During times of tragedy, we are poised to forget our Afghan allies’ service, sacrifice, and success.
On Nov. 26, Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly ambushed and shot two members of the West Virginia National Guard deployed to Washington, D.C. Following the attack, Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe remains in critical condition, while Spc. Sarah Beckstrom died of her wounds on Nov. 27.
In the aftermath of this tragic attack, leaders in the Trump administration have announced policies that target Afghans as a whole. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a pause on all visa issuance for Afghans, while U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a halt on asylum decisions. The United States will also re-screen all Afghans who were resettled in the U.S. under the Biden administration. Sensible precautions are obviously justified, but we should not abandon our allies because of the terrorism of one individual.
I’ve spoken to several Afghans and advocates about the service that our closest partners provided during nearly two decades of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, and about the benefit they now bring to America.
Hawa Haidari, Female Tactical Platoon member
Hawa Haidari served as a member of the Female Tactical Platoon, an elite unit of Afghan women who accompanied U.S. and Afghan special operations forces on night raids to find high-value enemy targets.
Haidari reports being “motivated … to join the military” by women in uniform who visited her high school. After completing officer training and joining the FTP, Haidari said that U.S. military personnel who worked alongside her “strengthened [her] commitment to work alongside the U.S. and the Afghan government to support our country.” When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Haidari was evacuated to the U.S., where she reportedly “started from scratch: improving [her] English, graduating from [English as a second language] classes, and working in entry-level jobs.” Haidari’s family has joined her in the U.S., and she reports that they have “built a stable, fulfilling life here,” and are “thankful for our home, our jobs, and the education we’re able to pursue.”
Haidari hopes to join the U.S. military “to achieve [her] dreams and serve the country that has given [her] a new beginning.”
‘Zara,’ women’s advocate
John Moses, cofounder of the Massachusetts Afghan Alliance, told me about an Afghan professor he calls Zara. After achieving undergraduate and master’s degrees in finance in her homeland, Zara spread her knowledge to other Afghan women through programs funded by U.S. institutions.
Following an August 2016 Taliban bombing attack on the American University of Afghanistan, Zara chose to return to a rebuilt campus as a women’s empowerment trainer. She continued to speak out publicly against the Taliban, even when that enemy kidnapped two of her fellow professors.
Following the fall of her homeland, Zara moved to Pakistan due to the danger the Taliban posed to her. In Pakistan, Zara faced threats of deportation while waiting until early 2025 to be brought to the U.S. through the Refugee Admissions Program. Massachusetts Afghan Alliance helped Zara acquire housing while she began working in the local school system. Her children, one of whom has a serious disability, began to flourish in the U.S.
Less than a year after her arrival, Moses reports that Zara is now entirely self-sufficient and has chosen to relocate with her husband and children to pursue a future on their own.
‘Aman,’ Navy SEAL interpreter
Andrew Sullivan, the executive director of nonprofit group No One Left Behind, told me that his organization has helped over 10,000 Afghan Special Immigrant Visa recipients since August 2021. “These SIVs served directly on America’s behalf, supporting combat troops, diplomats, and the intelligence community. Upon arrival in the U.S., they’ve continued to serve, this time serving their local communities as doctors, lawyers, teachers, members of the National Guard, and more.”
Of all the success stories he has seen, Sullivan said that one stands out, an Afghan he called Aman. An interpreter for the Navy SEALs, Sullivan says Aman “serv[ed] in some of the most intense combat zones in Afghanistan, including Marjah, Helmand. After the fall of Kabul, Aman was captured by the Taliban and tortured for a week,” Sullivan reported.
When local elders were able to secure Aman’s release, he fled to Pakistan and applied for an SIV.
Sullivan says that Aman and his family arrived in the U.S. in March. He reports that Aman “immediately secured a job at a major retailer, and his children are thriving in their new home.” After facing rigorous combat for years and surviving beatings and torture at the hands of the Taliban, Sullivan said Aman has “seamlessly integrated into a new community in Oregon.”
“Aman is an incredible man, but he is exemplary of the Afghan allies I served alongside while deployed, and of the Afghans that we’ve helped resettle in the U.S.,” Sullivan continued.
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Sullivan added some advice for the Trump administration regarding the pursuit of new security checks: “They should use a surgical, scalpel-like approach and not a sledgehammer, because ensuring that Aman and the many other Afghans exactly like him find a home in the U.S. is good for our national security both today and in the future.”
Indeed.
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance contributor to Fox News and the host of the Afghanistan Project Podcast.
