Life can feel pretty helpless these days. After all:
1) We live on a planet that's drying out faster than day-old cornbread in a stoned man's pie hole.
2) A sizable wad of our populace has decided to team with the Covid Delta variant to give us Groundhog Year, 2021. I'm sure we all know someone who, while gloriously worm-free, has chosen to prolong this dismal plague based upon what some former reptile chiropractor says about RNA-altering microchips on their Parler channel.
3) After a twenty-year hitch in Afghanistan, we Yanks have peaced out. As a result, entire brigades of Afghani guardian angels and their families have been left in the lurch, getting by who-knows-how, living who-knows-where and doing who-knows-what to stay alive.
And those aren't the only problems that can make us feel helpless and depressed and angry—homelessness, racial unrest, the economy...
I'll just stop right there, because this is where I want to flip things. Segues have always been a challenge.
What if we were to squad up a little, to combine forces and take on Problem #3? Would you be willing to take a few minutes to enlist your services toward a collective effort? It may not succeed, but I know I'll feel better for at least trying and hopefully you will, too. Let me explain.
This is my friend, Roger. Some of you may already know Rog, but if you don't, here's a little background on a man who's devoted his life to the service of others, much of it taking place while being shot at. Here's a photo of him in front of the Afghan National Army (ANA) Court of Appeals.
Having spent a twenty-year career as an army JAG, including multiple assignments to war zones in Somalia and Afghanistan, Rog signed on as a civilian contractor with the Department of Defense to perform “Rule of Law” work for a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan.
Roger: My last trip to Afghanistan was from September, 2018 to September, 2019. I worked in Kabul at a place called Camp Resolute Support (aka Camp RS), which was located next door to the US Embassy. Our job was to work with Afghan counterparts in strengthening their legal systems. And it's how Rog met Fahim Sabet, his interpreter during that final tour.
Roger: Fahim and I would ride together in up-armored cars to the Ministry of Defense (MOD), to meet with two ANA generals. One was the highest ranking lawyer in the Afghan Army and the other, the Chief Judge of the ANA. We met at least once per week, often times more. (Those were fun rides...not).
I worked with Fahim every day. He would translate conversations and also translate legal documents for me. We would also spend some time—just the two of us—with Fahim trying to explain the complex social structure of Afghan society. It was a real eye opener. Nobody had a bigger influence on my cultural awareness of Afghan norms. He always had patience with me and always steered me in the right direction.
Early on in my tour, he and his wife had their first baby, a boy they named Mano. As the father of a newborn, Fahim was constantly worried about his son. He and his wife believed that Mano had a fever on a regular basis, and she would take the baby to the hospital or clinic nearly every day, only to find out that the baby was just fussy and did not have a fever.
I mentioned using a baby thermometer. Fahim had no idea what I was talking about and he was blown away that there was such a thing. I got on Amazon and bought him one. He was so incredibly thankful for that small gesture. It's why I cringe when I hear him talking about how Mano is now not eating because of stress and lack of sleep. No little kid should go through that.
Which brings us to now. Having spent ten years working in support of the US mission, Fahim has become a prime target for Taliban retribution. Although he was able to obtain a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) from the US State Department for him and his family, it's of little use. Numerous attempts to even approach Kabul's airport have failed, and three-year-old Mano has been traumatized by the chaos, often subjected to the random gunfire employed by the Taliban as a method of crowd control.
Unfortunately, money can't help solve this problem, not as long as Fahim and his family are trapped inside Afghanistan.
Roger: Many have asked what can be done for Afghans trying to get out of the country. The short answer is, not a lot or enough. That said, I had a thought: We can all contact four or five friends and request that they email their congressman/senator, inquiring what is being done to assist Afghan nationals who've supported the US over the past decade. Then keep contacting them. At least then we're doing something.
Isn't that the key? Doing something?
For those of us living in Washington state, Senator Patty Murray has two people assigned to the Afghan refugee crisis:
alejandra_villa@murray.senate.gov and
Anthony_Pena@murray.senate.gov. If you live elsewhere, Google makes it pretty easy to figure out who represents you. And to hopefully save you a little time, you can copy and paste the following message if you feel like it:
Dear Senator/Congressperson,
I implore you to do everything in your power to liberate Afghan nationals who have contributed to the US effort, but are now trapped inside the country following the Taliban takeover.
Fahim Sabet is such an individual. Mr. Sabet has spent the past 10 years working as an interpreter and assisting the US mission, making him and his family prime targets for the Taliban. He holds an approved Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) from the US State Department, yet has been left behind along with his wife and 3-year-old son. This is unacceptable.
I know the United States can do better. Thank you for your help.
And thank you.
