AFGHAN ALLIES TREATED CALLOUSLY

Twenty years ago, the American military marched into Afghanistan with the declared intent of hunting down Osama bin Laden and ridding the country of Taliban extremists. Led by government leaders working in bad faith, thousands of civilians and soldiers were led to their deaths for a war now universally considered a failure. However, the most vulnerable population susceptible to death in Afghanistan are those Afghan allies who risked their lives to work for the foreign forces. They served as translators and services workers and any role that required the help of the local population. Now, with the Taliban back in power, they will be the first to face death.

When local Afghans agreed to work for coalition forces, they were made a promise: work for us and we will give you a visa to the U.S. They put their safety on the line working for the military forces but did so in order to give them and their families the chance for a better future outside Afghanistan. They worked anywhere service members went, from battlefields to bases. Often, they were the people who saved the lives of the soldiers they worked for. They were not just local Afghans but critical allies necessary for the ongoing mission in their country. At that point, we had nothing short of a deep-seated moral obligation to make sure they were protected.

The Special Immigrant Visa program was created for the specific intent of keeping good on the promise of citizenship for those Iraqi and Afghan allies who worked for the U.S. military during the wars in their respective countries. While the end result of the process is the resettlement of wartime allies in the United States, the number of visas were limited, and the process was strenuous. Nonetheless, it was slowly working to get our allies out.

However, when the decision was made, first by President Donald Trump and then by President Joe Biden, to withdraw all troops, the government was warned by many veteran-led groups about the tens of thousands of lives that would be stake. Many interpreters and other Afghans who worked for coalition forces were still in the country and would face immediate death and retaliation from the Taliban. In mid-august, when the Taliban took Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul, death was literally knocking on the door of many of our allies.

Thus far, our government has failed to keep them protected. The evacuation of Kabul has been a disaster and the people who are begging outside the Kabul International Airport gates to leave their home country is nothing short of a tragedy. Many of our allies have been stranded and denied entry because of simple bureaucratic inconveniences and lack of political will. Our allies were given a promise, and leaving them to die will be an unforgivable act of cowardice.

The U.S. government has a duty and an obligation to continue evacuating our allies throughout Afghanistan until no more are in danger. All red tape must be set aside, and our allies must be relocated somewhere safe where their paperwork can continue to be processed. The U.S. should not deny the resettlement of any Afghan ally who wishes to come to the U.S. If they were good enough to serve with our military, they are good enough to be our neighbors.

We cannot abandon our Afghan allies. They lived through the Taliban and experienced a foreign army coming into their home supposedly for their protections. Instead of fighting that army, they pledged to help it, knowing their lives could be in danger. They acted bravely, honorably and for the American cause, as flawed as that may have been. They are heroes who deserve our protection and to be welcomed to America.