Unable to defeat the Taliban following a 20-year failed effort, U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021. Interpreters like Ahmad Ehsan (a pseudonym) were often promised a path to the United States in return for serving alongside America's military. Sadly, Ehsan is one of over 60,000 Afghan interpreters and others who were left behind, facing death and torture from the Taliban should they be found.
Some former Afghan soldiers and interpreters were able to flee to Iran and other parts of the world. Last week, Ahsan told The Gateway Pundit that former Afghan commanders are assisting diplomats at the Russian embassy in Iran to provide soldiers for the war against Ukraine. Ehsan was able to provide an application given to former Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and others, which is subsequently taken to the Russian embassy in Iran for processing.
American Family News spoke to Christopher Paul (a pseudonym) on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The retired Sergeant First Class deployed to Afghanistan seven times and participated in the training of Afghan special forces personnel.
Considering how easily the Taliban were able to regain power after the U.S. withdrew, Paul now questions his effort and agrees that it's quite ironic that Afghan soldiers he may have once trained could be fighting alongside Russia, a foreign adversary to the U.S., in their war against Ukraine.
"The only true personal benefit I have received from the war in Afghanistan and the realization that we were deceived by the ruling elite is that I have drawn closer to God and found salvation through Jesus Christ," Paul admits.
"The fact that the Afghan soldiers we trained are now fighting alongside Russia goes hand in hand with leaving billions of dollars' worth of weapons and weapons systems in Afghanistan," Paul continues.
"What we worked so hard for and what we used to accomplish our missions has now fallen into the hands of our enemies to use to their benefit – weapons in Afghanistan and soldiers we trained in Russia. It's egregious and it's treasonous."
The current situation in the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia is a sad one, he says.
"The Taliban are still in control, we lost thousands of service members, and tens of thousands of others were maimed or seriously wounded," he laments. "Sadly, that doesn't even include the number of suicides within the military as a result of the war."
According to Paul, the war accomplished "absolutely nothing" about protecting America from the threat of terrorism. Rather, he says, "it enriched corporations in the military-industrial complex."
He asks: "Why would we spend 20 years in Afghanistan, pouring in an immense amount of 'blood and treasure' with the only result is to hand it all over to our enemy, to include billions in arms in the name of 'fighting terrorism' only to let an estimated number of 22 million illegal aliens to invade our country, which certainly includes known and unknown terrorists?"
He continues: "There was no real objective to 'fight terrorism' – and the only objective in this 'banker's war' was to enrich the military-industrial complex and the central banks' bottom line.
"Endless wars need justification to garner public support – and what better way is there than to keep Americans in fear of terrorism?"
While Paul admits the U.S. does have some interests in the Middle East and Europe, he argues America has "no business provoking a war" in either region. "[So] why are we increasing pressure on Russia to potentially start a third World War?" he asks.
