Afghan Refugees in Limbo | Inside America with Ghida Fakhry

During a politically charged hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, with Republicans seeking to place the blame for the fallout on president Biden, and Democrats pointing to ill-advised decisions by President Trump, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and the head of US Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told Congress that they had advised President Biden against a full withdrawal and recommended keeping a military presence in Afghanistan.
General McKenzie said he had believed “for quite a while” that if the United States reduced the number of its military advisers in Afghanistan below 2,500, the Kabul government and the military would inevitably collapse. He said in addition to the morale-depleting effects of the Doha agreement signed in February 2020, the troop reduction ordered by Biden in April was
”the other nail in the coffin".
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified that he agreed with McKenzie's analysis. He added that the Doha agreement also committed the United States to ending airstrikes against the Taliban.
Last week’s House and Senate hearings marked the start of what is likely to be an extended congressional review of US failings in Afghanistan, especially after years of limited congressional oversight of a war that ended up costing American taxpayers $2.3 trillion dollars.
As many as 14,000 Afghan evacuees are expected to begin arriving in the US this week on humanitarian parole, a process by which they are allowed to enter the US without visas. While humanitarian parolees could stay and work in the US temporarily, they are not eligible for the same resettlement services extended to refugees, such as federal cash assistance.

Guests:
Sayed Aqa
Chairperson of the Experts for Relief and Development of Afghanistan

John Zadrozny
Former Deputy Assistant to President Trump and Director of the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at AFPI


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