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Six Months After the Fall of Kabul

Six months after the fall of Kabul, it’s still surreal to read about a piece of history we just lived through. In the last few weeks, revelations have surfaced concerning the disarray and disagreements within the Biden administration over how to handle evacuations of vulnerable Afghans during the months-long troop withdrawal. They are a jarring reminder of a crisis that could have been avoided, and how hard advocates fought to avoid the dramatic and devastating result.

GOP Refusal to Confirm Dilawar Syed For His Faith Is An Attack on American Democracy

In 1863, in the ensuing chaos after the Battle of Gettysburg, Private Mohammed Kahn was separated from his regiment. Union military police arrested him and brought him before the Provost Marshall. Kahn, a Muslim who immigrated to the United States only months before the Civil War ignited, had enlisted in the Union Army to defend his new homeland from the scourge of bigotry, racism, and extremism. But the 43rd New York Infantry Regiment in which Kahn enlisted was an all white unit. Rejecting Kahn’s sincere and desperate pleas to reunite and fight alongside his regiment, the Provost Marshall sent Kahn to a Philadelphia labor camp. Despite Kahn’s willingness to give the ultimate sacrifice for his nation, his nation imprisoned him on account of his skin color and his faith.

“This war, and the chaotic withdrawal, has created a mental health crisis.”

Afghanistan’s rapid fall to Taliban forces will inevitably prompt policy debates over the method and timeline of the American military withdrawal. …