Watching the panic-and-chaos sweep Afghanistan with the Taliban in power again, former Trump administration officials warned about abusing the Special Immigrant Visa [SIV] visa program, originally designed for immigrants that worked with U.S. officials in a some constructive capacity, like translators, guides, drivers, cooks and others. In a letter signed by Russell Voight, former official with Office of Management and Budget [OMB], Ken Cuccinell, deputy chief of Homeland Security and Rachel Semmel, former spokesman at OMD, they all warned of allowing unvetted immigrants into the United States citing a terrorism risk. None of the former Trump staffers had anything to do with the vetting process for Mideast refugees, something that irked Mideast officials and others when Trump banned immigration into the U.S. Democrats and the press used that to highlight Trump’s xenophobia.
Whatever the original intent of the SIV visa program, it’s perfectly suited for the extraordinary situation in Afghanistan, where in a matter of days the Taliban seized Afghanistan and encircled Kabul, the capital city. President Joe Biden, 78, said recently that the Afghan Army, supported, armed and funded by the U.S., would stave off the Taliban for months if not indefinitely only a few days ago. Biden said he would only level with the American public, leaving the only conclusion that he was clueless of what was happening on the ground in Afghanistan. When 72-year-old Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country Aug. 16 for Doha, Qatar with $169 million in his luggage, it speaks volumes about the corrupt U.S.-puppet regimes. Former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, 90, said today the U.S. spent way too much time propping up puppet regimes for the last 20 years.
Anyone with any familiarity with the Afghan regime knew that the Taliban controlled most of the country, with the U.S.-backed regime holding on to Kabul. When Sept. 11 blindsided the U.S. government in the most horrific attack on the homeland in U.S. history, 75-uear-old President George W. Bush launched Operation Enduring Freedom Oct. 7, 2001. Bush’s mission stated at the time was to neutralize al-Qaeda terrorist founder and mastermind Osama bin Laden. By the time the Pentagon toppled the Taliban Nov. 14, 2001 Bin Laden was no where to be found. It’s doubtful that the late Taliban founder Mullah Mohammed Omar knew Bin Laden’s whereabouts, since the slippery terrorist never slept at the time in the same place. Yet Bush felt inclined to topple the Taliban, a far more dramatic event than sending U.S. Special Forces on a secret mission to find and neutralize Bin Laden.
Bush promised at the time that he would not use the military for nation-building, something that he proceeded to do while in office. Bush thought, like he did in invading Iraq March 20m 2003, that he could democratize the Middle East, something that backfired, especially in Afghanistan. Gorbachev said it right that the U.S. stayed way too long in Afghanistan, over 10 years after Bin Laden’s May 2, 2011 death at the hands of U.S. Navy Seal Team 6. U.S. soldiers serving multiple tours in Afghanistan found themselves in a hopeless situation, knowing the Taliban was under every bush, ready to booby trap every road, hill top or valley where U.S. troops traveled Former NFL player Pat Tillman lost his life to “friendly fire” in Afghanistan April 24, 2004, symbolizing the horrifically stressful atmosphere, maiming U.S. soldiers, culminating in the deadly friendly-fire incident.
Tillman’s death shocked the nation because it symbolized a kind of mission impossible for U.S. troops unlucky enough to end up in Afghanistan. Yet successive generations of U.S. soldiers continued their tours of duty in Afghanistan, without any real mission because Bin Laden was long gone, in hiding as it turned out in Abbottabad, Pakistan. When 75-year-old President Donald Trump negotiated an end to the Afghan War with the Taliban Feb. 29, 2020, it made sense to just about everyone. Biden blamed Trump’s agreement with the Taliban for pushing him to end the Afghan War, though pushing back the withdrawal from May 1, 2021 to Sept. 1. But Biden’s withdrawal problem had nothing to do with Trump but poor planning and miscalculation, not realizing that to pull off the evacuation from Kabul safely, in an orderly way, he needed a strong U.S. military presence.
Former Trump officials raising concerns about granting SIV visa to Afghans seeking to immigrate to avoid life under the Taliban is grossly exaggerated, worried about possible terrorist infiltration. Taliban fighters are not associated with global terrorism, not likely to infiltrate the U.S. homeland with the purpose of committing terrorist acts. With the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, some terrorism experts worry about the Taliban’s support of al-Qaeada or what’s left of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. But like the brutal Iraq regime of Saddam Hussein, he had no overseas operation designed to attack Western democracies. Terrorism only flooded Iraq when Bush toppled Saddam April 10, 2003. Because the U.S. stayed in Afghanistan for 20 years, it’s only right to allow the SIV visa program to help relocate any Afghan looking to immigrate to escape the Taliban.
