A Senate resolution sponsored by Sens. Jerry Moran and Richard Blumenthal would honor the veteran volunteers involved in Afghanistan-related evacuation organizations. But while a great in theory, the resolution has too few details of veterans’ support activities to serve its intended effect.
The resolution focuses on veterans’ efforts to bring tens of thousands of Afghans to safety after the Aug. 15 fall of Kabul. Yet it offers only a cursory mention of volunteers’ “ongoing efforts to rescue those who remain trapped in Afghanistan.” For the veteran volunteers I have spoken with over the past six months, the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan was merely the start of the mission. With no end date for their operations, and with minimal support from the U.S. government, they have provided assistance to a portion of the estimated 130,000 Afghans who still await evacuation. These are individuals at risk for their participation in the Afghan military or government or their work with the U.S. military, government, media, or nongovernmental organizations.
As the U.S. withdrawal was concluding, volunteers were acquiring safe houses for those who wouldn’t make it out. Veterans then stood up ground teams to respond to emergencies, found medical support for pregnant, wounded, and sick Afghans, and developed networks to ensure access to food and supplies.
Volunteers sent horrifying videos and photographs of heinous Taliban atrocities to nongovernmental organizations. They cared for families reckoning with the tragic losses of their loved ones. The volunteers haven’t just been talking Afghans through mental health crises, staging covert moves when safe house locations were compromised, and scraping together funds to provide for daily emergencies. Some have also met regularly with foreign dignitaries to find evacuation solutions in lieu of U.S. government action.
The complexity of this mission has only increased over the past eight months. The continued provision of material support has been made nearly impossible by soaring prices for goods in Afghanistan, an escalating Afghan hunger crisis, and a lack of donor funds. Volunteers’ services, however, remain vital for Afghans who struggle to find employment as they face a confusing, interminable wait for refugee processing or visa acceptance.
That brings us back to the Senate resolution.
At present, it offers only a simplistic explanation that veterans “have expended savings and pensions … and have suffered in mind and body.” Fixating on their monetary outlays rather than the substance of their efforts diminishes veterans’ selfless work. Without a detailed accounting of their deeds, vague language of veteran suffering perpetuates an all-too-common narrative that veterans are victims of their service.
As written, the resolution reads as a hollow “thank you for your service.” The resolution should be revised to include a more detailed acknowledgment of the actions taken by volunteers to avert further tragedy after the Taliban seized Afghanistan. Then, the amended resolution should be supported by every U.S. senator. That way, we’ll ensure these veterans are recognized for their heroism.
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
