U.S. military veterans of the war in Afganistan understandably are feeling lost and upset seeing the Taliban take over the country with lightning speed after they were ousted from power nearly 20 years ago.
The Taliban took the capital, Kabul, in a matter of hours without much fighting after the Afghan military and government collapsed. As a result, the U.S. military had to deploy around 6,000 troops to facilitate the evacuation of U.S. embassy personnel and citizens via Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Afghan civilians have flooded the airport in a desperate bid to leave the country, resulting in stampedes and even people falling out of the sky after trying to cling to planes taking off.
U.S. veterans have taken to social media to express their anger, confusion, and heartbreak over the situation, especially since the evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies at risk of death from the Taliban appears to have been cobbled together at the last minute.
A Marine Corps veteran sharing publicly on Instagram what many others are thinking today pic.twitter.com/t9hMe3S9Dp
— Paul Szoldra (@PaulSzoldra) August 14, 2021
Retired Army Staff Sergeant Seamus Fennessy: “It feels like not only a betrayal of what our soldiers have bled for, the way in which we’re pulling out is something that’s disgraceful” pic.twitter.com/yYaXQgRrtN
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 16, 2021
Thread: I woke up yesterday morning at 5am in NYC to go on air and talk candidly about this debacle. I spent 15 minutes putting medicine and bandages on the open wound on my right nub. by 5pm I was on air in atlanta reapplying cream and counting the minutes to take off my legs.
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) August 15, 2021
11 years later and I’m still bleeding for this perhaps God, damned war. It still controls my life and dictates my days. This war will not end for me until the day I die. So I’ll fight. I’ll fight by holding back frustration, by withstanding pain, by smiling anyway.
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) August 15, 2021
I’ll fight by not giving up, going away or letting any of us forget the high cost of war, or more importantly, the legacy of bad leadership. My future is this war, we’re inseverable. Your future is to not let our sons and daughters fight their own.
— Joey Jones (@Johnny_Joey) August 15, 2021
Biden should resign, Sullivan should resign, Austin should resign, Blinken should resign, Burns should resign, Gen McKenzie should resign, General Miller should resign
— Amber Smith (@AmberSmithUSA) August 16, 2021
Pentagon leadership just killed military recruitment for a generation.
— Amber Smith (@AmberSmithUSA) August 15, 2021
While all of this is occurring, it appears President Joe Biden has no plans to address the nation about the situation and is still at Camp David. Even White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is out of the office on a vacation for the week.
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