JACK DUNPHY: Capitol Police Officer Who Shot Ashli Babbitt Speaks (but Shouldn’t Have). “Understand that it is not only Byrd himself who will be accused in the wrongful death suit yet to be filed. His department will also be named when the suit is brought in the jurisdiction the plaintiffs choose, and in speaking with Holt, Byrd exposed some departmental deficiencies a jury may see as having contributed to Babbitt’s death.”

YOUR BODY, THEIR CHOICE: Union for state employees sues Washington Governor Inslee as thousands protest vaccine mandates.

GOOD LORD: Biden Drone Strike Killed Nine Members of a Single Family, Including Six Children.

BUT THE NARRATIVE! Wisconsin Lost Track of 82,000 Ballots in State Biden Won by 20,000.

COLORADO ELECTION FRAUD: Soros-Backed Secretary of State Permanently Blocks Arizona-Style Audits.

SPACE RACE II: China will study how to build a massive spacecraft over a half mile long. “The concept is outlined in a project document from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (in the attachment titled ‘Guide for major projects of the Ministry of Mathematical Sciences’), which describes how the organization is looking for proposals for constructing an ‘ultra-large spacecraft with a size of one kilometer,’ saying this goal represents ‘a major strategic aerospace equipment for the future use of space resources, exploration of the mysteries of the universe, and long-term living in orbit.'”

HARD TIMES: Rock Legend Eric Clapton Says ‘This Has Gotta Stop’ In Anti-COVID Restrictions Anthem.

ROUTINE BUT NEVER BORING: SpaceX launches Cargo Dragon to ISS, catches booster on new ship for first time.

VIDEO: Guess What Joe Biden Does When He Gets a Question About Afghanistan. “Who is telling Biden he isn’t ‘supposed to’ take any questions? Top options include but are not limited to DOCTOR Jill, White House Chief of Staff and Shadow President Ron Klain, and Corn Pop.”

FLASHBACK: Biden Said His Foreign Policy Team of Geniuses Would ‘Stand Up for Our Values’ and ‘Keep Our People Safe.’

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: The Odds on Biden Ever Getting Anything Right Are Horrible. “What this administration has really succeeded in undoing is America’s credibility on the world stage. In seven months.”

COLD WAR II: The Chinese Nuclear Breakout and the Biden Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review.

On August 12, 2021, the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command Admiral Charles Richard stated, “We are witnessing a strategic breakout by China….The explosive growth in their nuclear and conventional forces can only be what I described as breathtaking.” He added that “…frankly, that word ‘breathtaking’ may not be enough.” Admiral Richard characterized China as a “peer” nuclear competitor and noted that we now face two nuclear “peer” competitors, Russia and China, compared to one during the Cold War.

Admiral Richard was talking about the massive Chinese silo construction program for the large, multiple warhead DF-41 ICBM, generally reported to be able to carry 10 nuclear warheads. He confirmed the earlier reports of two new ICBM fields and that each had about 120 silos for the large Chinese DF-41 ICBM. On August 12, 2021, Bill Gertz wrote in The Washington Times that a third ICBM field had been discovered and that, “Together, the three new missile bases will house 350 to 400 new long-range nuclear missiles, U.S. officials said. If 10 warheads are deployed on the DF-41s, China‘s warhead level will increase to more than 4,000 warheads on its DF-41s alone.”

We’re still trying to figure out how (or even if) we’re going to replace 400 Minuteman III missiles that date back to the early ’70s.

Complicating things, each Minuteman is limited by treaty with Russia to a single warhead. China is under no such restriction.

BIDEN AND MILLEY HAD ASSURED ME THAT HOPE WAS A PLAN: Senator Sasse: ‘There Was Clearly No Plan’ to Evacuate Americans From Kabul.

ONE MORE TODAY FROM YOURS TRULY FOR OUR VIP SUPPORTERS: Trump and the Chicago Way: How We Used to Strike Back at Terrorists.

PJ MEDIA VIP ROUNDUP: Don’t forget that VODKAPUNDIT promo code if you’ve been thinking of joining us.

AJ Kaufman: Is State Department Spokesman Ned Price Gaslighting All of Us? “According to the 38-year-old Georgetown and Harvard graduate Price, barbaric Al-Qaeda-allied jihadists like the Taliban are our partners, yet the equally barbaric Al-Qaeda-allied jihadists of the Haqqani network are not.”

Bryan Preston: Who’s Really Driving the Afghanistan Disaster? Here’s a Clue. “It clearly says the State Department is driving the operation and DoD is merely providing support.”

Yours Truly: Even the Soviets Managed to Achieve Something in the ‘Graveyard of Empires’ That Joe Biden Couldn’t—Or Chose Not To. “The Soviet effort to withdraw in good order was well-executed and can serve as a model for other disengagements from similar nations.”

“C’MON NOW” WITH BRYAN PRESTON: Gen. Mark Milley’s Bagram Blunder Should End His Military Cosplay Act.

BREAKING: Air Strike Carried Out Against ISIS-K ‘Planner.’

KURT SCHLICHTER HAS A GENTLE MESSAGE FOR GEN. MARK MILLEY AND THE REST OF OUR TOP BRASS: Resign. “Rip those stars off your pathetic nostalgia costumes and resign. Quit. Tell that crusty Pinocchio in the White House and the faculty lounge Geppettos tugging his strings that you will have no more to do with his human centipede of failure in Kabul.”

Needless to say, read the whole thing.

Related (From Ed): Biden Was the Best Democrats Had to Offer, and Now He Has to Go.

(Bumped).

“REACH”: Afghan family names baby girl after U.S. military evacuation plane she was born on.

JOHN DANIEL DAVIDSON: Joe Biden Has Been Derelict In His Duty. He Is Unfit To Lead. He Should Be Impeached. “Biden’s bizarre behavior at the press conference, although deeply disturbing, does not alone justify impeachment. Rather, it’s his fecklessness and incompetence, his failure to protect Americans in the evacuation of Afghanistan, and his inability to speak clearly and honestly about the situation, that justifies impeachment at this point.”

CHANGE: ULA stops selling its centerpiece Atlas V, setting path for the rocket’s retirement.

That means no more having to buy rocket engines from Russia, but how is Blue Origin doing with getting those BE-4 engines delivered for the Atlas V’s replacement?

VICTORIA TAFT: What Took You So Long? After Years of Antifa Assaults, Portland ‘Journalists’ Finally Muster Outrage at Latest Attack.

COURAGE: Reporters Barred from Kamala Harris Remarks to Troops at Pearl Harbor.

COURT MARTIAL: Military expert says General Scott Miller gets the lion’s share of blame for Afghanistan debacle, claiming by abandoning Bagram he prioritized politics instead of questioning Biden’s flawed decision to reduce US troops to just 700.

BRYAN PRESTON: Department of the Indefensible: Who Decided to Close Bagram Air Base and Why? “Gen. Austin ‘Scottie’ Miller was the commander at Bagram. Based on Biden’s requirement to pull all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan by date certain, and with just 2,500 troops to work with an no room for any additional deployments, and with the embassy as the priority over Bagram, Gen. Miller faced the task of planning for it. The Biden administration’s priority was the embassy, so Miller drafted a proposal to close Bagram and concentrate defensive forces on the embassy. His boss, CENTCOM Gen. Frank McKenzie, greenlit that plan, then it went to Washington, where Gen. Milley, SecDef Austin, and the Biden White House all were briefed and bought in. Bagram would close. The die was cast.”