The interpreter who helped President Joe Biden escape Afghanistan in 2008, has arrived in the United States.
Mohammad Aman Khalili said he was “totally free” now that he has arrived in the U.S., months after the U.S. began evacuating allies. Khalili was one of the U.S.’s allies in Afghanistan who was left behind in August despite saving Biden and then-Sens. Chuck Hagel and John Kerry when their helicopters had to land in Afghanistan due to bad weather in 2008.
“I’m totally free. I am so excited. … It was a long trip as a start from the north of Afghanistan, right to the border of Pakistan,” Khalili told Fox News. “It took me a long, long time. It was very scary on the roads because it was new power, a new changing situation in Afghanistan. … I had worked with the U.S. forces for about 13 years. It was egregious for me.”
Khalili added that he felt betrayed by the U.S. when the country pulled out of Afghanistan last year. Khalili had been approved to leave Afghanistan when U.S. forces were helping American allies flee the country, but he would have had to leave his wife and children behind.
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Khalili made headlines last year when he pleaded for help from Biden, asking him to come back and save him and his family.
“Hello Mr. President: Save me and my family,” the interpreter, identified only as Mohammad at the time, told the Wall Street Journal. “Don’t forget me here.”
In October, Khalili and his family successfully fled to the Pakistan border with the help of Brian Genthe, a purple heart veteran who worked with Khalili for years and was a strong advocate for his rescue.
“He was in the one house, one room, a room in Kabul, scared every single day,” Genthe said. “He was, you know, contacting me. … It wasn’t a good situation. … I’m just glad I got the opportunity to do this.”
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After Pakistan, Khalili and his family waited in Qatar for their special immigration visas to the U.S. to be approved. Khalili’s immigration request was approved because knowing Biden personally and aiding the U.S. made him a target in Afghanistan.
