HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

The Air Force Veteran Fighting to Save Afghans From the Taliban

Views: 925
Inside the volunteer effort to rescue the stranded men and women who worked with the U.S. military.

------------------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ReasonTV?subconfirmation=1
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
----------------

Peterson, who served 10 years in Afghanistan, wanted to help the men and women he had worked and fought with to escape. Those who had partnered with the U.S. government during the 20-year occupation could be eligible for special immigrant visas, or SIVs. Peterson says that he felt obligated to help.

During that chaotic week following the U.S. withdrawal in August, 2021, Peterson extracted some of the men he'd worked with, picking them out of the crowds.

When he got back to the U.S., Peterson connected with a growing community of volunteers also committed to helping stranded Afghans. Zach Van Meter, a venture capitalist from Florida, rented a conference room at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., in August to coordinate a private volunteer effort to get people out.

Private entities and the U.S. government worked together to airlift out nearly 130,000 people. Most are now living at camps in the U.S. and other parts of the world, awaiting a lengthy vetting process. Tens of thousands are still in hiding.

Ben Owen is the founder of Flanders Fields, a nonprofit that helps resettle refugees inside the U.S. and maintains a network of safe homes that keep the individuals in hiding fed and sheltered.

Flanders Fields is part of a nonprofit network that maintains 60 safe homes in Afghanistan. Owen says he has taken out about $23,000 in personal loans to cover expenses.

Josh Jenkins is an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan for eight years. Now he works for the nonprofit Amplio, which uses technology to fight poverty and is now helping with the evacuation efforts.

Owen, Jenkins, and other 15 nonprofit organizations joined a federation started by Peterson called Moral Compass, which seeks to better coordinate funding, logistics, advocacy, and food programs for stranded Afghans by putting them under one umbrella.

Thousands of Afghans are stuck in vetting stations on U.S. bases inside the U.S. and around the world. They have been awaiting processing for over six months now. If rejected, some will end up stateless. There are around 14,000 U.S. permanent residents and 400 American citizens still stuck in Afghanistan who have no pathway to immigrate or are unwilling to leave their families behind.

Written and produced by Noor Greene, edited by Danielle Thompson; additional graphics by Regan Taylor; audio by Ian Keyser; shot by Isaac Reese, Adam Czarnecki, Mike Koslap, and Jim Epstein.

Photos: U.S. Air Force/U.S. Central Command Public Affairs/Newscom; Hassan Majeed/UPI/Newscom; EyePress/Newscom ;U.S. AIR FORCE/UPI/Newscom; Mark Lawson/U.S. Central Command Public Affa/Newscom; Sayed Najafizada/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; EyePress/Newscom; Rod Lamkey / CNP / SplashNews/Newscom; White House/ZUMA Press/Newscom; US DOD/U.S. Central Command Public Affa/Newscom; U.S. Marines/U.S. Central Command Public Affairs/Newscom; U.S. Central Command Public Affa/Newscom; Donald R. Allen - US Air Force v/CNP / Polaris/Newscom; Valery Sharifulin/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; CNP/AdMedia/SIPA/Newscom; U.S. Air Force/U.S. Central Command Public Affairs/Newscom; Cameron Smith/White House/Newscom; Sayed Najafizada/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; CNP/AdMedia/Newscom; U.S. Marines/U.S. Central Command Public Affairs/Newscom; SGT. BRANDON CRIBELAR/UPI/Newscom; STAFF SGT. BRANDON CRIBELAR/UPI/Newscom; Abaca Press/Europa Press/Abaca/Sipa USA/Newscom.

Music: "There" by Laurel Violet via Artlist; "Lost and Found" by Theatre of Delays ; "Polemos Mons" by Charlie Ryan; "First Launch" by Piotr Hummel; "Mulholland" by Theatre of Delays; "Attya Ensoria (The Holy and the Damned)" instrumental version by Ian Post; "Distant Echoes" by Salt of the Sound via Artlist; "Odd Numbers" by Curtis Cole; "The Old Friend" by Max H.; "The Fall" instrumental version by Or Chausha; "Blood Meridian" by SPEARFISHER; "Goosebumps" by Veaceslav Draganov ; "No Decides" by Or Chausha ; "Take Flight" by Seth Parson; "The Blue Dot" by Shahead Mostafafar ; "Shadows Rise" by Doug Kaufman; "Legends" by C.K. Martin; "Transition riser airy whoosh" by Amusia via Artlist; "Deep-end sub-bass drop distant boom reflection" by Adam Pietruszko; "Hard heavy transition" by Eytan Krief; "Belgium ambience parking lot cars distant traffic" by Eneas Mentzel; "Antisystem glitch distortion beeping" by Sampletraxx; "Cinematic fuel whooshy transition" by Giorgio Riolo; "The glitch reverberant error" by Sound Response, via Artlist.
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for Blame Biden for High Gas Prices3:53
Blame Biden for High Gas Prices
ReasonVids
949 views
Thumbnail for LA's New Crack Epidemic: Sidewalks4:24
LA's New Crack Epidemic: Sidewalks
ReasonVids
827 views
Thumbnail for Jay Beeber Defeats LA's Red Light Cameras8:27
Jay Beeber Defeats LA's Red Light Cameras
ReasonVids
916 views
Thumbnail for 20-Year-Old Whiskey in 6 Days: Will This Self-Taught Chemist Upend the Liquor Industry?7:15
20-Year-Old Whiskey in 6 Days: Will This Self-Taught Chemist Upend the Liquor Industry?
ReasonVids
937 views
Thumbnail for Chicago Entrepreneurs: Pitch Your Business Idea & Win Funding!1:01
Chicago Entrepreneurs: Pitch Your Business Idea & Win Funding!
IJvids
905 views
Thumbnail for What Should Have Happened at the Amy Coney Barrett Hearings5:31
What Should Have Happened at the Amy Coney Barrett Hearings
ReasonVids
840 views
Thumbnail for Doctors File Lawsuit Challenging State's Ban on Dispensing Medications to Their Patients3:32
Doctors File Lawsuit Challenging State's Ban on Dispensing Medications to Their Patients
IJvids
872 views
Thumbnail for Fully documented nigger deportation procedure from Japan1:41
Fully documented nigger deportation procedure from Japan
AOUisgay
2196 views
Thumbnail for Is Government Bureaucracy Failing Our Veterans?3:33
Is Government Bureaucracy Failing Our Veterans?
ReasonVids
738 views
Thumbnail for More Americans Trust IRS Than Facebook with Privacy: Reason-Rupe Poll September 20134:23
More Americans Trust IRS Than Facebook with Privacy: Reason-Rupe Poll September 2013
ReasonVids
847 views
Thumbnail for Remy: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (EV Tax Credit Edition)1:35
Remy: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (EV Tax Credit Edition)
ReasonVids
868 views
Thumbnail for Three Reasons U.S. Drone Policy Is Really Freakin' Scary2:33
Three Reasons U.S. Drone Policy Is Really Freakin' Scary
ReasonVids
957 views
Thumbnail for Gun Fiction vs. Gun Facts: What Gun Control Supporters Don't Know1:07
Gun Fiction vs. Gun Facts: What Gun Control Supporters Don't Know
ReasonVids
900 views
Thumbnail for Buckyballs vs The Consumer Products Safety Commission4:03
Buckyballs vs The Consumer Products Safety Commission
ReasonVids
882 views
Thumbnail for Health Coach Threatened With Jail for Dietary Advice2:44
Health Coach Threatened With Jail for Dietary Advice
IJvids
999 views
Thumbnail for The Communist Purge Has Begun | Live From The Lair17:01
The Communist Purge Has Begun | Live From The Lair
Terrence Popp
1188 views
Thumbnail for Ricketts v. Miami Shores:  Press Conference8:51
Ricketts v. Miami Shores: Press Conference
IJvids
839 views
Thumbnail for Blue Screen Biden: Nothing to See Here | Grunt Speak Shorts10:45
Blue Screen Biden: Nothing to See Here | Grunt Speak Shorts
Terrence Popp
774 views
Thumbnail for The principle of "Order Out of Chaos" in the Luciferian Freemason system.4:43
The principle of "Order Out of Chaos" in the Luciferian Freemason system.
bestofvoatxyz
879 views
Thumbnail for Ice skating is wild | Jeaney Collects0:11
Ice skating is wild | Jeaney Collects
invidious
252 views
Thumbnail for How OnlyFans Will Change the World and Masculinity 2022.10.1337:20
How OnlyFans Will Change the World and Masculinity 2022.10.13
bestofsaidit
740 views
Thumbnail for Why Americans Are Suckers for Quick Fixes From Psychologists5:01
Why Americans Are Suckers for Quick Fixes From Psychologists
ReasonVids
883 views
Thumbnail for Why One of Saturn’s Moons Has More "Fossil Fuels" Than Earth - This Is What (((They))) Don’t Want You to Know About the Climate Agenda.0:49
Why One of Saturn’s Moons Has More "Fossil Fuels" Than Earth - This Is What (((They))) Don’t Want You to Know About the Climate Agenda.
AOUisgay
465 views
Thumbnail for Boardwalk Violinist vs. City Hall: Challenging Ocean City's Noise Ban2:52
Boardwalk Violinist vs. City Hall: Challenging Ocean City's Noise Ban
ReasonVids
980 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian, reason magazine, reason.com, reason.tv, reasontv, afghanistan, immigration, biden, refugees, taliban, veterans, evacuations, blinken, state department, افغانستان, kabul, کابل
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle