Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today.Please reply to this email to arrange an interview.
Afghanistan withdrawal – 5 ways Biden's leadership went bad <[link removed]> – Wars are not ended by turning your back on the enemy. One would think Biden would have learned that when he right-seated for Obama in Iraq, Syria and Libya. Biden very likely ended this endless way by triggering a new global war on terror, not to mention hamstringing the U.S in the competition with China over South Asia. The fact is the U.S. influence in Afghanistan is weaker today than when Bill Clinton blindly lobbed cruise missiles at bin Laden. No military adviser worth his stars would have suggested any of these moves, which compromised sound military action. If nothing else, what was proved conclusively last week is that Biden is an appalling commander in chief.
<[link removed]>Conservative politics after Afghanistan <[link removed]> – Today, Mr. Biden is underwater on most issues Americans care about: inflation, debt, voting integrity, border security, critical race theory, and more. That is true despite the left commanding nearly every inch of the public square, including the levers of government, a “woke” media, Hollywood elites, and virtually every inch of the Ivory Tower. How is that possible? Because Americans are talking among themselves about what they see right in front of them. On talk radio, in school board meetings, at Denny’s and the Waffle House, in honky-tonks and front porch patios, Americans are having deep discussions about the issues that really matter to them. All it takes is the courage to get out there and dialogue. That’s not to say it’s easy. But you can’t be intimidated at the thought of being called a racist if you hate anti-racism or being labeled an extremist if you want voting to be easy to do but hard to cheat at. And national security must be on the menu. Before Mr. Biden, we were more united on national security than even most conservatives recognized. All America needs is to muster the will to talk and educate ourselves about what America needs. The alternative is outsourcing our freedom, prosperity, and security to those who don’t deserve our trust. Heritage expert: Jim Carafano <[link removed]>
America Deserves Answers on Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal <[link removed]> – Americans want to know whether the U.S. should have blown up all the military equipment rather than have it be captured by the Taliban? What about the decision to abandon the military prison at Bagram Airfield containing thousands of the worst terrorists in Afghanistan? To Americans accustomed to seeing their military succeed, none of what they see on TV makes sense. These questions—and others like them—concerning the actions of the U.S. military are all legitimate. In the coming days, for Americans to fully understand the answers that will hopefully be forthcoming, we also need to understand the associated timing and authorities under which the U.S. military was operating. In military operations, the timing of decisions is crucial: Options that are available early in a campaign become increasingly difficult or impossible to execute as time passes. Time and enemy action impose a tyranny that is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. Heritage expert: Tom Spoehr <[link removed]>
<[link removed]>Biden Must Avoid Another Fiasco With Iran After Afghanistan Debacle <[link removed]> – Iran is one of the biggest winners of the Taliban’s triumph in Afghanistan. Although Tehran has clashed in the past with the Sunni extremist Taliban, which abhors the Shiite interpretation of Islam practiced in Iran and by some of Iran’s Afghan allies, both Islamist movements violently oppose the U.S. and Western influence. The chaotic U.S. retreat from Afghanistan and the planned drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq has alarmed U.S. allies in the Middle East threatened by Iran. The American debacle in Afghanistan also is likely to be interpreted by Tehran as a sign of the Biden administration’s diminishing determination to protect American security interests in the region. The Biden administration should not compound these adverse trends by reviving the Iran nuclear agreement, which was a Faustian bargain that rewarded
Tehran with long-term sanctions relief in exchange for short-term restrictions on its nuclear program. Key aspects of the agreement have already started to expire. The U.N. lifted its arms embargo last October despite Iran’s repeated violations of its import restrictions and export prohibitions. Heritage expert: Jim
Phillips <[link removed]>
Texas G.O.P. Passes Election Bill <[link removed]> – Texas has passed a bill that enfranchises voters and protects their ballots, and any claims that Texas is making it harder to vote are complete nonsense. The state now gives voters the ability to correct defects in their
absentee ballots to avoid rejection. It improves security by extending the state’s in-person ID requirement to absentee ballots but makes it extremely easy to comply with. Information on citizenship from jury verification and other state databases will now be available to protect the ballots of Texas voters. Heritage expert: Hans von Spakovsky <[link removed]>
CDC Should Revise Its Guidance Mandating Masks at School <[link removed]> – Like its erstwhile guidance on spacing desks in classrooms, the CDC’s ill-founded edict on student mask mandates complicates school openings. Parents who assume the agency’s guidance is well-grounded in science clash with those who object to mandates. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created this controversy. It should help quell it. Accurately reporting its own finding that there is no statistically significant difference between voluntary and mandatory masking of schoolchildren would be a good start. The CDC should communicate this point clearly and emphatically and revise its guidance accordingly. Some parents still may insist that their children attend only schools that require students to wear masks. But more honest communication by the CDC would clarify that this is a clash over parental preferences, not over science. States should honor these preferences by allowing parents to exercise school choice options if they disagree with their local public school’s policies on masks, finding them to be either too lax or too rigid. Following the lead of states such as Florida and Arizona, parents should be able to take their child’s share of per-pupil funding to a learning environment that reflects their health and education needs. Heritage
expert: Doug Badger <[link removed]>
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