Abdul Wasi Safi stands in the foreground of Afghan military vehicles surrounded by dirt-filled barriers and concrete bunkers. Wasi, who helped the Afghan military fight the Taliban, left the country fearing for his life. He was arrested earlier this year after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border trying to reach his brother who had immigrated to Houston and became a U.S. citizen.
Just three months later, the U.S. abruptly exited the country. The Taliban — an Islamic fundamentalist group — took control of the country and began hunting down those who had helped the Americans. “It was unfair, unjust, for the U.S. military to leave all the people who put their lives on the line working for the military and in the end leaving them to be slaughtered by the Taliban and closing their eyes on them,” Sami said. “Pretending nothing happened. People have done so much.”
The war claimed the lives of more than 3,000 U.S. military personnel and roughly 70,000 civilians. And the Taliban reemerged swiftly as the U.S. handed over the reins of government and security to the Afghans. “We view members of Afghan special forces as part of our community,” Patterson said. “We’ve been looking at finding paths to citizenship for them, looking at the federal level, but there’s not as much energy on [Capitol Hill] to get these things passed that we’d like to see.”On that August day in Kabul, Wasi wasn’t able to come close to the U.S. military plane — which prioritized U.S.
Wasi kept a low profile, living in hiding in Afghanistan for nearly a year, first with his family and then alone. He tried to get a visa to enter the U.S., but the U.S. embassy in Kabul had shut down and he would have to apply in person at the embassy in Qatar — which was impossible because he didn’t have the necessary visas to cross Iran or Pakistan to reach Qatar.
The brothers heard that Brazil was offering humanitarian aid visas, so Wasi sent his documentation in advance then crossed the Pakistani border by car, avoiding capture by the Taliban, who guarded the country’s main roads. For several weeks, Wasi stayed in a hotel in Islamabad, leaving only to go to his embassy appointment and pick up the visa. Then he had to figure out how to get to Brazil.
At the Kabul airport, a Taliban guard stopped Wasi, searched his documents and questioned why he was going to Brazil.Wasi said he started arguing loudly with the guard. He said he was a student traveling to Brazil and demanded to know why he was being harassed. Wasi’s theatrics worked. The guard let him pass.In late July, after nearly a year of hiding in Afghanistan, Wasi flew from Kabul to São Paulo, Brazil.
That’s how usa pays for service look on our veterans on the streets
I mean, that is generally how it works yes.
If he helped us while our troops were there he for sure is one of us and deserves to be treated with respect and not just turn our back to the people that were there for us, what a shame of a country we have become.