SEE AMAZON.COM DEALS FOR TODAY
Over 65 terrorists, including militants and a prisoner freed by the Taliban, were allowed into the United States after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to a new book. The book also reveals the failures of the Biden administration in preventing the Kabul suicide attack and the dangers of putting the Taliban in charge of security. The flawed vetting process and staff shortages led to the entry of dangerous individuals, some of whom had left fingerprints on IEDs meant to kill Americans. The government has no way to track them down. By Wills Robinson For Dailymail.com reported
Militants with connections to improvised explosive devices (IEDs) designed to harm American forces in Afghanistan and a Taliban-released prisoner were among over 65 terrorists who gained entry into the United States following the catastrophic withdrawal. These individuals, who pose a potential national security risk, may still be residing in the country without the government’s ability to track them down. These alarming findings, detailed in a recently published book, contribute to the growing list of failures by the Biden administration during and after the chaotic evacuation of Kabul in August 2021.
Despite the passage of two years since the devastating two-week period of violence at Hamid Karzai International Airport that resulted in the deaths of 13 American service members, hundreds of Afghans, and the abandonment of thousands, evidence continues to emerge regarding the mishandling of troop withdrawal after 20 years of occupation and the evacuation of allies. According to Jerry Dunleavy and James Hasson’s book, titled “Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End,” at least 65 individuals identified as national security risks were permitted entry into the US within a year after the withdrawal.
These dangerous individuals include militants whose DNA was discovered on defused explosives and a prisoner released by the Taliban amidst their rampage across Afghanistan en route to Kabul. Despite assurances that the Taliban would not regain power and that the US-supported Afghan government would remain in control, the capital fell as Western forces departed. Even an Afghan-American interpreter identified numerous Taliban fighters on the airport tarmac, prepared to board flights bound for the US. Many of these individuals were able to travel without proper scrutiny due to significant flaws in the vetting process and a lack of personnel responsible for handling the approximately 82,000 evacuees brought to the US.
A Congressional memo released following the aftermath of the evacuation revealed that around 70% of evacuees from Afghanistan were not American citizens, green card holders, or participants in the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. These potential security threats were able to occupy seats on flights intended for US citizens and allies. In addition to those left behind, thousands of people are still attempting to escape and avoid capture by the Taliban. The book authors conducted interviews with numerous service members, senior intelligence officials, and high-ranking members of allied governments to provide harrowing accounts of individuals abandoned by the government, further exposing the Biden administration’s failures.
The book also features stories of veterans who initiated operations in Afghanistan to assist in the evacuation of allies and interpreters who had supported the US military. One such individual is Gulum, an American interpreter of Tajik descent who served on the frontlines at Hamid Karzai International Airport. He worked closely with commanding generals and remained until the final evacuation flight departed. Amidst the chaos, he encountered two individuals whose long hair and trimmed beards indicated that they were Taliban fighters. Unlike the desperate families seeking safety, these individuals were unaccompanied by women or children. Gulum alerted commanders and insisted that they be interviewed before boarding a plane. Although these two individuals were prevented from boarding a Western evacuation flight due to insufficient paperwork and visas, several others managed to escape undetected.
One prisoner even succeeded in reaching the US, despite having a flagged record when initially landed and vetted in a third country “safe haven.” Customs and Border Protection (CBP) received “derogatory” information about his background, but a supervisor allowed him to continue his journey. He remained in the US for three weeks before being located and deported by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Numerous individuals who pose significant security risks completed their journey and may still be present in the US.
As of February 2022, the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC) had identified at least 50 Afghan military-age male evacuees, none of whom were SIV applicants, as significant security risks. By August 2022, this number had risen to 65. These individuals were identified through the matching of biometric data from Defense Department servers with their intake files. Some of these individuals had left fingerprints on IEDs defused by US troops. However, they were not flagged during the initial screening process because the administration only compared evacuee profiles against the databases of US Customs and Border Protection, which only contain records of individuals stopped at US borders. Consequently, individuals who had resided in Afghanistan for their entire lives were not included in the database. The US government currently lacks the means to locate and track down these individuals.
The CBP also failed to collect fingerprints from approximately 1,300 evacuees who entered the US, and the records of some evacuees contained missing or incomplete information such as unknown first names, January 1 birthdates, and absent identification numbers. A Department of Homeland Security report on the evacuation revealed that numerous individuals entered the US without undergoing any checks and frequently lacked basic information, such as names, birthdates, or identification numbers. Despite these glaring issues, the State Department relaxed its rules in September 2022 to admit more Afghan applicants, even those who had worked for the Taliban. Such individuals would be accepted into the US if they could prove they were solely civil servants or had provided limited support.
To summarize, the book’s revelations highlight the dangerous flaws and shortcomings of the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal and subsequent evacuation from Afghanistan. The presence of over 65 potential national security threats in the US, including militants involved in attacks against Americans and a Taliban-released prisoner, underscores the failures in the vetting process and the lack of resources to track these individuals. The accounts of abandoned Americans and Afghans, as well as the heroic efforts of veterans to rescue allies, provide further evidence of the administration’s missteps..
