The news from Afghanistan is bad: American troops are pulling out; half the country is controlled by the Taliban; our military leaders say the government could collapse within months.

There are some 18,000 Afghan citizens whose lives (and those of some 50,000 immediate family members) are in grave and imminent danger because they served in critical support roles for American troops.

Belatedly, the Biden administration has initiated a program to evacuate (some of?) these threatened allies. However, it’s currently anticipated that only 2,500 will be evacuated by the end of this month.

It’s critical that we evacuate all our Afghan co-combatants and their families. After the fall of Saigon, we quickly evacuated 130,000 Vietnamese; we should be able to evacuate roughly half that number of Afghans.

Sen. Angus King has described the evacuation of our Afghan allies as both a moral and national security issue. He has also said he wants the administration to do everything within its power to solve this problem: “I want the White House’s hair on fire.” Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden have also been out front on this issue.

Whatever its practical value, Sen. Susan Collins has said she wants to appoint a special ambassador to look out for the interests of women and girls after U.S. forces depart.

Please contact all members of our congressional delegation and urge them to make the evacuation of our Afghan co-combatants and their families an absolute top priority. The lives of men, women and children are on the line.

Mason Morfit
South Freeport

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