During former President Joe Biden’s chaotic, hopelessly inadequate evacuation effort in Kabul, I was bombarded day and night by messages from many Afghans who served with our military or with the elected Afghan government. Could I get them on one of those planes? Could I help to arrange asylum? Would I at least help evacuate their children who became special targets of the Taliban?

Finding help for these people became my full-time job. However, I soon realized the horrible truth. No help was coming from Biden’s White House or State Department. Our interpreters, guards, and other Afghan allies who served with us were trapped. One by one, the desperate Afghans messaging me fell silent.