Amid the Biden administration’s catastrophic abandonment of Afghanistan to the Taliban, on Wednesday, NBC’s Today show profiled U.S. military veterans trying to make up for White House failures by taking it upon themselves to rescue Afhgan allies still trapped in the country. The brave soldiers talked about being racked by feelings of guilt in the wake of the President’s disastrous mishandling of the humanitarian crisis.
“You know, for those veterans, making sure that their Afghan interpreters and other helpers get out safely came up again and again in our conversation as they shared what they’re feeling, the guilt, anger, and anguish,” correspondent Hallie Jackson declared as the segment began. She explained: “American veterans watching the devastating images of the Taliban takeover they worked so hard to prevent.”
U.S. Army veteran Kristen Rouse emotionally told Jackson:
My interpreter, who’s stuck right now, who I’m trying to get out, he is hiding out in an area where he says that nobody knows who he is. He’s very afraid....for his safety and for the safety of his family. He sent me a picture of two of his boys, and they’re – I mean, it’s just devastating.
Fellow Army veteran Kiyoshi Mino expressed the feeling that he had failed his mission: “I feel this really strong sense of guilt. It was my job, you know, to go around to these different villages, to help them build their country and make it a better place, and this just completely makes me a liar, you know.”
CIA analyst and Afghan war vet Matt Zeller shared similar thoughts:
It’s not just the soldiers we’re talking about, right? It’s the diplomats, the aide workers, the people who believed in the future of this country that we were all trying to build together. They don’t have a future now.
Zeller has been a frequent media guest in recent days. On Monday, he blasted delusional MSNBC hosts Nicolle Wallace and Brian Williams for giving Biden high marks for his widely-panned address to the nation about Afghanistan: “I feel like I watched a different speech than the rest of you guys. I was appalled. There was such a profound bold-faced lie in that speech.”
On Wednesday, Jackson highlighted how the veterans were “still fighting now, banding together to help those who helped them.” Rouse shared her efforts: “This is, you know, a deployment from my living room. There’s so many of us who are trying to do everything that we can.” Mino echoed: “I’ve just had to put aside everything else because I feel responsible. My two friends who are still stuck in Kabul are – I’m the only hope that they have to survive right now. I’m like literally their last hope.”
Talking to Marine Corps veteran Beau Wise, who lost both of his brothers – also U.S. service members – in Afghanistan, Jackson asked: “You talk about your kids, four and two now, how do you want them to remember this war?” Wise put it this way: “You know, I don’t want them to be ashamed of anything. I mean, we lost for a few weeks, but we won for 20 years. And I want them to be proud.”
Wrapping up the report, Jackson emphasized to the show hosts:
But I’ve got to tell you guys, these are people – they are not in Afghanistan any more but, boy, they are on a mission, unbelievably dedicated, to making sure that those Afghan helpers get out. Even after our interview, Savannah, they’re passing around, you know, spreadsheets and contact information. They will not stop until those people get to safety.
Even many in the usually friendly liberal media are disgusted by the Biden administration’s shameful exit from Afghanistan, especially when the courageous men and women who fought there now feel like they have failed the people of that devastated country.
Here is a full transcript of the August 18 segment:
7:32 AM ET
HODA KOTB: We do want to switch gears now and we do want to get back to this morning’s top story, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the end of America’s longest war.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Yeah, for U.S. service members who served there the situation is deeply personal and they’ve got a lot to say about how things are playing out and about the Afghan people who helped them and are now left behind. NBC’s Hallie Jackson spoke to a group of four veterans. Hallie, good morning.
HALLIE JACKSON: Hey, good morning to all of you. You know, for those veterans, making sure that their Afghan interpreters and other helpers get out safely came up again and again in our conversation as they shared what they’re feeling, the guilt, anger, and anguish.
American veterans watching the devastating images of the Taliban takeover they worked so hard to prevent.
As you've been watching what has happened in the last 72 hours, how are you doing?
MATT ZELLER [U.S. ARMY VETERAN]: I want to suit up and go back.
KIYOSHI MINO [U.S. ARMY VETERAN]: I would give anything to go back.
JACKSON: For them, it’s personal. As the Biden administration works to process and evacuate Afghan interpreters, fixers, and other helpers.
KRISTEN ROUSE [U.S. ARMY VETERAN]: My interpreter, who’s stuck right now, who I’m trying to get out, he is hiding out in an area where he says that nobody knows who he is. He’s very afraid.
JACKSON: For his own safety, right, Kristin?
ROUSE: Yes, for his safety and for the safety of his family. He sent me a picture of two of his boys, and they’re – I mean, it’s just devastating.
MINO: I feel this really strong sense of guilt. It was my job, you know, to go around to these different villages, to help them build their country and make it a better place, and this just completely makes me a liar, you know.
ZELLER: It’s not just the soldiers we’re talking about, right? It’s the diplomats, the aide workers, the people who believed in the future of this country that we were all trying to build together. They don’t have a future now.
JACKSON: They’re still fighting now, banding together to help those who helped them.
ROUSE: This is, you know, a deployment from my living room. There’s so many of us who are trying to do everything that we can.
MINO: I’ve just had to put aside everything else because I feel responsible. My two friends who are still stuck in Kabul are – I’m the only hope that they have to survive right now. I’m like literally their last hope.
JACKSON: Marine Corps veteran Beau Wise, deployed twice to Afghanistan, pulled from the battlefield after his two brothers, who also served, were killed there. He remembers them in his memoir, Three Wise Men.
BEAU WISE [U.S. MARINE VETERAN]: It’s frustration all the way around. I mean, everything that we worked so hard for.
JACKSON: As they work to rescue the Afghans who sacrificed to help them, the veterans reflecting on the war’s legacy. You talk about your kids, four and two now, how do you want them to remember this war?
WISE: Oh, that’s a heck of a question. You know, I don’t want them to be ashamed of anything. I mean, we lost for a few weeks, but we won for 20 years. And I want them to be proud.
JACKSON: One other thing that came up again and again is the idea of the Taliban now, as we’ve talked about here on the show, pledging more peaceful relations. None of the veterans we spoke with actually believe that will happen. They do not think the Taliban has changed. They do not think the Taliban can be trusted given what they saw on the ground over the last two decades.
But I’ve got to tell you guys, these are people – they are not in Afghanistan any more but, boy, they are on a mission, unbelievably dedicated, to making sure that those Afghan helpers get out. Even after our interview, Savannah, they’re passing around, you know, spreadsheets and contact information. They will not stop until those people get to safety. Savannah?
GUTHRIE: Wow. They’re not there, but their hearts are there.
JACKSON: That’s right.
GUTHRIE: Hallie, thank you very much.
