Afghan Interpreters Risked Everything To Help American Soldiers. Now They Might Be Left Behind.

[Dashinka 24,437]

Definitely should be taken care of.

 

Afghan Interpreters Risked Everything To Help American Soldiers. Now They Might Be Left Behind.

 

Sayed is one of those interpreters. He worked alongside U.S. forces for 10 years, assisting high-ranking military officials with his knowledge of the local language and customs. "I received letters of appreciation, letters of recommendations, and medals," he tells Reason.

 

Even with this record, Sayed has spent more than a decade trying to acquire a visa to come to the United States. American ties carry grave risks in Afghanistan. Already the recipient of Taliban death threats and anonymous hostile phone calls, Sayed fears his time is running out. 

 

"I am currently very afraid," he says. "I…have no doubt that I will be targeted and get killed."

 

In 2009, the U.S. government set up an immigration pathway for interpreters like Sayed. That program is called the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) for Afghans, and it is supposed to reward interpreters for "faithful and valuable service to the U.S. government."

 

 

But application backlogs, administrative foot dragging, and bureaucratic errors are making it nearly impossible for Afghan interpreters to access those visas. Unable to take advantage of the opportunity supposedly afforded to them in return for their service, interpreters stranded in Afghanistan face extreme danger. That will worsen as they lose the protection of the U.S. military presence. 

 

Margaret Stock, an immigration lawyer and 2013 MacArthur genius grant recipient, tells Reason that the program has long been flawed. In addition to an intensive 14-step application process that interpreters have to navigate, "security checks" and a "lack of trained personnel" keep wait times lengthy, she says. While Congress mandates that the application process be completed within nine months, the current processing period is nearly three years long.

 

https://reason.com/2021/05/31/afghan-interpreters-risked-everything-to-help-american-soldiers-now-they-might-be-left-behind/

[TBoneTX 45,088]

On 6/9/2021 at 10:28 AM, Dashinka said:

"I…have no doubt that I will be targeted and get killed."

Sadly, he probably understates his fate.

[Dashinka 24,437]

Hopefully it is not too late for these folks.

 

Afghanistan: US to evacuate endangered translators

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57844294

[TBoneTX 45,088]

6 hours ago, Dashinka said:

Hopefully it is not too late for these folks.

Hopefully with their bodies and families intact.

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,370]

Montagnard/Kurds Ver 2.0

[laylalex 7,284]

Whatever people may think about Rachel Maddow, she had an excellent segment last night with Matt Zeller of No One Left Behind about the many problems facing getting the translators out. Zeller was clearly frustrated with the administration's delays.

 

[LIBrty4all 3,749]

I don't watch the madcow, but the premise of the people helping the US military to the demise of their own country is not new.  Subscribing allegiance to a new master often has consequences when said new master pulls up stakes and goes home.  Not saying it doesn't suck, but it's reality.

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,370]

7 hours ago, LIBrty4all said:

I don't watch the madcow, but the premise of the people helping the US military to the demise of their own country is not new.  Subscribing allegiance to a new master often has consequences when said new master pulls up stakes and goes home.  Not saying it doesn't suck, but it's reality.

we have a long history in this country of going in places we should not have gone and abandoning   the locals who helped us. Hence my Montagnard Kurds comment 

[TBoneTX 45,088]

16 hours ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

Montagnard

Isn't this the U.S. state between Idaho and the Dakotas?

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,370]

7 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Isn't this the U.S. state between Idaho and the Dakotas?

They are Vietnams' highland peoples 

[TBoneTX 45,088]

Great... a non-intact body.

Quote

Afghan Translator Who Worked for US Beheaded by Taliban

By Nick Arama | Jul 24, 2021 6:00 PM ET

 

[...] Today it was reported that a man who had worked as a translator for the U.S. Army, 32-year-old Sohail Pardis, was killed by the Taliban.  [...]

 

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2021/07/24/afghan-translator-who-worked-for-us-beheaded-by-taliban-n415916  

Edited July 25, 2021 by TBoneTX

[Dashinka 24,437]

Really?

 

Biden’s Betrayal of Afghans Will Live in Infamy

 

Today, Sunday, the Taliban are in Kabul. President Ashraf Ghani has reportedly fled to Tajikistan. American officials are burning sensitive documents and evacuating the embassy for the airport. All the Western diplomatic missions are being abandoned. The neighborhood where Khan was renting a room has become dangerous, and he and his family have fled, walking six miles to another hiding place. He needs to find a facility that will administer the COVID-19 tests required by the airlines. He needs to get his family to the airport. He needs two more days.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/bidens-betrayal-of-afghans-will-live-in-infamy/619764/

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

Did anyone think we would stay there forever? How much more money and blood should we have sunk into this fiasco? 

[LIBrty4all 3,749]

It's not THAT we are pulling out, but the horrendous way Biden is using to get us out.  Similar to the Southern border.  A total travesty.

Edited August 17, 2021 by LIBrty4all

[wagner17 24]

3 minutes ago, LIBrty4all said:

It's not THAT we are pulling out, but the horrendous way Biden is using to get us out.  Similar to the Southern border.  A total travesty.

And what would you have done?  And what would your plan cost in American lives and American taxpayer dollars?