Almost 18,000 police, 1,800 ADF members patrolling Sydney streets to enforce lockdown
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says thousands of police and ADF members are patrolling Sydney streets and issued more than 500 infringements of health orders overnight.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-16/covid-live-blog-nsw-coronavirus-regional-lockdown-cases/100378580
https://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/live-breaking-news-victoria-lockdown-latests-covid-case-numbers/live-coverage/d1c6b0988106ebd703f90bd4b2511dca
White House Twitter account apparently ‘OUTS’ intelligence officials and locations with post showing Afghan security briefing
A White House tweet showing President Joe Biden appearing to be on top of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan also may have inadvertently revealed the faces and locations of intelligence agents.
The official White House Twitter account posted a photo on Sunday of Biden meeting by video conference with intelligence officials to hear updates on the drawdown of civilian personnel, “the ongoing security situation in Kabul” and evacuations of Afghan allies, including interpreters who helped US and NATO forces during the 20-year war. The picture showed other meeting participants on a large screen, including CIA officials and three men at the “Doha Station.”
https://www.rt.com/usa/532132-photo-cia-agents-outed/
Obama’s Former Ambassador to Afghanistan: I Question Biden’s ‘Ability to Lead Our Nation’
The fall of Afghanistan has shocked Obama’s former ambassador to such a degree that he is now questioning President Joe Biden’s ability to lead the nation.
Speaking with The Spokesman-Review, Ryan Crocker, who served as Obama’s ambassador from 2011 to 2012, lamented that the Biden administration failed to see the Taliban’s swift takeover when preparing for the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“I think the direction was predictable; the trajectory was not,” he said. “What President Biden has done is to embrace the Afghan policy of President Trump, and this is the outcome.”
Just a little over a month ago, Joe Biden rejected assertions that U.S. withdrawal would lead to another “Fall of Saigon” moment, wherein Americans and their allies would be fleeing Kabul as the country crumbled around them.
“Mr. President, some Vietnamese veterans see echoes of their experience in this withdrawal in Afghanistan. Do you see any parallels between this withdrawal and what happened in Vietnam?” Biden was asked on July 8.
“None whatsoever,” Biden replied. “Zero. What you had is you had entire brigades breaking through the gates of our embassy — six, if I’m not mistaken. The Taliban is not the South — the North Vietnamese army. They’re not — they’re not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.”
While Crocker was critical of former President Trump’s plan to withdraw from Afghanistan and negotiate with the Taliban, he believed the Biden administration should have been ready to provide adequate air support to Afghan forces stationed throughout the country. In February of last year, then-President Trump said his administration’s agreement of withdrawal would be contingent upon the Taliban’s cooperation.
“If bad things happen, we’ll go back,” Trump said.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo equally promised, “Today, we are realistic. We are seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation. Today, we are restrained. We recognize that America shouldn’t fight in perpetuity in the graveyard of empires if we can help Afghans forge peace.”
The spectacle of the Taliban overtaking Kabul as the United States withdrawals could have consequences for years to come, according to Crocker, who fears that Islamists will now have a calling card of victory to better its recruiting strategies.
“We’re going to pay for that for a long time to come, and that’s why it is insane – just idiotic – to think that we can tell the Taliban that if they don’t stop taking over territory and play nice, the international community will withhold recognition and support,” he said. “The Taliban really doesn’t care, because they’ve got something far more valuable.”
Overall, Crocker had serious doubts about President Biden’s ability to lead.
“I’m left with some grave questions in my mind about his ability to lead our nation as commander-in-chief,” Crocker said. “To have read this so wrong – or, even worse, to have understood what was likely to happen and not care.”
President Biden will reportedly address the nation in a few days as vacations at Camp David amid Afghanistan’s fall.
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2021/08/15/obama-former-ambassador-afghanistan-question-biden-ability-lead-nation/
Israeli PM stirs online outrage after saying elderly are in ‘MORTAL DANGER’ if they don’t get THIRD Covid-19 vaccine shot
Online critics blasted Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for bringing Covid-19 fearmongering to new heights, after he warned that even fully vaccinated senior citizens are in “mortal danger” if they don’t get a booster jab.
All but one of the Israelis who died from Covid-19 last week had not received a third vaccine dose, Bennett said on Sunday in a Twitter post. “In other words, the third vaccine is not a luxury. It really saves lives. Non-immunization for the third time leaves senior citizens in mortal danger.”
Israel’s government late last month made a controversial decision to begin offering vaccine booster shots to residents over the age of 60, despite pleas from the World Health Organization (WHO) for rich nations to refrain from administering third Covid-19 jabs at a time when many countries are still awaiting doses to start inoculating their people. Jerusalem doubled down on its third-dose push on Friday, expanding eligibility for boosters to residents over 50, as well as healthcare workers, prisoners and people with deficient immune systems.
Concerns over the potentially waning efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines has escalated in recent weeks, with rampant spread of the Delta variant of the virus in both vaccinated and fully inoculated populations. The US Federal Drug Administration on Thursday authorized third vaccine doses for immunocompromised Americans, and chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci has said that everyone will likely need booster shots at some point.
Bennett’s “mortal danger” comment took those fears to another level, drawing criticism from social media users. Author Alex Berenson, a former New York Times reporter who has spoken out against Covid-19 lockdowns, said there is no data showing that Covid-19 booster shots reduce infections, transmission of the virus, hospitalizations or deaths. In fact, some of the latest new Covid-19 infections in Israel – and at least one recent death – are among people who’d gotten a third jab.
“Note that he does not say how many of the 79 who died had received two doses,” Berenson said of Bennett. “You may be old enough to remember when that was considered fully vaccinated.” He quipped that Twitter may need to censor the prime minister for suggesting that two-dose inoculation doesn’t protect against Covid-19.
https://www.rt.com/news/532124-israeli-pm-vaccine-fearmongering/