Modestans’ heart-breaking stories of Afghanistan. The U.S. owes them better
Much of the recent reporting on Afghanistan — my own included — has rightly focused on chaos at the airport in Kabul, where thousands desperately try to flee the Taliban. Heart-rending images of men clinging to the outside of U.S. military aircraft, and bodies falling after takeoff, are seared in our minds.
But what about the thousands who can’t get inside the part of the airport secured by U.S. soldiers?
And what will become of those who don’t dare trying to pass through Taliban checkpoints on the way to the airport?
Even less fortunate are the thousands who have no hope of receiving a coveted invitation from the U.S. State Department to try getting to the airport. Some worked alongside U.S. agents, or are family members of those who did. Many continue hiding in fear of armed Taliban house-by-house searches that have already started, according to some news outlets.
All fear for their lives every bit as much as the thousands clamoring at the airport. They know the Taliban’s history of violent intolerance, and place zero faith in amnesty promises.
These souls live with gut-wrenching fear and little hope. All because they, or their family, years ago bet on the promise of decency and democracy represented by foreign occupiers — us, or our government — who now may desert them.
Among them is a blind, aging Kabul man who years ago lost his eyes and a hand while demining explosives set by Taliban insurgents.
His daughter, Halima, cries for him here in Modesto, where she settled five years ago after a career of interpreting for U.S. officers in her homeland.
Tears fall even faster when she talks about her younger sisters, also trapped with little hope of extraction. She knows of atrocities like public amputations and stonings under Taliban rule before U.S. soldiers arrived 20 years ago, and some reported recently. She remembers nearly nonexistent rights of girls and women, and knows the suffering her sisters face at rough hands.
“Those animals,” Halima started, then said, “no — I like animals.
“My young sisters, they are in danger — because of me. Because of me!” she sobbed.
“I haven’t slept. How can I sleep when they don’t sleep?”
Because she worked closely with the U.S. military, Halima’s fingerprints are in a database. So are her father’s. She has nightmares that he will be stopped and scanned with biometric devices.
I’m not using her full name, because the Taliban are perfectly capable of monitoring news reports — and of exacting revenge on loved ones of those who disrespect them.
For that reason, news cameras were turned away from Thursday’s somber gathering of more than 200 people at Hope Commons, the outdoor gathering place of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Modesto.
Halima and several other Afghan natives resettled in Modesto said it helped Thursday to see and hear government representatives offer compassion, if little helpful advice. They know that representatives of Stanislaus County or California can’t fight the Taliban.
Most of the advice — fill out this form and that, and follow instructions when people get to the Kabul airport, if eventually invited and lucky enough to arrive in one piece — was already known. The one piece I hadn’t heard before — encouraging people to try the Camp Sullivan entrance — jumped out at me.
It’s possible that’s how Sam and his wife, who were in hiding when I made contact with him on the telephone Monday, reached safety.
An Afghan native, Sam resettled in Modesto a few years ago, and then the Bay Area. He was visiting his wife and parents and was trapped in Kabul when the Taliban swept in on Sunday. He had moved up his departure to that day, but was stranded when commercial flights were canceled.
Some here have no sympathy for those who didn’t flee in time. We should recognize that COVID-19 restrictions kept most from traveling there all of 2020, and many were anxious to see loved ones when finally allowed this year. And the argument is ludicrous that these people should know better than President Biden how swiftly the Taliban might assume control.
That’s why about 36 Modesto residents, including Sam’s sister-in-law and her three children, remain stuck in Kabul. The office of U.S. Rep. Josh Harder of Turlock, having read Monday’s tense story that Sam relayed to me, now is trying to help 160 people there.
When I asked how Sam was able to evade Taliban checkpoints and reach safety, he said, “They started taking people from other side of the airport. But still it was bad situation at the gate. It was Afghan army at the gate and they were avoiding people from rushing in by shooting to the air. ... My sister-in-law with her children could not make it through.”
As of Thursday night, Sam and his wife are the only ones with Modesto ties known to have safely evacuated, Harder’s office said.
A refugee’s life isn’t a stroll in the park, either.
In a text, Sam said he and his wife flew three hours to Qatar “sitting on the hard floor,” referring to C-17 cargo planes used by U.S. military to evacuate large groups of Afghans. A now-famous picture shows 640 crowded in one, headed to Qatar.
Upon landing, they waited 2 hours and 40 minutes before deplaning, Sam said. They boarded a bus at 11 p.m. local time and waited two hours for the bus to begin moving to a refugee camp. Upon arrival, they waited 40 minutes for permission to get off the bus.
Although Sam became a U.S. citizen two years ago, his wife is not, and they are at an immigration processing camp.
So even though they’re grateful they got out of Afghanistan, “It has been very long day with a lot of frustration,” he said.
It’s distressing that Biden has refused to accept blame for what’s happening to these people. That game was perfected by his predecessor, and Biden came advertised as better than that.
I get the rationale that this war has cost too many American lives, and not another should be sacrificed. But if this chaos and fear and trampling and shooting and people falling off airplanes was all part of the withdrawal plan, I would hate to see what no plan might look like.
People faced with a choice between evil and democracy, who bet on the side of decency, should be treated with some.
