Veterans Grapple With New Afghanistan: ‘Was My Service Worth It?’

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Veterans are grappling with the fallout from the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that ended the nation’s longest running war but also left the Taliban in control.

Afghanistan war veterans who spoke to The Hill said they have spent the past few weeks questioning their military service, while some said they have also tried to help get Afghan allies out of the country. Groups that work with veterans say processing the withdrawal has been difficult for many who fought there over the past two decades.

David Maulsby, executive director of PTSD of America Foundation, said his organization has received more calls to its crisis hotline from Afghanistan veterans who are “really, really angry with what they have seen on television the last couple of weeks.”

“What they’re angry about is that so many of the men, women, children that they met while they were there, many of them who served them while they were there in Afghanistan, were just left behind and the process of trying to get those SIVs out there was an unmitigated disaster,” Maulsby said, referring to special immigrant visa holders, many of whom worked for the U.S. government at some point during the 20-year war.

“They are absolutely furious, not only with the administration but with the hierarchy, the military. They are just absolutely beside themselves,” he added. (Read more from “Veterans Grapple With New Afghanistan: ‘Was My Service Worth It?'” HERE)

Photo credit: flickr

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Feds: Smile for the Camera, Please! 18 Agencies Using Facial Recognition

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. . .The federal government’s cameras, which are watching you more and more across America.

A new report from the government confirms that 18 agencies already own or have access to facial recognition technology, and use it mostly for security.

And 10 of those are doing research and other work to expand its use on American citizens.

The General Accounting Office says the work is going on at offices including the Department of Homeland Security, Defense, Justice, the Department of Transportation, Health and Human Services, the Veterans Administration, NASA, the National Science Foundation and State.

The report, explains the Electronic Privacy Information Center, follows a report from the office in June that 42 federal law enforcement agencies already are using the tech “with little to no oversight.”

“Many agencies were unaware that employees were using the technology,” said the report from EPCI, which sued recently because the U.S Postal Service was using the tech, as well as social media monitoring, without completing legally required Privacy Impact Assessments. (Read more from “Feds: Smile for the Camera, Please! 18 Agencies Using Facial Recognition” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Researchers Studying Facebook Misinformation Say They Were Deplatformed

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New York University researchers discovered scathing new data on the spread of misinformation on Facebook, despite the site curtailing their research, even going so far as deplatforming them. . .

Facebook blocked the researchers’ personal accounts and site access last month. The company said their decision to deplatform the researchers was related to a separate study on political ads that involved using a browser extension that allowed users to anonymously share the ads they saw on Facebook with the researchers.

“NYU’s Ad Observatory project studied political ads using unauthorized means to access and collect data from Facebook, in violation of our Terms of Service. We took these actions to stop unauthorized scraping and protect people’s privacy in line with our privacy program under the FTC Order,” Mike Clark, Product Management Director, said in a statement. (Read more from “Researchers Studying Facebook Misinformation Say They Were Deplatformed” HERE)

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Taliban Execute Pregnant Police Officer in Front of Family

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Taliban militants in Afghanistan have shot dead a policewoman in a provincial city, witnesses have told the BBC.

The woman, named in local media as Banu Negar, was killed at the family home in front of relatives in Firozkoh, the capital of central Ghor province.

The killing comes amid increasing reports of escalating repression of women in Afghanistan. . .

Details of the incident are still sketchy as many in Firozkoh fear retribution if they speak out. But three sources have told the BBC that the Taliban beat and shot Negar dead in front of her husband and children on Saturday. . .

The family say Negar, who worked at the local prison, was eight months pregnant. (Read more from “Taliban Execute Pregnant Police Officer in Front of Family” HERE)

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Report: Video Coming That Reveals Georgia’s ‘Ballot Traffickers’

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. . .Now comes a charge that the problem could have been even worse: “Ballot traffickers” who traveled the state on election night emptying backpacks stuffed with ballots into drop boxes – all while wearing gloves.

The issue was raised by radio host John Fredericks, who said it was brought to his attention by Heather Mullins from Real Americas Voice. . .

“There are basically about 240 what I’m gonna call ballot traffickers in Georgia. What they did is went around to the drop boxes all over the state with each of them averaging about 24 drop boxes. … They would go there in the middle of the night and empty backpacks with gloves on, into these drop boxes,” he explained.

He said such ballot “harvesting” would be totally illegal in Georgia.

The Gateway Pundit summarized the issue: “The leftist operatives were identified making numerous drops in the middle of the night. they were filmed emptying their backpacks into the drop boxes in the middle of the night. (Read more from “Report: Video Coming That Reveals Georgia’s ‘Ballot Traffickers’” HERE)

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Marine’s Shocking Video of Afghanistan Withdrawal Exposes Just How Insanely Chaotic ​Evacuation Was​

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Raw and shocking footage of the U.S. evacuation from Kabul shows much more chaotic scenes than many were led to believe happened during the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Real-life, behind-the-scenes video clips were released last week by Marine Cpl. Mike Markland. The Marine, who was at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, captured the grittiness and desperation of the hurried evacuation of the Afghan capital as the Taliban marched toward power.

Markland stitched together video clips from a GoPro camera attached to his helmet to show exactly how tumultuous and unorganized the evacuation at the Kabul airport was. The firsthand footage reveals “two straight weeks of worsening conditions” on the ground as seen from the viewpoint of the Marine from 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.

Markland posted the video on his Instagram, but it has since been deleted. Task & Purpose published the video, as well as Markland’s commentary from social media, which has also been removed.

“I hope this answers questions but also provokes you to ask more,” Markland captioned the since-deleted Instagram video. “To my brothers and sisters who were there I made this for you and your family. When you have the lack of ability to explain all that happened in those two weeks, show them this. Stand tall and wear the last two weeks on your chest.” (Read more from “Marine’s Shocking Video of Afghanistan Withdrawal Exposes Just How Insanely Chaotic ​Evacuation Was​” HERE)

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Ammo Is Scarce, Prices Are Insane: Is Hunting Season In Trouble?

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There have been concerns that the ongoing shortage of ammunition and high prices could derail the fall hunting season, but there is no need to worry, the National Shooting Sport Foundation (NSSF) announced on Wednesday. Ammo makers have stepped up and while shortages may continue and some sportsmen and sportswomen may need to do a bit of ammo hunting before heading out into the field or woods, this year’s hunting season is a go.

“The scarcity of ammunition is frustrating, but hunters and recreational target shooters should know that ammunition manufacturers are working 24-hours a day, 7-days a week to meet their needs,” the NSSF said in a statement.

“The ammunition problem isn’t new. It’s been a market factor for well over a year and is rooted in the extraordinarily high number of firearms that were sold over the past 18 months,” the trade lobby group for the firearms industry added. “Firearm sales skyrocketed starting in March 2020 and set an all-time high record that year, topping out at 21 million background checks for the sale of a gun. NSSF surveys revealed that 40 percent of those sales were for first-time gun buyers, an injection of over 8.4 million new owners. That pace hasn’t slowed, and through August of 2021 there were another 12.4 million background checks for gun sales, easily outpacing 2019 and 2018.” . . .

One factor has been the volume of ammunition those new buyers have purchased. If each of last year’s first-time buyers purchased just one box of 50 cartridges, it would equate to 420 million additional cartridges – while for each of the 21 million background checks conducted last year that would put demand to levels never seen before. That would equate to one billion rounds and that is if each gun owner bought just one box of 50 cartridges. (Read more from “Ammo Is Scarce, Prices Are Insane: Is Hunting Season In Trouble?” HERE)

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Another Article Lying About Ivermectin: Oklahoma Hospital Claims Doctor’s Report is False Regarding Emergency Room Visits

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After Joe Rogan’s announcement that he’s using ivermectin, several media outlets published hit pieces against the comedian and accused him of promoting the drug, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) years ago to treat several tropical diseases including onchocerciasis, helminthiases, and scabies. Several states in India earlier this year began COVID-19 patients with the drug.

The FDA and other federal health agencies last month began issuing warnings about taking ivermectin for COVID-19, saying that there have been reports of people consuming the livestock version of the drug.

In the wake of Rogan’s diagnosis and announcement, Rolling Stone published a report claiming that Oklahoma’s hospital emergency rooms are swelling with people “overdosing” on ivermectin, describing as a “horse dewormer.” The article cited Oklahoma ER doctor Dr. Jason McElyea, who claimed gunshot victims are having issues accessing ER facilities in Oklahoma due to ivermectin overdose cases.

However, an Oklahoma hospital that McElyea had worked for denied his claims on its website.

“Although Dr. Jason McElyea is not an employee of NHS Sequoyah, he is affiliated with a medical staffing group that provides coverage for our emergency room,” NHS Sequoyah wrote. “With that said, Dr. McElyea has not worked at our Sallisaw location in over 2 months. NHS Sequoyah has not treated any patients due to complications related to taking ivermectin. This includes not treating any patients for ivermectin overdose. All patients who have visited our emergency room have received medical attention as appropriate.” (Read more from “Another Article Lying About Ivermectin: Oklahoma Hospital Claims Doctor’s Report is False Regarding Emergency Room Visits” HERE)

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Navy Identifies 5 Sailors Killed In Helicopter Crash

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The U.S. Navy on Sunday identified the five sailors now presumed dead after a more than 72-hour search and rescue mission was called off following their helicopter crash off the coast of San Diego.

The five sailors, all assigned to the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8, were identified as Lt. Bradley A. Foster, 29, a pilot from Oakhurst, California; Lt. Paul R. Fridley, 28, a pilot from Annandale, Virginia; Naval Air Crewman (Helicopter) 2nd Class James P. Buriak, 31, from Salem, Virginia; Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Sarah F. Burns, 31, from Severna Park, Maryland; and Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Bailey J. Tucker, 21, from St. Louis, Missouri. Their bodies all remain missing.

On Saturday, the U.S Navy declared all five deceased, shifting from search and rescue efforts to recovery operations after more than 72 hours of coordinated rescue efforts encompassing 34 search and rescue flights, over 170 hours of flight time, with five search helicopters and constant surface vessel search.

The sailors were riding in a MH-60S helicopter “conducting routine flight operations” from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) when the aircraft crashed into the sea approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of San Diego at 4:30 p.m. PST, Aug. 31, the U.S. Navy 3rd Fleet said. (Read more from “Navy Identifies 5 Sailors Killed In Helicopter Crash” HERE)

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Report: Civil War In Afghanistan Is ‘Likely’

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Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, believes there’s a good chance of an Afghan civil war in the near future following the United States’s military withdrawal.

The U.S. ended the war in Afghanistan last week, leaving the Taliban in control of the country, though it’s too soon to tell if the terrorist organization will be able to field a functioning government.

“My military estimate is… that the conditions are likely to develop of a civil war,” Milley told Fox News . “I don’t know if the Taliban is going to [be] able to consolidate power and establish governance.”

“I think there’s at least a very good probability of a broader civil war and that will then, in turn, lead to conditions that could, in fact, lead to a reconstitution of al-Qaeda or a growth of ISIS or other myriad of terrorist groups,” he added. “You could see a resurgence of terrorism coming out of that general region within 12, 24, 36 months. And we’re going to monitor that.”

Various Biden administration officials and Pentagon top brass have said the military will work to combat the growth of terrorism in Afghanistan through “over the horizon” capabilities. However, the military will be at a disadvantage due to a lack of troops on the ground to help with intelligence. (Read more from “Report: Civil War In Afghanistan Is ‘Likely'” HERE)

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