OPINION:
Due to our government’s failed foreign policy agenda in Afghanistan, we lost 13 brave American service members, gave up billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded sensitive military equipment, and surrendered the most strategic international military installation. Innocent Americans and selfless Afghan allies were left behind to be killed by our enemies, including my longtime interpreter, teammate, friend and brother Aziz.
This didn’t have to happen, and there was no way I was going to sit on the sidelines and do nothing. I had to step up and do what the governments of the world couldn’t — or wouldn’t — do. I had to go and get Aziz.
In my latest book, “Saving Aziz,” I tell the story of how I put together a team to get Aziz and his family, which eventually led to the saving of thousands of others left behind in this avoidable disaster.
On April 14, 2021, President Biden announced that all U.S. troops would leave Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I knew that it would be a disaster, and lives would be in danger. The government set a date, not terms, for a complete American withdrawal, meaning we had to be gone regardless of whether we could get our equipment and people out. We couldn’t. They handcuffed America and emboldened the Taliban before we even started.
Contrary to the government narrative about a country that wouldn’t help itself, the Afghans were sacrificing everything to fight the Taliban and were watching in horror as they were being abandoned to be slaughtered for doing so. I witnessed it firsthand.
On one mission, my teammate witnessed these emboldened Taliban fighters holding down a man with an ID card identifying him as having worked with the U.S. military. This identification was supposed to guarantee safe passage for him and his adolescent son. Instead, they melted the ID card to his chest, cut off his arms, tied a noose around his neck, and dragged him behind a car as his son watched. The Taliban knew the U.S. military could not step in, and it didn’t.
I knew Aziz and his family had to be rescued as they would be targets because he had risked his life repeatedly over many years, not only for a free Afghanistan but to save American service members. While working as my translator, Aziz once saved the lives of four Navy SEALs by commandeering a vehicle, leading an all-night mission into enemy territory, and recovering all personnel and all their equipment. Yet Aziz, his wife and their six children were being left behind to be raped, tortured, and either killed or forced into Taliban servitude for daring to stand up to them.
The U.S. government’s priorities quickly became evident. Rather than allowing the Defense Department to take point on a military evacuation mission, they put the State Department in charge. Instead of setting up rescue operations, service members became gate guards. I was baffled that U.S. service members were told to clean the toilets for the Taliban facilities takeover while other countries ran continuous rescue operations for their citizens and allies. Unfortunately, my team’s rescue operations were occasionally thwarted by our own U.S. service members following orders, like when they shot at Aziz and his six children during one attempt to enter the shelter of the airport.
While our team tried to pick up the slack for the government’s evacuation failures, our own State Department seemed to sabotage our rescue efforts by dragging their feet and hogtying us with bureaucratic red tape. It was as though they had decided if they couldn’t save everyone, then they’d make sure no one could. Ultimately, despite our organization’s best efforts, many were still left to die at the hands of the Taliban, and that is unforgivable.
They say hindsight is 20/20, but we knew all along how this would turn out. It didn’t require insider knowledge of the situation, only logical reflection, to anticipate the devastation. It would be Saigon 2.0.
I find comfort in knowing that I did everything in my power to do what I knew was right and that those efforts have given new life and opportunities to so many who faced certain death in the wake of the Afghanistan withdrawal disaster. While the government wants us to move on and forget what happened, we can’t do that. I’m hopeful that with new congressional leadership, there might be accountability. Perhaps by sharing my experience and the story of how we rescued Aziz, future tragedies might be prevented.
• Chad Robichaux is a Force Recon Marine veteran and former Department of Defense contractor with eight deployments to Afghanistan. He co-founded Save Our Allies, a nonprofit that evacuates civilians from Afghanistan and Ukraine.
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