U.S. Army veteran Kristen Rouse, who served three tours in Afghanistan, said on Tuesday’s broadcast of “Morning Joe” that people she worked with, including an interpreter and his family, were on the run from the Taliban. Rouse was trying to get them out.
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“We have more than 175 Afghan allies on our list. I’m one of thousands of veterans who have been combing lists and trying to help friends get out. From the beginning of the evacuation flights at Kabul airport I was working within my networks, within our friends’ networks to try to get my interpreter, his wife and his five young children out of the country,” Rouse said. (RELATED: ‘Blood Is On Biden’s Hands’: Republican Congressman Warns ‘War Is Not Over,’ Says Terrorism ‘Will Follow Us Home’)
She said that her interpreter was as much of a soldier as she was, that they had both worked hard for him to get a visa and for him to get to the airport.
The last time they had tried getting the interpreter into the airport Rouse received a message saying that there was a suicide attack and that there were bodies everywhere.
“He was outside one of the areas where there were horrific casualties on the U.S. and Afghan side.”
“Imagine these are your friends. This isn’t a matter of ‘Sorry, we can’t take everyone into the concert.’ This is ‘Sorry, we’re leaving you to be executed.'”
“The Taliban knows your name, the Taliban knows who you are, they have your I.D. number … they have your biometric information. All it takes is catching you at one of the checkpoints that are absolutely everywhere, all it takes is one of their door-to-door searches they are actively doing to hunt down people. All it takes is them finding them and killing you, your wife and your children. That is what it means when we say, ‘We can’t take everybody with us.'”
“It’s outrageous the hoops that they are — the paperwork they are demanding of people. I’m still doing paperwork for some of these Afghans. Doing paperwork while they are running for their lives,” Rouse concluded.