Army Insiders Warn Grisly Fate Awaits Afghans Who Helped Us as Biden Admin Prepares a Hasty Exit
A senior officer at the Pentagon told Fox News that the United States military is ready to evacuate about 18,000 Afghan interpreters who risked their lives helping the United States root out extremist groups in Afghanistan. However, U.S. forces are waiting for a green light from the Biden-Harris administration, according to the outlet.
“There are plans being developed very, very rapidly here for not just interpreters, but a lot of other people that have worked with the United States,” Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday according to Fox News. “We have a moral commitment to those that helped us.”
NBC News reported that Mill said, “Their safety could be at risk. And we recognize that that’s a very important task, is to ensure that we remain faithful to them and that we do what’s necessary to ensure their protection and, if necessary, get them out of the country if that’s what they want to do.”
However, the Biden White House pushed out a different message.
“I can tell you we have no plans for evacuations at this time,” a National Security Council spokesperson told Fox News. “The State Department is processing [special immigrant visa] applications in Kabul. They are focused on ensuring that the system functions quickly and consistent with U.S. security and other application requirements.”
According to Fox News, a spokesperson for Gen. Milley later clarified the remarks Mill made, saying that “The physical evacuation of Afghans is one option of many being considered and it is not necessarily the primary option to safeguard Afghans at risk.”
“An evacuation is not imminent,” Army Col. David Butler said, Fox News reported.
The United States has a Special Immigrant Visa program for Afghans who helped the nation’s forces during operations in hostile territory and their immediate families.
Two years’ of faithful service between October 7, 2001, and December 31, 2022, is the minimum requirement those seeking to immigrate under this program need to meet, the program’s criteria states.
According to the Department of State, they should also demonstrate that they “have experienced or be experiencing an ongoing serious threat” because of serving the United States.
They can do so by writing and signing “a brief statement describing the threat(s)” faced as a result of helping U.S. forces.
“Section 1219 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2015 (Public Law 113-66) provides that a credible sworn statement depicting dangerous country conditions, together with official evidence of such country conditions from the U.S. government, should be considered as a factor in a determination of whether an applicant has experienced or is experiencing an ongoing serious threat as a consequence of employment by the U.S. government,” the State Department says.
James Miervaldis, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who heads the non-profit “No One Left Behind,” told Fox News, “The Taliban doesn’t discriminate. If I work for one year or two years, they’re going to kill me just for working with the Americans.”
@n1leftbehind continues to work to streamline the SIV process. We are proud 2 of our recommendations have been implemented by @StateDept and @DeptofDefense so far.
— No One Left Behind (@n1leftbehind) May 25, 2021
No One Left Behind helps Afghan interpreters with resettling in the U.S., according to Fox News.
Miervaldis shared a letter with Fox News from an Afghan interpreter describing the danger he is going through because of helping American forces.
“Taliban never ask if we worked with U.S. army less than two years or more than two years … we request your help to save our lives … This is a very bad situation we are being left behind,” the letter reads, Fox News reported.
Miervaldis further said, “The [Department of Defense] has maybe two weeks before they don’t just don’t have the manpower and equipment to do this,” Miervaldis said, referring to evacuating interpreters. “The Taliban’s going to attack the prisons, free all of their prisoners and then wreak havoc. You don’t even need a crystal ball.”
According to Fox News, U.S. forces are expected to get out of Afghanistan by early July, ahead of President Joe Biden’s Sept. 11 deadline.
As the U.S. fades away from the region, Taliban forces have been recapturing parts of the country, according to the New York Times.
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