Operation Allies Welcome: The System Was Blinking Red

TOP LINE

The system was blinking red.

As early as August 2021, as the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan unfolded, service members who worked alongside our Afghan partners warned there could be catastrophic consequences.

Separately, in October 2021, congressional investigators uncovered new evidence that the Afghan vetting system was deeply flawed, even broken.

At that time, as the CBS News senior investigative correspondent, I took both stories to top executives, many of whom are now gone (but not all.)

They were not interested in reporting that challenged the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and claims the Afghan vetting process was robust.

Four years ago, there was an opportunity to investigate the national security implications of the same policies that are now under scrutiny.

DEEP DIVE

After this week’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington D.C., my military contacts were among the first to reach out.  The suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal had been part of a CIA-backed unit in Afghanistan.

Army veteran Brian Kinsella said the Lakanwal case reflects the “exact risks that veteran networks and interagency contacts flagged throughout August and September of 2021.”

Kinsella said these concern included:

- The rapid use of humanitarian parole (temporary entry into the US) with inconsistent documentation and vetting.

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- The arrival of thousands of former armed fighters without a plan for structured reintegration.

- High levels of psychological trauma among evacuees.

- A deep fear among Afghans that America had abandoned them and would ultimately deport them.

- ISIS and Al Qaeda messaging that specifically targeted former partner force members with claims that the United States would eventually betray them.

In the fall of 2021, we reported two CBS News investigations that revealed the emotional distress of those left behind, the confusion over State Department policies, and the impossibility of evacuating family units.

The first report focused on an Afghan translator who went into hiding after the US withdrawal.  The translator eventually made it to the US because of the dedication of a former Marine.

The second investigation profiled…

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