The fallout over President Joe Biden's chaotic and highly unorganized exit from Afghanistan continues as U.S. authorities attempt to vet hundreds of thousands of Afghans who were shoved into planes in the final days of the war.
As Julio covered earlier, U.S. Northern Command General Glen VanHerck is admitting the majority of Afghans evacuated from the country aren't interpreters or SIV holders. They were left behind along with hundreds of Americans.
Now, the Associated Press reports Afghan men with child brides have arrived in Wisconsin. The details are horrifying.
U.S. officials are looking into reports that in the frantic evacuation of desperate Afghans from Kabul, older men were admitted together with young girls they claimed as “brides” or otherwise sexually abused.
U.S. officials at intake centers in the United Arab Emirates and in Wisconsin have identified numerous incidents in which Afghan girls have been presented to authorities as the “wives” of much older men. While child marriage is not uncommon in Afghanistan, the U.S. has strict policies against human trafficking that include prosecutions for offenders and sanctions for countries that don’t crack down on it.
One internal document seen by The Associated Press says the State Department has sought “urgent guidance” from other agencies after purported child brides were brought to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. Another document, described to the AP by officials familiar with it, says Afghan girls at a transit site in Abu Dhabi have alleged they have been raped by older men they were forced to marry in order to escape Afghanistan.
Officials say nearly 8,780 Afghan refugees have arrived at Fort McCoy as of today and are being supported by about 1,385 soldiers pic.twitter.com/x6aCLdv4Wm
— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) September 3, 2021
Those who raised questions early on about a lack of vetting, for terrorism and cultural discrepancies, amid Biden's catastrophic exit from the airport in Kabul have been berated by the White House.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member