The United States Betrayed its Afghan Allies

Plus, My Brother Momin

I have no idea where I got this from. If you know who painted it, contact me so I can buy it.

Three years ago, I rolled over to the lovely Charity with tears in my eyes and said, “Afghanistan is going to fall, and I don’t know if I will survive it.”

Well, it did, and miraculously, I did.

I cannot adequately describe what it feels like to lose a war. There’s depression, disillusionment, and, for me at least, I felt like a sucker. I felt like my country had tricked me into having my back. All because two old, idiotic men who had never served a day in their lives decided they were going to abandon my Afghan brothers and sisters—the very people my country trained me to befriend—to the killers of our children.

The United States betrayed its Afghan allies. But, most importantly, it betrayed itself and all the values it purports to uphold.

We repeatedly told our Afghan allies we wouldn’t abandon them. And we did. For those of us in the Afghan Evac community, August is a time for remembering and remembering the madness of the fall of Kabul—the cries from our Afghan allies, begging us to remember them.

Last night, I had one of my usual nightmares. It’s from the conversations I had on the phone when I told Afghans I wouldn’t be able to get them out. I remember their cries and them begging me to take their children.

I was the one who had to tell them no. I refused to ghost them and delete their phone numbers. So, I spent nearly four hours on the phone, calling hundreds of Afghans, sometimes with my interpreter nearby, to tell them I could not get them inside Hamid Karzai International Airport and that we were leaving them behind.

Those cries will forever haunt me. Many flooded my phone with pictures of their families, begging me to rescue them. I shouldered their pain, anguish, and anger on behalf of the American people. It was too much to ask of any man.

Those four hours spent calling my brothers and sisters in arms were the worst four hours of my life. I cried alone in a hotel room in DC. I cursed G*d for putting me in such a predicament.

Of all the people we helped get out of Afghanistan, it’s the ones trapped behind enemy lines that I remember the most.

I remember Hashmatullah. He helped guard the United States Embassy in Kabul. Trump and Biden abandoned that man. A man who protected me while I slept.

I remember Major S., who ran the unit that defended the entire International Zone, where Resolute Support Headquarters resided. The very man who protected America’s 4-star command was abandoned to your sons and daughters’ killers.

I remember HZK’s son. HZK was the senior Popalzai elder in Ghorak and one of my Afghan teachers. (He also used to tell me my Pashto was awful. LOL.) After he died between my deployments, I befriended his son, who was part of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). He’s still trapped behind enemy lines with his beautiful family, trying to survive as the Taliban hunt him.

I remember Ghulam. He’s currently a refugee. He studied at Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, KS, and ran a unit trying to root out corruption. However, the very government that charged him with rooting out corruption abandoned him.

There are so many to remember that I could write about them all day.

While I grieve and remember this month, I remind myself that healing takes time. It goes at its own pace, and I have to honor that.

The Moral Injury from Afghanistan nearly destroyed me, but it didn’t. I now want to return the favor by helping others affected by Moral Injury. That’s why we’ve teamed up with our friends at Give an Hour to provide our vets and servicemembers with a free Moral Injury Support Group.

Currently, we only have one or two slots left, so time is of the essence.

Here’s some more information about it.

Apply here.

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Walz’s Military Record

Oy vey!

If you’re not tracking, there’s been some kerfuffle surrounding Tim Walz’s military record. Our friends at Task & Purpose have you covered.

Questions about the final months of Tim Walz’s 24-year National Guard career have triggered a flurry of questions and confusion among military members and veterans. Wednesday drew a sharp accusation from Walz’s vice presidential opponent, Republican J.D. Vance. In a bitter attack at a rally in Michigan, Vance claimed Walz “abandoned” his guard unit in 2005, just before a deployment to Iraq.

Accusing a 24-year veteran and former command sergeant major of abandoning his troops by ducking combat is a grave insult in the veteran community and strikes deep emotions in many. By Wednesday afternoon, a conservative influencer had called for veterans to post pictures of themselves while deployed under the meme “Me not being Tim Walz,” drawing hundreds of responses.

Do yourself a solid.

I take these accusations seriously. I’m very concerned that Team Harris did not thoroughly vet Governor Walz.

First, he should stop referring to himself as Command Sergeant Major. He retired as a Master Sergeant. Nothing wrong with being a Master Sergeant! I love Master Sergeants! I love all SNCOs. For G*d’s sake, they’re the ones who kept me in line!

Second, I will wait until I hear from Governor Walz about the accusations that he skipped an Iraq deployment. There are two sides to every story.

I was called a Vance supporter over on the cesspool known as X because I took these accusations seriously.

I’m an OG Never Trumper. So, get the fuck out of here with that shit. I was Never Trump from the Jump. I’ve been reading The Bulwark since it started. Please, give me a break. When I said Never Trump — I meant it.

Thus, it’s important to remember that while these accusations are serious, Donald Trump said John McCain wasn’t a war hero. According to Trump’s own former Chief of Staff, General (retired) & Gold Star Father John Kelly, Trump called troops “suckers” and “losers.”

So, ya know, perspective is in order.

Kate Kovarovic

and I will likely tackle this in another joint piece next week.

By the way, I’m proud of all our comments from yesterday’s spirited discussion.

I curse. I go hard to the paint. Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s called Grumpy Combat Veteran for a reason. But everyone took it in good spirits. It’s just politics, people. It shouldn't bother you so much unless you’re Governor Walz’s family. They’re our servants. It’s not the other way around. And they deserve to be harangued.

I don’t hate VP Harris. Shit, I’m probably going to vote for her. But please remember that she’s also part of the Biden administration. The very administration that is proud of the Afghan debacle! So, I don’t feel bad or embarrassed about writing, “I can’t stand her.” Maybe that will change. She has the opportunity to speak forthrightly about Afghanistan. I doubt she will, but I hope she does.

Regardless, we’re so delighted to have all of you — Never Trumpers, Liberals, Progs, Natcons, MAGA—here supporting our mission.

We’re not a family. We’re an Andiwalaan, Pashto for ‘my tribe,’ but more specifically ‘my people.’

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My Brother, Momin

We have a new episode of Tales of the Afghan Security Forces on the website. Momin and I go way back—all the way back to Kabul in 2020. We helped get his family inside HKIA. Now, he lives down the road from me.

This month, we are trying our hardest to elevate the voices of our Afghan brothers and sisters. You will be reading more inspirational stories.

Because while the story of Afghanistan is a tragedy, the stories of your newest Afghan neighbors are inspiring.

They are my heroes—all my Afghan brothers and sisters here. You’re our family now, but GCV+F is also committed to helping you return to your homeland, Afghanistan.

While we mourn and grieve Afghanistan, it’s also time to overthrow the Taliban and return Afghanistan to its people. That mission will take a very long time. It will probably take my entire life.

But it’s a good fight. It’s a noble fight. And I will wage it with every ounce of strength inside of me.

It’s not over for them. So how can it be over for us?