White House defends vetting process of Afghans

Jalil Afridi
WASHINGTON: White House Spokesperson, Karine Jean Pierre defended the vetting process for those Afghans who entered the US after its withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.
When asked by Fox News TV Correspondent, Peter Doocy about the Department of Homeland Security report aired by Fox News, Karine termed the report and the news as false and said that there were more than a dozen departments involved who did the vetting process for those Afghans who entered the US last year after its withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is pertinent to mention here that most of those Afghans who entered the US last year were mostly those who were working for the US as either contractors or translators.
The Afghans who were brought to the US were those who feared for their lives after Taliban take over of Afghanistan last year. The US had assured these Afghans that in return of their services, they will also be gifted with US citizenships beside the regular salary which they were receiving each month.
President Biden had directed State Department to make a separate cell for those Afghans who were brought to the US in order to better accommodate them in the process of their settlement in the US. State Department and Pentagon had given contract to several NGO’s to hire Pashtun and Dari translators on hefty salaries in the US to communicate with the Afghans in their own language. The whole process was done in such rush and speedy manner that even State Department officials were confused as to how to deal with the situation and they had mentioned such concerns in their of the record conversations.
The fall outs of leaving Afghanistan are not over for US as it can seen from reports appearing in US media on regular basis and in the White House press briefings. There are thousands of Afghans who were promised US citizenships are still stuck in countries like Pakistan, UAE, Qatar and Turkey. Recently this correspondent met an Afghan in Washington DC who was shot five times by Taliban and is working in a local restaurant. This Afghan complained that it’s been a year since he is in America but his wife and kids are still in Turkey.
Critics of this whole process of bringing over more than one hundred thousand Afghans to the US say that why and who promised these Afghans that in return of their services they will be offered US citizenships. These critics also say that once these Afghans become US citizens, who and how is the vetting process of their relatives will be done and how will it be insured that hard core Taliban don’t enter the US with an intent to take revenge.