Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News last week.
With the disastrous end to America’s involvement in Afghanistan, a flood of refugees is surging out of the country. It is America’s responsibility and privilege to welcome these refugees with open arms.
The final withdrawal from Afghanistan could not be going worse. The precipitous abandonment American positions at Bagram Air Base and elsewhere, the desertion of our NATO and Afghan allies, and the poorly planned extrication of American personnel has left Afghanistan strewn with American equipment and honor. It is a disgrace and shame that all Americans will bear for the disastrous actions of our president.
Out of this nightmare, all of the Afghans who helped America over the last 20 years to root out terrorism and protect American lives are trying to escape the inevitable slaughter at the hands of the Taliban. There are also tens of thousands of Afghans who believed America and our promises of liberty, individual rights, and freedom to practice their religion without interference from government overlords. This includes women and girls who know the fate that awaits them under Taliban rule. They bought into the concept of a western- style democracy and are staring down the barrel of another generation of brutal totalitarian butchery.
Not all of these Afghans are going to make it out. Right now, there are thousands of Afghans and Americans fighting and praying to get a seat on one of the precious airplanes still ferrying people out of the country. They know that those flights will end too soon because President Joe Biden has decided that the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans and Afghans is a price worth paying to get America out of the country as quickly as possible. He factored the bloodshed into his decision. Of the refugees that make it out of Afghanistan, many of them are coming to Wisconsin. Fort McCoy is one of the places that will serve as a safe haven to house some of the refugees. We do not know how many yet, but that will likely depend on how many people our valiant military can evacuate before Biden or the Taliban ends the mission. Wisconsin should welcome these poor souls into our state with the kindness and generosity for which the people of Wisconsin are known. The refugees did not plan to be here. They believed America and thought they would spend their lives in a relatively free and stable Afghanistan. But in the face of certain oppression or death, they have fled everything they know with little more than the clothes on their backs.
There are issues that the Biden Administration must address. In the mad rush out of Afghanistan, many of the refugees are coming without paperwork to verify their identities. It is probable that the Taliban, ISIS, or other terror groups have sent some of their agents of terror through the loose sieve of refugee evacuation much like the drug cartels are moving people across our open southern border. Federal authorities must take the time to properly vet the refugees before relocating them into the interior of the nation.
Also, while some of the refugees have some exposure to American values and American standards, many of them do not. They are coming from a nation that has been in a state of war for as long as any of them can remember. We must make a concerted effort to educate them on America’s respect for individual rights, equality, representative government, the rule of law, and all of the other pillars of America.
Finally, while some of the refugees are educated, bilingual, and highly skilled, others are coming to America unprepared to be successful in the American economy. Thankfully, we are at a time in our history when jobs are plentiful in Wisconsin and elsewhere. To be successful in those jobs, the refugees need to be taught to speak and read English, job skills and employment norms, personal financial management, and skills with which to earn a living. This investment will also help protect the refugees from being exploited and ensure that they can become full participants in their new country.
President Biden has left some of our nation’s honor in the blood-caked mud of Afghanistan. We can reclaim some of that honor with how we treat the refugees who are able to make it to our shores.
Excellent column.
This president is horrible and 100% responsible for this human rights debacle.
Of course the caveat is that these refugees are vetted properly.
While they are probably being vetted better than the million or so that have illegally crossed the southern border, you still have wonder how good they are being vetted.
Is there any federal agency that you can trust nowadays?
FBI: no
Pentagon: no
Foggy Bottom: no
Senile Joe Biden: oh hell no.
CDC, the fake doctor Fauci and other in the federal health areas: Double hell no.
National Weather Service: no, but they get a participation ribbon.
Air traffic control: yes
FAA: The same.
Department of Education: Oh my god no.
“”I’m not supposed to take any questions but go ahead,” Biden told Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer Jacobs.”
Who the hell is in charge?
Certainly not Senile Joe.
At least with President Trump, he took questions, he didn’t let anyone dictate to him what he can or can not do.
You may not have liked his answers, but he wasn’t a damn weak ass pussy like Senile Joe.
Mar, it is not being a dumb weak ass pussy to have some stage of dementia. It is a sad and serious condition and it is an evil, manipulative, lying Democratic administration that is keeping secrets about Biden’s health. He was told not to take questions and you can bet the entire regime in the know cringed when he told us all he was not allowed to take any questions. I don’t think I can blame Biden for a single act going forward.
While I do fell sorry for the Afghan people, You do realize there will be a huge financial cost to bringing these people to the U.S.
They will need housing, Food, medical care. The children will receive free education. So this honor will cost the tax payers millions of dollars.
“Federal authorities must take the time to properly vet the refugees before relocating them into the interior of the nation.”
Ha! Ha! Good one, Owen. Ya mean like the 200,000+ illegals who have been dumped randomly across America in the last few months? and where is Ft. McCoy? It IS the interior.
And least we forget, the Bablin’ Joe Circus Show let fly thousands of blank generic visa applications….
https://www.newsweek.com/american-trapped-kabul-explains-bogus-visa-email-sent-thousands-brain-worms-1621668?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1629498011
“Mar, it is not being a dumb weak ass pussy to have some stage of dementia.”
I agree Tuerqas.
I think he has some dementia but he is also a weak ass pussy at the same time.
I think he has been a weak ass pussy for most of his life.
MjM: to your point, it’s also known that thousands of blank ID cards and the equipment to “complete” them were also left in the hands of the Muslim horde. So we might have “extra” immigrants showing up, too.
While we owe gratitude to our Afghan co-operators, we do not owe them 40 acres and a mule in the US. There are plenty of other places–Muslim places–where they can be settled. There may be a few special exceptions, but skepticism is the first rule.