Friday, December 2, 2022

The dilemma of Afghans left behind by the USA

 

I was struck by this article at Task And Purpose yesterday.  It's an aspect of the illegal migration problem of which I hadn't been aware.


Two brothers stand across from each other at the Val Verde Correctional Facility in this border city, speaking reverently through the fixed telephones. They are separated by the visiting room’s thick glass partition, too energized to sit.

One brother, Abdul Wasi Safi, wears an inmate’s bright orange uniform. The other brother, Sami-ullah Safi, wears a blue blazer, jeans and a look of determination to bring his brother home safely.

About 18 months ago, Abdul Wasi Safi, whose family calls him Wasi, was a newly minted officer in Afghanistan’s special forces, working alongside U.S. troops to combat the Taliban in the longest U.S. military engagement in its history.

Just three months later, the U.S. abruptly exited the country. The Taliban — an Islamic fundamentalist group — took control of the country and began hunting down those who had helped the Americans.

Over the course of the conflict there, the U.S. issued special visas to more than 34,000 Afghans who qualified for various reasons — including Sami, who in 2015 moved to Houston. Sami, 29, had been working side by side with the U.S. military as an interpreter for special forces in Afghanistan. For years, he traveled between the two countries and in July 2021 was granted full U.S. citizenship.

But thousands like Wasi, 26, who had helped U.S. forces — but were not paid by the U.S. government — were left behind with few options to escape. With a Taliban target on their backs, many went into hiding as reports of revenge killings grew.

When it was clear Wasi could not get a visa, he went into hiding with his parents and eight other siblings before setting out on a harrowing journey halfway around the world that led to a jail cell more than 12,000 miles from his home.

“It was unfair, unjust, for the U.S. military to leave all the people who put their lives on the line working for the military and in the end leaving them to be slaughtered by the Taliban and closing their eyes on them,” Sami said. “Pretending nothing happened. People have done so much.”


There's more at the link.

How many other cases like this are there?  Former allies, working with US forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere, who were abandoned when this country unceremoniously cut its ties and pulled out, leaving its allies and friends to the mercy of the enemy?

How many other cases like this are there in the "illegal alien" pipeline?

Why has the Biden administration done nothing to provide for these people?

I can only presume it's because the administration wants no reminders of its cowardly, incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan to remind the American public of its failure.  After all, they left up to 9,000 US citizens behind, not to mention almost 80,000 Afghan allies - all abandoned to the "mercy" of the Taliban.

Meanwhile, those who deserve our help have to do without.




Peter


10 comments:

Aesop said...

Ship them both back.

He was supposed to be working for Afghanistan's benefit, not pimping himself for US interests.

If the locals there hadn't all cut and run, the country wouldn't have collapsed like a wet paper bag the minute we pulled out.

Steve Sky said...

Viet Nam is the example from my generation and the same words can be said.

Mind your own business said...

The apparent US policy of interfering around the world and then cutting and running means there is a huge number of "worthy allies" who might claim they should be admitted to the US, from all around the world.

As much as I sympathize, I reject that anyone can claim a right to be allowed to enter the US, or to be admitted to citizenship. The citizens of the US decide, nobody else.

These people chose to ally with the US forces. They weren't forced. They knew the risks, or should have. They chose sides, and lost. They should all realize that the odds were good that they would be abandoned. It's what the US government does.

The US does not owe the world a place of sanctuary for all the ills of the world. These people may not be safe in their own country any more, but that doesn't mean they want to assimilate and blend in with US culture.

Too often they want to come here and then reestablish their own cultures, which are often inconsistent, if not directly at odds with our own culture. That is not acceptable.

It is not our burden to solve the ills of the world.

Gerry said...

They are in good company with the Vietnamese and the tribesmen and women of the Central Highlands the US left to fend of the NVA. Some made their way via Thailand or as "boat people" eventually making it out of channels to here in the United States. Bowling Green has a large population of successful Vietnamese business people now in the third generation as Americans.

BTW we have a sizable group of Afghan refugees brought to our town. They seem to be trying to adjust to the area much better than the Iraqis who came before them.

Night driver said...

You are allowed to be disgusted or disappointed but NOT SURPRISED!!

Night Driver

Ray - SoCal said...

I’m surprised he was arrested. It seems it’s more of a catch and release process now days. Is it because he is from Afghanistan?

MNW said...

How many will feel betrayed and how many will act on that betrayal?

We handled that whole thing in the worst possible way.

boron said...

@Mind your own business
"They chose sides, and lost."
I find it impossible to agree with you. "(The) people (who) chose to ally with the US forces" didn't lose; they were "rammed" (a more polite word for a sexual act) by the current pResident of the White House, an action by my country which does not "make me really proud."

Mind your own business said...

@boron

If they'd sided with the Taliban instead of the US proxy puppets, they'd have chosen wisely. They chose poorly.

And for that, as you put it, they were "rammed" when we did the inevitable. Which was cut and run. Americans are not fond of spending their blood and treasure in endless wars for no apparent purpose. We couldn't stay in Afghanistan indefinitely. And we didn't.

milton f said...

We have all heard the advice- Never talk to a policeman. The same thing goes with representatives of the (fake and ghey) u.S. gov.

When these lying liars show up in your country, state, village, town or school board meeting, avoid them like the plague. They represent the worst of human kind.

Pray for their souls, and save you own soul in the meantime.

"This policy is safe and effective"