Insight: “How you can win the population for war: At first, the statesman will invent cheap lying, that impute the guilt of the attacked nation, and each person will be happy over this deceit, that calm the conscience. It will study it detailed and refuse to test arguments of the other opinion. So he will convince step for step even therefrom that the war is just and thank God, that he, after this process of grotesque even deceit, can sleep better.” —Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Big Tech oligarchs: “Freedom and democracy are not doing well when #Twitter continues to ban #Trump’s account but relays the #Taliban spokesperson’s without any second thoughts.” —French politician Jerome Riviere

For the record I: “I was told Joe Biden’s big selling point was his foreign policy acumen.” —Congressman Dan Crenshaw

For the record II: “The Taliban are butchers. We demanded a set of conditions and made clear the costs we would impose if they failed to deliver. They haven’t. The deterrence we achieved held during our time. This administration has failed.” —former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

For the record III: “The Biden Administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan dishonors the memory of those heroic Americans who gave the last full measure of devotion and all who bravely served there defending freedom these past 20 years.” —former Vice President Mike Pence

For the record IV: “The Biden Administration’s botched exit from Afghanistan including the frantic evacuation of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from Kabul is a shameful failure of American leadership. … A proud superpower has been reduced to hoping the Taliban will not interfere with our efforts to flee Afghanistan. … Terrorists and major competitors like China are watching the embarrassment of a superpower laid low.” —Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

For the record V: “President Biden chose a dangerous and dishonorable path in Afghanistan, and he has no one to blame for this debacle but himself. … Contrary to what he may say or think, President Biden has not ended the war in Afghanistan. He is simply creating a new chapter — one that will be filled by Taliban thugs and al-Qaeda murderers. President Biden was quick to blame others and never acknowledging the blame lies with him. The essence of his address was ‘The buck stops with me, but President Trump and others made me do it.’ Not exactly Harry Truman. President Biden made these decisions against sound military advice, and everything he was warned about is now coming true.” —Senator Lindsey Graham

Inquisitive minds want to know: “After the disastrous events in Afghanistan, we must confront a serious question: Is Joe Biden capable of discharging the duties of his office or has time come to exercise the provisions of the 25th Amendment?” —Senator Rick Scott

Friendly fire: “There’s no way to hide it. The situation in Afghanistan is another shame on this admin. Withdrawal was never going to be easy but it didn’t need to come to this.” —Democrat Congressman Vicente Gonzalez

Dumb and dumber: “What’s amazing is President Biden ran for office as the foreign policy expert … and yet look at how poorly planned this seems to be right now. It is a calamity playing out.” —The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker (“On foreign policy, Mr. Biden offers an enormously positive change from the Trump administration, simply by promising to rebuild long-standing U.S. alliances and the global leadership that Mr. Trump has willfully disrupted.” —Washington Post editorial board, September 28, 2020)

Grand delusions: “Let’s take a step back. This is manifestly not Saigon.” —Secretary of State Antony Blinken

A trip down memory lane: “If there is a significant deterioration in security … I don’t think it’s going to be something that happens from a Friday to a Monday.” —Secretary of State Antony Blinken on July 7

And last… “Note to Democrats and the corporate media: what just happened in Kabul is an actual INSURRECTION.” —Buck Sexton