WATCH: 'We were left behind to be killed by the Taliban'
Although President Joe Biden has called his 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal an "extraordinary success," most others have expressed a diametrically opposite view ever since. For many, the events that unfolded paint a picture of abject failure, including one that places Taliban terrorists on U.S. soil. But then there are the good guys, including the thousands of Afghan…
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Boarding an aircraft. Photo by Ahmad Ehsan, taken Aug. 15, 2021 at the Hamid Karzai International Airport. Used by permission.
Although President Joe Biden has called his 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal an "extraordinary success," most others have expressed a diametrically opposite view ever since. For many, the events that unfolded paint a picture of abject failure, including one that places Taliban terrorists on U.S. soil.
But then there are the good guys, including the thousands of Afghan interpreters and guides that helped U.S. forces for years. One of them, Ahmad Ehsan, accompanied the U.S. Army in its fight against the Taliban starting in 2018, serving as an interpreter and cultural adviser in Kabul until January 2021. WND is using a pseudonym to protect his identity.
Ehsan told WND, regarding Biden’s catastrophic exit from Afghanistan: "It was not an evacuation or withdrawal" at all, adding that a real military evacuation "would have been well-planned [and] with good management if it were," instead of the "shameful chaos" that actually unfolded.
While it was negotiating with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, Ehsan said, the United States had "more than enough time" to ensure a clean withdrawal and evacuation. Instead, he said, "the withdrawal and evacuation became a big shame in the history of the United States."
Scaling the wall
Photo by Ahmad Ehsan, taken Aug. 15, 2021 at the Hamid Karzai International Airport. Used by permission.
Near the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, Ehsan witnessed the "chaos and shame" firsthand. "I tried to get inside of the airport but couldn’t because the crowds around the airport were too congested." He recorded videos showing unvetted Afghans scaling the wall around the airport and attempting to board aircraft.
As he watched the large crowds of people, Ehsan saw Taliban fighters giving their weapons to other members of the Taliban before entering the airport’s main gate.
— J.M. Phelps (@JMPhelpsLC) April 10, 2024
"I saw women and children fainting in the crowds with little room to breathe," Ehsan told WND. "Some of them were beaten or injured by Taliban fighters as they made their way to the airport." He also witnessed a mother give birth to her child in front of thousands of people.
"It was a very painful day for me," Ehsan recalled. "So many Taliban were able to enter the Kabul airport gate and were able to evacuate from Afghanistan to Qatar and other countries," he disclosed. "Many were also bribing people with money to let them inside the airport."
"Even though I served the U.S. Army," Ehsan lamented, "I was left behind in a dire situation with an unknown future."
Ehsan is one of more than an estimated 62,000 Afghan interpreters and others who, by the end of 2021, had worked alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan and should be eligible for the Special Immigrant Visa program.
Yet, after two attempts, Ehsan has been denied entry into the U.S. by the State Department after being unjustly terminated from his duties as an interpreter. Records reviewed by WND indicate Ehsan provided "faithful and valuable" service to the U.S. military, according to his former battalion commander and other colleagues.
"I don’t know what will happen to me, I face torture and death if I am found by the Taliban," he said. "I also have no income and not enough food for me and my family."
While hiding from the Taliban, Ehsan said, "I've watched them for three years, celebrating their victory against the United States." For this reason, he told WND, "I feel very disappointed and betrayed, still fighting for my own life after losing family members in a war to bring peace, security and freedom for my people."
He feels betrayed by the United States because, according to Ehsan, "the evacuation was not for U.S. allies." Rather, he said, "it was an evacuation for the Taliban, barbers, shopkeepers, tailors, street boys, or anyone that didn’t have an affiliation to the USG [United States government] like me."
Meanwhile, there are thousands of people, added Ehsan, including members of the Taliban, who have made it to the U.S. without proper documentation. Yet, he said, "For those truly eligible to come, we were left behind to be killed by the Taliban," who now control Afghanistan.
Ehsan’s story raises the inevitable question: How many Taliban fighters, who hosted and enabled al-Qaeda, which attacked America so viciously on Sept. 11, 2001, made it into the U.S., while U.S. allies like Ehsan have not?
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The post WATCH: 'We were left behind to be killed by the Taliban' appeared first on WND.