Projects & policy impacting New York's military-connected & first responder communities. I consult & write a great weekly newsletter. Sign up: https://nitter.gq/t.co/uO5klzkmSf
Brooklyn, NY
Joined April 2013
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August 15 is not just the day Kabul fell. It is the day the promises made to Afghanistan fell with it.
For twenty years, Afghans were told that democracy mattered, that women’s rights were non-negotiable, and that those who stood on the front lines against terrorism would not stand alone.
Our soldiers fought. Our women fought. Our journalists, activists, teachers and ordinary citizens fought for a different future.
Five years later, the Taliban may control Kabul, but they do not own Afghanistan, and they do not represent its people.
I remember the fallen. I remember the promises. And I will never accept August 15 as a victory.
It was a betrayal. Not the end of Afghanistan’s fight for freedom.
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
There is something deeply painful about watching a nation exercise its democratic rights tonight when you come from a country that was denied that same future. In 2021, corruption became the excuse for abandoning Afghanistan. We didn’t just lose a government. We lost our freedom, our voices, and our right to choose. #Midterms2026
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
We've had 26 veterans win their races so far tonight, including three new lawmakers: Kentucky Republican Ed Gallrein, Kentucky Democrat Zach Dembo, and New Jersey Democrat Rebecca Bennett. #Election2026 docs.google.com/spreadsheets…
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
While everyone is focused on the election tomorrow, the war machine rolls on.
And they’re not telling the public the truth about it.
They’re not telling the public anything.
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
We have a loved one scheduled to be on this flight. He will be killed if he’s returned to the Taliban. He supported the US mission in Afghanistan. He has broken no laws. He came here legally. Seeking asylum should not be a death sentence.
Breaking News: The Trump administration has detained dozens of Afghan immigrants in Louisiana — including relatives of those who helped the U.S. military — and plans to deport them to Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials. nyti.ms/4jPVvrw
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
This is some of the information that the Pentagon has hidden from the American public, so that the public, which is against the Trump/Vance Administration's war on Iran, will not get sufficiently upset that it begins to demand an end to the fighting wsj.com/world/middle-east/ir…
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
Nobody will ever trust the West ever again.
This is a betrayal of your allies. Sending them to their deaths….
Breaking News: The Trump administration has detained dozens of Afghan immigrants in Louisiana — including relatives of those who helped the U.S. military — and plans to deport them to Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials. nyti.ms/4jPVvrw
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
As a former contributing writer to the AP Stylebook, I'll make a ruling here: it should be "Dans Sullivan" like Surgeons General. Like Attorneys General, or courts martial. nitter.gq/migold/status/21147937…
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
Routine reminder that since February of 2022 when Putin launched his misguided and wicked full scale invasion, there has never been a sincere effort on the Kremlin's part to secure peace with Kyiv through any means other than murder, terror, and oppression
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
Americans are not "war-weary." I don't doubt many of my countrymen and countrywomen are sick of hearing about wars, reading about wars, seeing war imagery on their algorithms. But the idea that we as a people are in any way dealing with war's ruin beyond gas prices is laughable.
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
When your allies fight, bleed, and die for your wars and this is how you remember them. Following are the number of soldiers our allies lost in Afghanistan.
United Kingdom: 457
Canada: 159
France: 90
Germany: 62
Italy: 53
Poland: 44
Denmark: 44
Spain: 35
Romania: 27
Netherlands: 25
Turkey: 15
Czech Republic: 14
Norway: 10
Estonia: 9
Hungary: 7
Sweden: 5 (Partner/NATO-aligned)
Portugal: 2
Latvia: 4
Slovakia: 3
Lithuania: 1
Belgium: 1
Bulgaria: 1
Albania: 2
Croatia: 1
Montenegro: 1
Non-NATO coalition partners such as Australia (41), New Zealand (10), and Georgia (32) also sustained casualties during the mission
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
As a major in Afghanistan, I was Chief, Ops & Tng (S-3) mentoring the Afghan National Army, serving beside troops from the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Ireland, Luxembourg & even Mongolia!
No one EVER said this!
Hegseth on Afghanistan:
I was a captain in Afghanistan, and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul, and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters.
It was a beautiful thing to see 50 different countries contributing to the NATO alliance and the ISAF mission there.
Except there were like maybe five that contributed. It was actually closer to one or two that, by the end, were actually involved in kinetic operations.
In fact, the ISAF patch, we would joke that it meant "I Saw Americans Fighting."
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Over 1100 non-American soldiers from 31 US-allied countries were killed fighting in Afghanistan, approximately 1/3 of the total combat deaths.
t.co/x4tGhxJiFG
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
I was a captain in Afghanistan commanding infantrymen from 2010-11. We conducted combat operations alongside German paratroopers, benefitted from German air support, and wouldn't have enjoyed the same level of success we achieved against the Taliban alone
Hegseth on Afghanistan:
I was a captain in Afghanistan, and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul, and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters.
It was a beautiful thing to see 50 different countries contributing to the NATO alliance and the ISAF mission there.
Except there were like maybe five that contributed. It was actually closer to one or two that, by the end, were actually involved in kinetic operations.
In fact, the ISAF patch, we would joke that it meant "I Saw Americans Fighting."
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Over 1100 non-American soldiers from 31 US-allied countries were killed fighting in Afghanistan, approximately 1/3 of the total combat deaths.
t.co/x4tGhxJiFG
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
Sorry, our birds are not for sale either.
ALT An image of a yellow warbler singing while perched on a tree branch. A tag in the bottom left corner is a parody of the tag on the Molly bird automata. "American Yellow Warbler" Designed & crafted by nature The real, free flying singing bird! Priceless
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
Archbishop for the Military Services, Timothy Broglio, on the proposed livestream execution of Nidal Hasan:
"Has the potential moral injury, which the members of the firing squad might experience, been considered? Will the exposure of a live-stream to the young and impressionable during the 250th anniversary year of our independence be able to be repaired? The US military generally enjoys a good reputation in the world. Is there really a value to throwing them in the same boat with terrorists by broadcasting the image of the execution of a man in a wheel chair to the whole world?"
milarch.org/archbishop-brogl…
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
A handful of Taliban officials now work in Berlin and Bonn to facilitate deportations from Germany to Afghanistan. France is considering doing the same in Paris, and other European countries are showing interest.
This cooperation follows months of quiet engagement and a controversial meeting in Brussels in June, where over 20 EU delegates failed to question the Taliban even once on human rights.
German officials describe the engagement as effective recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate government.
Our story w/ @jimtankersley @jeannasmialek @CFSchuetze @lynseychutel
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
I ran as an unaffiliated candidate for governor of Connecticut and wasn't able to get ballot access (tale as old as time, steep hill to climb). I can say anecdotally having talked to a lot of people that there is widespread and deeply-felt hostility toward both political parties
There are all sorts of procedural and legal reasons why the U.S. has been a two-party country for so long, and I'm not convinced that the rise of a successful third party is imminent, but ...
Well, let's put it this way: If and when a successful third party emerges in the next decade, people are going to pass around graphs like this in a "lol this is the most obvious development in modern political history" kind of way
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
Six U.S. soldiers were killed and dozens were injured when an Iranian drone struck a U.S. Army logistics facility at Port Shuaiba in Kuwait. Some soldiers told the AP that commanders had been warned the facility was vulnerable to a drone attack. The Army completed its review of the March 1 attack in June but has yet to release the report.
Kristen L. Rouse retweeted
“Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Sue New York After Being Denied the Right to Vote” ivn.us/veterans-of-iraq-and-…
Excellent coverage by @ivn of our new lawsuit against the State of NY.
More from @IndyVetsAmerica and to join our fight: LetVetsVote.org
