic regime in human history. They have actually beat the police of Venezuela for their ruthlessness and inability to think for themselves, just like the German Nazis who also just were following orders.

To the Australian police diligently working hard to destroy their country — Good On Ya!

Marking the Unvaccinated As they Marked Jews in the 1930s


Armstrong Economics Blog/Regulation Re-Posted Aug 27, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

History indeed repeats. In Europe, they demand that the “unvaccinated” wear masks to identify themselves, just as the Jews were forced to wear yellow stars to identify themselves in society. Interestingly, there were Jews in Germany who saw the threats and set sail for America. I was told many years ago that other Jews thought they were crazy. To put it in today’s terminology, they were conspiracy theorists. The lies about everything to create this lockdown to crush the economy so they can Build Back Better are gradually surfacing. Hopefully, the majority will wake up and see that they have been played for the fool. The conspiracy theorists of the 1930s in Germany were correct. Little by little, the “conspiracy theorists” today will also be correct.

Yet, the vaccinated are now still vulnerable to getting and spreading COVID-19. When will the lie be exposed? How much longer? The computer shows the collapse in public confidence, which is becoming obvious. They should have listened to Lincoln who said it is “better to remain silent and be thought a fool” than to speak and to remove all doubt. World leaders have spoken and are clearly fools if they actually believed COVID could be eradicated with lockdowns and vaccines.

The collapse in confidence in government also means that you then do not buy their debt at artificially low interest rates. That means the financial system is unsustainable, which is why they are pushing digital currencies to enforce all taxes. At some point, even the fool who they see as the public awakens.

As one reader wrote:

Marty,Despite many believing the government line about the sponsored “vaccines”, could it be it is the vaccine that proves to be their undoing? Yes, Big Tech is suppressing any negative reports but still leaks are happening calling into question the safety of these experimental treatments. If all these variants of covid now spreading to those already vaccinated show they, too, are vulnerable, it seems at some point even the “faithful” lose heart. When added to those who have rejected these experiments, it lines up with the notion the vaccines will ultimately be rejected down the road. Countries like India, which has relief on ivermectin and hydroxychloroquin, with great success, also work to undermine the “party line”. Western leaders have gone “all in” on vaccines, using the Green pass, requiring vaccines as the key discriminator to reentry into society. What happens when this breaks down? Not if, but when?If the perception is the vaccine campaign was one big scam, then this will be the primary cause of the Great Reset. Forcing those to get the vaccine, when the vaccine itself is dubious, shows the vaccine is their weapon, which is now malfunctioning. I think these experimental vaccines are one of two bad reports away from triggering revulsion…that will be seen as the key turning point in this fake virus scare campaign.MS

The Report on U.S. Officials Giving Taliban a List of American and Allied Afghans Makes Sense – The Lists Were Provided to Taliban by State Dept. and CIA


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 27, 2021 | Sundance | 135 Comments

There are two puzzle pieces that help to make sense of the Politico report about “U.S. Officials” giving the Taliban a list of American and U.S. Afghan names to allow through the checkpoints. {GO DEEP 1 and GO DEEP 2}  However, if you don’t understand the two dueling power teams -each attempting to position- it doesn’t make sense.

Remember, the State Dept (DoS) and CIA are one team.  The White House and Pentagon are another team.

♦ TEAM One – The Department of State is aligned with the CIA.  Their media PR firms are CNN, CNNi and the Washington Post. Their ideology is favorable to the United Nations.  Their internal corruption is generally driven by relationship with foreign actors.  References: Hillary Clinton, Clinton Global Initiative, John McCain, Qatar, Muslim Brotherhood, Samantha Powers, Susan Rice, Cass Sunstein, Brookings Institute, Lawfare, China-centric, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Council on Foreign Relations.

♦ TEAM Two – The White House is aligned with the Pentagon (DoD) and National Security Council (NSC).  Their media PR firms are domestic in nature. New York Times, Politico, etc.  Their internal corruption is generally driven by domestic influence.  References: Barack Obama, George Bush, Wall St, Big Banks, Multinational Corporations, Defense Contractors, FBI (state police), Judicial Branch, and community activists writ large.

Both teams are highly political. However, the State Dept/CIA team consider themselves above political changes; essentially the deeper Deep State.

With the DoS/CIA aligned with CNN/WaPo, when the Pentagon needs to defend their specific interests in crisis management, they must go elsewhere, hence Politico.

From the Politico Article:

“U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city’s airport, a choice that’s prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials.”

The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan’s capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport.

[…]  But the decision to provide specific names to the Taliban, which has a history of brutally murdering Afghans who collaborated with the U.S. and other coalition forces during the conflict, has angered lawmakers and military officials.

“Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” said one defense official, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.” (more)

So it’s fair to say the aggrieved party is the Pentagon in this scenario…. which aligns with Politico receiving the information from the military perspective.

Applying the dynamic of interests from the previous history between the teams, it would appear the State Dept. and CIA gave the Taliban the list.

Indeed, the quick dispatch of the problem of stranded Americans is a ‘toxically political’ priority issue for the State Department.  Additionally, the previous meeting between CIA Director William J Burns and the Taliban leadership now takes on a fulsome context.

It was a decision by the DoS and CIA to share the list and get the evacuation facilitated in the most expedient fashion possible.  However, from a tactical perspective it put the Pentagon, charged with Kabul airport security, in a slightly compromised position.

Both teams were responsible for the Afghanistan mess.  In the aftermath of the mess; and with the current situation in/around Kabul, each team is positioning to avoid scrutiny.  Scrutiny on either team runs the risk of identifying massive corruption; so the objective is to push the spotlight onto the other team.  State Dept. blames White House/Pentagon…. Pentagon/White House looking to avoid sunlight.

The Pentagon (arrows) is supposed to working in coordination with State (olive branch), but both institutions are corrupt regarding Afghanistan; so it’s a game of hot potato.   If the executive office wasn’t corrupt, the eagle would be having whiplash; alas, the White House was/is an active participant.  [So much for school civic ‘checks-n-balances’ eh?]

Externally, we are seeing the executive appointed heads of each faction battling for position on behalf of their institution.  The media get to pick and choose which faction they will support.  CNN will support the State Dept.   ABC, CBS, NBC will lean slightly toward the White House/Pentagon.

Modify the focus of your review of events in/around Afghanistan to see the connective tissue between CNN, the State Department and CIA [strongest institution within the Intelligence Branch].  Then keep in mind, the Senate is in alignment with, and a facilitator for, the Intelligence Branch.  As a consequence, the institution of the Senate will align with the interests of the State Department; and, by default align with the CIA, intelligence community and CNN/WaPo reporting.

The modern U.S. State Dept is an independent, bureaucratic, and massive foreign policy institution that does not accept any oversight.  They are able to accomplish their independent position by partnering with intelligence agencies.  The Dept of State use the U.S. Intelligence Branch as a weapon against any individual or entity who would attempt oversight.

The deepest, swampiest part of the Deep State is protecting its interests against the outcome of a crisis in Afghanistan they collectively created.  The picture has now emerged of their plan to blame the White House, and by extension Joe Biden along with the Pentagon.

Supreme Court Overturns Eviction Moritorium Again, 6-3 Ruling


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 26, 2021 | Sundance | 143 Comments

The U.S. Supreme Court has again overturned the national eviction moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  In a 6-3 ruling [pdf HERE] the court has rejected arguments that the CDC is permitted to arbitrarily enforce an eviction moratorium.  The high court notes such a government mandate would have to come from the U.S. Congress, not an unelected bureaucratic agency.

This is the second time the eviction moratorium has reached the Supreme Court this year.  In June, the court allowed the prior version of the moratorium to remain in place through July.  However, on August 3rd the CDC arbitrarily renewed it for two months.  This time the court halts it.  “It strains credulity to believe that this statute grants the CDC the sweeping authority that it asserts.

From the majority ruling: “It is indisputable that the public has a strong interest in combating the spread of the COVID–19 Delta variant. But our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends. Cf. Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U. S. 579, 582, 585–586 (1952) (concluding that even the Government’s belief that its action “was necessary to avert a national catastrophe” could not overcome a lack of congressional authorization). It is up to Congress, not the CDC, to decide whether the public interest merits further action here.” (link)

President Donald Trump Releases A Video Message On Afghanistan


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 26, 2021 | Sundance | 176 Comments

Presented to the Sean Hannity show for broadcast, President Donald Trump delivers a message to the American people and the families of our fallen soldiers.

“This tragedy should have never taken place”…

.