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I’m not sure what is worse: that I have this story
to tell, or that the names of everyone involved in this story must be hidden
or changed because they are in mortal danger.


I have a friend whose husband is a doctor. He made the choice to volunteer
for an NGO in Afghanistan. He is the spouse of an American citizen and green
cardholder. He has been abandoned in Afghanistan. I cannot reveal his
name because it would put a target on his back — a target put there by
President Joe Biden.


My friend’s husband had been working in Afghanistan for many months. On
April 14th of this year, President Biden announced that all U.S. troops would
be removed from Afghanistan by September 11th, a grim anniversary.
In truth, the administration was pushing ahead with a plan to completely
withdraw by August 31st. It didn’t matter that the Taliban wasn’t complying
with any cease-fire or peace agreement previously made with the United
States. It didn’t matter there were perhaps thousands of American civilians
in Afghanistan, like my friend’s husband. It didn’t matter that he now had a
target on his back.


Biden assured Americans that a full Taliban takeover of the government
wouldn’t happen, once the U.S. announced its intentions to withdraw. His
own intelligence agencies begged to differ.
In July, as the Taliban began to take over cities throughout the country,
Biden continued to lie to the nation saying, “The likelihood there’s going to
be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is
highly unlikely.”


A month later, the Taliban took Kabul, and their dominance was complete.
On August 21st, Biden said, “Let me be clear: any American who wants to
come home, we will get you home.”
My friend’s husband is still waiting, in hiding, in fear for his life.
My friend was able to get a message to a non-profit foundation based here
in the U.S. which is helping to do the job our government could not.
Her husband was only a few miles from Kabul Airport and potential safety.
The task of getting him safe passage had begun.

The foundation helped direct him safely through a maze of Taliban
checkpoints. It was chaotic and frightening. And unsuccessful.
The doctor, along with hundreds of Americans and thousands of Afghan
nationals who had been our allies over the past 20 years, was stopped from
reaching the airport by the Taliban.


Quickly, a safe house was arranged for my friend’s husband. But he is not
out of danger yet.
It is unbelievable to me that this is happening to an American. That our own
government is unable to ensure safe passage. That our citizens must now
depend on non-profit organizations to do the critical missions our country
will not.


Not because they can’t, but won’t.
So instead we must rely on private U.S. companies, former Special
Operators, and individual donors to provide the funds and resources to bring
my friend’s husband and others to safety.


Millions of dollars are required to secure safe houses, pay Taliban taxes, and
secure private air transportation out of Afghanistan.
The foundation my friend contacted was able to secure aircraft cleared to
depart Afghanistan with permission to land in Doha, Qatar under cover of
darkness. She hoped her husband would be on one of those planes.
On September 2nd, a secure communication was sent detailing the plans for
safe passage.


Then on September 5th, Congressman Mike McCaul from Texas appeared on
Fox News saying aircraft on the ground in Afghanistan were not able to
leave. He was concerned the planned airlift was turning into a terrible
hostage situation.
On September 10th, Qatar Airways Boeing 777 successfully departed Kabul –
but with only150 of the 200 people cleared to fly. The doctor was not one of
them.
Since then I haven’t heard of any other civilian flights departing Kabul.
Insurance companies won’t provide certificates for planes to fly. It’s a
nightmare.

And consider this: how safe is it to provide the Taliban with a manifest of
individuals attempting to leave on proposed commercial flights, when they’re
quite probably already on a Taliban high-value target list?
They already know who you are when you show up to leave. Are you of
more value to the Taliban dead or alive?
Our government likes to say we never negotiate with terrorists, but we’ve
left them billions of dollars worth of military equipment.
And we’ve left them the most valuable assets of all: our own American
citizens and their immediate family members like my friend’s husband. A
doctor who was only there trying to do good things for others.
He needs to come home. He has every right to come home, but he has been
abandoned by our government.


There is a group of individuals from the active-duty community who are
willing and able to help on the ground. There are private individuals willing
to provide funding and help with logistics. But why should it fall to them to
do what our government – and our president – have sworn to protect?
Please don’t let the media bury this atrocity demand we get our fellow
citizens home and allies out of Afghanistan.


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