I found it (Page 2/2)
Rickady88GT SEP 05, 11:19 PM
Trespassers, really not that big a deal. Not like they gave billions to terrorists.
rinselberg SEP 05, 11:49 PM
"Officers’ Injuries, Including Concussions, Show Scope of Violence at Capitol Riot"
Michael S. Schmidt and Luke Broadwater for the New York Times; February 11, 2021. Updated July 12, 2021.
https://www.nytimes.com/202...fficer-injuries.html

These are excerpts . . . "Cut & Paste." Not the complete text.

quote
One officer lost the tip of his right index finger. Others were smashed in the head with baseball bats, flag poles and pipes. Another lost consciousness after rioters used a metal barrier to push her into stairs as they tried to reach the Capitol steps during the assault on Jan. 6.

The Capitol assault resulted in one of the worst days of injuries for law enforcement in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. About 140 officers — 73 from the Capitol Police and 65 from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington — were injured, the departments have said. They ranged from bruises and lacerations to more serious damage such as concussions, rib fractures, burns and even a mild heart attack.

The number of those injured does not account for the dozens, if not hundreds, of officers who law enforcement officials estimate will suffer in years to come with post-traumatic stress disorder and the dozens who most likely contracted the coronavirus from unmasked Trump supporters who overran the Capitol, the experts and officials said.

At least 38 Capitol Police officers have tested positive for the coronavirus or were exposed to it, Representative David Cicilline, Democrat of Rhode Island and a House impeachment manager, said on Thursday. Nearly 200 National Guard personnel who were deployed to protect the Capitol in the weeks after the siege also tested positive, he said.

At the trial on Thursday, Mr. Cicilline listed a litany of injuries that laid out the effects of the siege on officers: concussions, irritated lungs and injuries caused by repeated blows from bats, poles and clubs.

Neither department has provided details on the types of injuries or the number of officers who may have contracted the coronavirus. But a small portion of the injuries are severe and will require months of recovery, said Patrick A. Burke, the executive director of the Washington, D.C., Police Foundation.

“A majority are bruises and sprains, but one officer had a mild heart attack after he was hit with a stun gun several times and had to be pulled out of the crowd,” Mr. Burke said. “Others had laser pointers to the eyes, which can cause long-term damage.”

Estimates vary on the number of rioters who surrounded or entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, but a review of footage shows that at least thousands swarmed the building. In addition to the blunt objects, some were armed with stun guns, bear spray and plastic handcuffs.

About 170 of the roughly 1,200 Capitol Police officers on duty at the time of the attack were equipped with riot gear. Few other officers had gas masks or other protective equipment.

Some without helmets sustained brain injuries, one officer had two cracked ribs, two shattered spinal discs, and another was stabbed with a metal fence stake, said Gus Papathanasiou, the chairman of the Capitol Police Union.

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 09-06-2021).]

rinselberg SEP 06, 12:44 AM
"Trump, others 'wrong' on US equipment left with Taliban in Afghanistan"
Ali Swenson for the Associated Press; ABC7 Chicago; September 1, 2021.
https://abc7chicago.com/ame...fact-check/10992565/


quote
WASHINGTON -- The Taliban have seized both political power and significant U.S.-supplied firepower in their whirlwind takeover of Afghanistan, recovering guns, ammunition, helicopters and other modern military equipment from Afghan forces who surrendered it.

But the gear the Taliban have obtained isn't worth the $80 billion or more being claimed this week by social media users and political figures including Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Rep. Lauren Boebert and former President Donald Trump.

While the U.S. spent $83 billion to develop and sustain Afghan security forces since 2001, most of it did not go toward equipment. Nor will the Taliban be able to use every piece of American gear that was supplied to Afghanistan over two decades.

Here's a closer look at the facts.

Claim: Taliban fighters now possess U.S. military equipment worth between $80 and $85 billion.

The facts: Those numbers are significantly inflated, according to reports from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, which oversees American taxpayer money spent on the conflict.

In the last days of August, as U.S. troops completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan, social media users began claiming that the "Taliban's new arsenal" was worth as much as $85 billion. Trump amplified the falsehood in a statement Monday, writing that "ALL EQUIPMENT should be demanded to be immediately returned to the United States, and that includes every penny of the $85 billion dollars in cost."

Their $85 billion figure resembles a number from a July 30 quarterly report from SIGAR, which outlined that the U.S. has invested about $83 billion to build, train and equip Afghan security forces since 2001.

Yet that funding included troop pay, training, operations and infrastructure along with equipment and transportation over two decades, according to SIGAR reports and Dan Grazier, a defense policy analyst at the Project on Government Oversight.

"We did spend well over $80 billion in assistance to the Afghan security forces," Grazier said. "But that's not all equipment costs."

In fact, only about $18 billion of that sum went toward equipping Afghan forces between 2002 and 2018, a June 2019 SIGAR report showed.

Another estimate from a 2017 Government Accountability Office report found that about 29% of dollars spent on Afghan security forces between 2005 and 2016 funded equipment and transportation. The transportation funding included gear as well as contracted pilots and airplanes for transporting officials to meetings.

If that percentage held for the entire two-decade period, it would mean the U.S. has spent about $24 billion on equipment and transportation for Afghan forces since 2001.

But even if that were true, much of the military equipment would be obsolete after years of use, according to Grazier. Plus, American troops have previously scrapped unwanted gear and recently disabled dozens of Humvees and aircraft so they couldn't be used again, according to Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command.

Though no one knows the exact value of the U.S.-supplied Afghan equipment the Taliban have secured, defense officials have confirmed it is significant.


"Significant" . . . but not anywhere near the $80 billion windfall for the Taliban, in terms of military equipment and weapons, as some are claiming on social media (etc.)

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 09-06-2021).]

rinselberg SEP 06, 05:12 AM
If a person wants to say "I saw what happened on January 6," and "I also see what's happening in Afghanistan" or "Black Lives Matter" or "Antifa"--thinking about the word "terrorists"that was used--and "I like what Trump was about, way more than Biden" or "I like Republicans better than Democrats" or "I like government that I perceive as conservative-leaning, and I don't like progressive or liberal" . . . OK.

That's striking a balance. Having a bottom line.

But beware the fallacies of "whataboutism." Or "what about-ism." Or "whataboutery."

I will not reference "January 6" and say "Not that big of a deal."

It was a big deal. And not a good one.


This ties together the previous post, about the U.S. military equipment and weapons that have been abandoned to the Taliban, and then the post before that one, about the injuries sustained by the Capitol Police force and the DC Metropolitan Police.

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 09-06-2021).]

sourmash SEP 06, 09:35 AM

quote
Originally posted by rinselberg:If a person wants to say "I saw what happened on January 6," and "I also see what's happening in Afghanistan" or "Black Lives Matter" or "Antifa"--thinking about the word "terrorists"that was used--and "I like what Trump was about, way more than Biden" or "I like Republicans better than Democrats" or "I like government that I perceive as conservative-leaning, and I don't like progressive or liberal" . . . OK.



BLM and Antifa are violent arms of the Democrats. They are state sponsored domestic terrorism gov uses to drive people to an intended goal of usurping constitutionally recognized, God given rights.


quote
But beware the fallacies of "whataboutism." Or "what about-ism." Or "whataboutery."



The GOP is defined by what-about-ism. Most of their followers ar dumb enough to call for more Afghan refugees so they can say Dems are the real racists. Eff you Ben Shapiro, and the rest of you phonies. Kick the stinking Afghans to the curb. We don't need any translators. Learn to code.

[This message has been edited by sourmash (edited 09-06-2021).]