St. Louis hopes to boost its population by importing Afghan refugees



The city of St. Louis, Missouri hopes to grow its population by luring Afghan refugees to settle in the city so that it can offset its 70 years of population loss.

The Associated Press reported that there is an “aggressive effort” within the city to attract large swaths of the more than 76,000 Afghans who fled their country after its capital city of Kabul was ceded to the Taliban.

Currently, the city is home to about 600 Afghan refugees and another 750 are expected to arrive later this year.

The Associated Press reported various city and community leaders are “hopeful that over the next few years, thousands more will decide to relocate” to St. Louis and “offset seven decades of population loss.”

Reportedly, city officials see courting Afghan refugees as crucial to beginning a process of urban rejuvenation similar to how the arrival of Bosnian refugees spurred along a similar process in the 1990s.

In the 1990s, St. Louis was the most popular destination for Bosnians who were displaced by the war in the former Balkan nation of Yugoslavia. Of the estimated 300,000 Bosnian refugees who sought entry into the U.S., roughly 40,000 now call the greater-St. Louis region their home.

The St. Louis Afghan Resettlement Initiative is backed by more than $1 million in donations and has more than 800 volunteers at its disposal. The initiative has support from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, the International Institute of St. Louis, and other nonprofit groups throughout the city.

Reportedly, advocates for the refugee resettlement initiative haven’t encountered any opposition.

Jerry Schlichter, an attorney who is an organizer and major funder of the program, said that the initiative will help Afghan refugees find housing and jobs, connect newly arrived refugees with professional development resources such as classes on computer coding, and will provide them with grants for business startups.

Schlichter said, “There’s a mutual need. We have been stagnant. With this one-time opportunity with Afghan refugees ending up somewhere in this country, we should take advantage of it.”

Arrey Obenson, the president and CEO of the International Institute of St. Louis, said that he is confident the new refugees will revitalize the city’s neighborhoods.

“The reality of the circumstance we face is that if we look at St. Louis city and the rate the population is declining, we have to find a way to bring people into the community to turn that around,” Obenson said.

Some of the world's most dangerous terrorists walk freely in Afghanistan after Taliban takeover



Some of the world's most dangerous terrorist leaders — one of whom is on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list — were seen sauntering freely in the Afghan capital of Kabul late last week following the Taliban's takeover of the country.

Sirajuddin Haqqani and his uncle, Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, both leaders of the Haqqani Network, have allegedly been given safe harbor by Taliban forces in Afghanistan," Vice reported Monday. The latter has reportedly been put in charge of security in Kabul.

Other jihadist leaders have reportedly been spotted meeting with Taliban officials in recent days, foreshadowing a return of coordinated terrorist activity in the region. It's the latest unraveling in an increasingly bleak situation following the Biden administration's bungled withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.

Here's more from Vice:

Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, who currently has a $5 million bounty on his head for his links to al-Qaida terrorist operations, was seen leading a crowd of worshippers through prayers at Pul-i Khishti mosque in Kabul's old city on Friday.

Khalil is a prominent figure in the Haqqani Network, a militant organization allied with both the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida that has been described as the most lethal insurgent group targeting Coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

His nephew is Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani Network and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in the eyes of the U.S. Department of State, who has a $10 million bounty on his head ...

... Hours before the Taliban declared the formation of an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on Thursday, Khalil and his entourage met with Abdullah Abdullah, the main peace envoy in the ousted government, who later indicated publicly that Khalil had been put in charge of security in Kabul.

In a report on the developments published by Voice of America, retired senior British diplomat Ivor Roberts noted that the Haqqani Network being put in charge of security is akin to a "fox being put in charge of a chicken coop."

The move also indicates that al Qaeda will have an increased presence in the country, a direct contradiction of a promise the Taliban made in a peace deal brokered last year by former President Donald Trump. In the deal, the Taliban agreed not to let Afghanistan become a haven for terrorists if the U.S. withdrew.

"The Haqqani and al-Qaida have a long history together, you could argue they are intertwined, and it is highly unlikely they will cut ties," another British intelligence officer told Voice of America.

Though the Taliban's violation of the agreement is a negative development, it is certainly not a surprising one. U.S. officials warned last spring that intelligence showed the Taliban had no intentions of abiding by the deal.

President Joe Biden certainly had access to such information and at various other times was warned not to carry out a total withdrawal from Afghanistan. But he proceeded to do so regardless. The inadequately planned and apparently ill-advised withdrawal has led to a humanitarian crisis in the country — and now known terrorists are openly roaming the streets.

Fox News reporter corners Pentagon spox over prediction he made just two days before Taliban took Kabul



Fox News correspondent Lucas Tomlinson confronted Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Saturday over a prediction Kirby made just two days before the Taliban entered Kabul to complete their takeover of Afghanistan.

What happened?

During a press briefing, Tomlinson pressed Kirby why he claimed, just two days before the Taliban overtook Afghanistan, that Kabul "is not right now in any imminent threat environment."

"How could you get that so wrong?" Tomlinson asked.

However, instead of offering a mea culpa, Kirby insisted that he was not wrong in his assessment, and that, in fact, his statement was "true."

"In the moment that I said it, Lucas, it was true," Kirby said. "And I understand, I've seen the reactions out there on social media to what I said. In the moment that I said it, based on what we knew at the time, it was a true statement."

"And, yes, two days later things dramatically changed— I readily admit that. Things moved very, very quickly, Lucas, and as you heard the chairman up here just a few days ago say that, you know, that there wasn't any indication that, you know, that they had received that things could evolve as quickly as they did," Kirby continued.

.@LucasFoxNews to John Kirby: "Two days before kabul fell, you said from that podium: 'The city is not right now in… https://t.co/794klDt0XR

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) 1629558790.0

When Tomlinson pushed back — noting the Taliban was seizing major cities across Afghanistan in the weeks leading up to the fall of Kabul — Kirby remained adamant that his statement, at the time, was not wrong.

This time, however, Kirby qualified his assessment saying, "the threat is going to change and it could change literally by the hour."

"But that's not what you said on Friday [two days before Kabul fell] that it could be changing by the hour," Tomlinson shot back. "You said there was no imminent threat of Kabul falling."

Kirby responded, "That's— again, I think I've answered the question."

Is that true?

While the Biden administration maintains they were caught off guard by the Taliban's rapid successes, the American intelligence community has said they were warning for weeks that Afghanistan was extremely vulnerable to falling into the hands of the Taliban.

In fact, the Wall Street Journal reported that a State Department memo warned of the imminent fall of Afghanistan.

From the WSJ:

The classified cable represents the clearest evidence yet that the administration had been warned by its own officials on the ground that the Taliban's advance was imminent and Afghanistan's military may be unable to stop it.

The cable, sent via the State Department's confidential dissent channel, warned of rapid territorial gains by the Taliban and the subsequent collapse of Afghan security forces, and offered recommendations on ways to mitigate the crisis and speed up an evacuation, the two people said.

The cable, dated July 13, also called for the State Department to use tougher language in describing the atrocities being committed by the Taliban, one of the people said.

President Joe Biden infamously promised last month that Afghanistan would not fall.

"The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese army. They're not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the— of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable," Biden said.

Of course, now the fall of Afghanistan is being called "worse than Saigon."

Taliban reportedly going 'door-to-door' looking for Christians to kill them



Christians in Afghanistan say they are fleeing to the mountains as Taliban militants are reportedly going door to door in search of believers in order to kill them.

It's the beginning of what many have anticipated to be a brutal, terroristic Taliban reign. The radical Islamist militants have swept through Afghanistan at an alarming rate in recent weeks as U.S. troops were withdrawn, and already they are seeking enemies to their cause.

In an official statement issued this week, leaders in the underground Afghanistan church told missionary group Frontier Alliance International that Christians are being targeted for execution:

The Taliban has a hit list of known Christians they are targeting to pursue and kill. The US Embassy is defunct and there is no longer a safe place for believers to take refuge. All borders to neighboring countries are closed and all flights to and from have been halted, with the exception of private planes. People are fleeing into the mountains looking for asylum. They are fully reliant on God, who is the only One who can and will protect them.

The Taliban are going door-to-door taking women and children. The people must mark their house with an "X" if they have a girl over 12 years old, so that the Taliban can take them. If they find a young girl and the house was not marked they will execute the entire family. If a married woman 25 years or older has been found, the Taliban promptly kill her husband, do whatever they want to her, and then sell her as a sex slave.

Husbands and fathers have given their wives and daughters guns and told them that when the Taliban come, they can choose to kill them or kill themselves—it is their choice.

One anonymous Afghan Christian leader told CBN News this week that the Taliban's public insistence that the new regime will be inclusive and tolerant are bald-faced lies. Instead, they desire to rout out Christians from the population.

"Right now we fear elimination," he said. "The Taliban are going to eliminate the Christian population of Afghanistan."

The leader said he has already lost contact with other believers in different cities and he fears that the persecution has only begun.

He added that in some cases Christians are known to their communities and are obvious targets for the Taliban, who he said "are famous for carrying out" the death penalty.

Others are in hiding, but that hasn't stopped the Taliban from searching for their identity. Taliban fighters have reportedly been rifling through people's phones in search of Bible apps.

"We're hearing from reliable sources that the Taliban demand people's phones, and if they find a downloaded Bible on your device, they will kill you immediately," Dr. Rex Rogers, president of Middle Eastern Christian TV network SAT-7 North America, told the Religious News Service.

"It's incredibly dangerous right now for Afghans to have anything Christian on their phones. The Taliban have spies and informants everywhere," he added.

According to Open Doors USA, Afghanistan is the world's second most dangerous place for Christians.

Persecution notwithstanding, during the last 20 years of U.S. military occupation, several thousand Afghan people reportedly became followers of Jesus. Though any level of security they once enjoyed now appears to be gone as Taliban forces raid cities and homes.

Christians around the world are now joined in prayer for their Afghan brothers and sisters.

(H/T: The Daily Wire)

Biden reportedly ghosted UK, ignored PM Johnson for 36-plus hours amid Afghanistan fallout



As chaos unfolded in Afghanistan over the last week, President Joe Biden reportedly left America's greatest ally and leading partner in the region in the dark.

According to fresh reports from the Times and the Telegraph this week, the United Kingdom — despite having suffered the second most casualties in the Afghanistan war — had very little input regarding Biden's decision to withdraw from the region and was put on hold after the situation unraveled.

The abject failure of communication has allegedly sparked outrage among British lawmakers, who in recent days have taken to reminding the U.S. president that the war in Afghanistan was not a solo campaign, but a NATO effort.

What are the details?

In the Times report published Thursday, political editor Steven Swinford stated that "senior military commanders have also not been party to key discussions between the U.S. and the Taliban, so were left in the dark about when they could be forced to pull out."

That report was later confirmed by Politico London, which cited an unnamed British official who claimed "the U.S. did not communicate to the U.K. how it planned to withdraw nor the pace of its withdrawal," a decision which has fueled anger within the British government.

But the Biden administration didn't just cut the U.K. out of talks prior to the wholesale troop withdrawal. As things grew more dire, Biden reportedly ghosted U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson for more than 36 hours, as well.

According to the Telegraph, "Johnson had been attempting to get Biden on the phone to discuss Kabul falling from Monday morning. The pair eventually talked at close to 10 p.m. on Tuesday."

The reports were highlighted in Tuesday's edition of Politico London's Playbook newsletter. In the newsletter, editor Alex Wickham called Biden's failure to communicate nothing short of "astonishing."

Two remarkable lines in today’s papers from @Steven_Swinford @benrileysmith — UK military left in the dark by the… https://t.co/u2SdsGMheS

— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) 1629363700.0

What else?

Biden's chaotic and hasty departure from Afghanistan has not gone over well across the pond. The New York Times reported Wednesday that the president's actions have "left British officials embarrassed and embittered."

"He hasn't just humiliated America's Afghan allies," Rory Stewart, a former British cabinet minister with lengthy experience in Afghanistan, told the Times. "He's humiliated his Western allies by demonstrating their impotence."

"I hope 'America First' hasn't become 'America Alone,'" Tom Tugendhat, a conservative member of Parliament and chairman of the foreign affairs committee, added.

Tugendhat, a British military veteran who served alongside U.S. and Afghan troops, lashed out at Biden in a fiery floor speech Wednesday, calling Biden's recent questioning of the courage of Afghan troops "shameful."

"Those who have never fought for the colors they fly should be careful about criticizing those who have," he said.

Biden claims military advisers never told him to keep troops in Afghanistan, but multiple reports say otherwise



President Joe Biden now insists his top military commanders never advised him to keep a contingent of troops in Afghanistan, despite multiple reports claiming the contrary.

The word clash comes as the militant Taliban regime wrests control over Afghanistan with alarming speed, leaving Afghan residents fearful for their lives and scores of American citizens trapped in the nation's capital awaiting evacuation.

What are the details?

During an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday, Biden repeatedly denied claims that he ignored advice from top military brass to maintain some level of military presence in the country.

Here's the transcript of the relevant portion of the interview:

STEPHANOPOULOS: But your top military advisers warned against withdrawing on this timeline. They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops.

BIDEN: No, they didn't. It was split. Tha — that wasn't true. That wasn't true.

STEPHANOPOULOS: They didn't tell you that they wanted troops to stay?

BIDEN: No. Not at — not in terms of whether we were going to get out in a timeframe all troops. They didn't argue against that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no one told — your military advisers did not tell you, "No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It's been a stable situation for the last several years. We can do that. We can continue to do that"?

BIDEN: No. No one said that to me that I can recall.

In the aftermath of the Taliban takeover, Biden has defended his decision to go through with a foreshadowed total withdrawal by noting that "chaos" was inevitable.

What's the background?

But Biden's claims fly in the face of multiple reports claiming otherwise, as the resulting fiasco in Afghanistan has left many demanding answers on how the Biden administration was so ill-prepared.

The Wall Street Journal first reported in April — before reiterating this week — that Biden "overruled" top military brass in ordering the total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, an event that directly preceded the Taliban's rapid takeover of the Middle Eastern country.

Here's how the Journal put it:

In contrast to the numerous Trump policies he reversed, he opted to carry out Mr. Trump's deal with the Taliban instead of trying to renegotiate it. In so doing, he overruled his top military commanders: Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East; Gen. Austin Scott Miller, who led NATO forces in Afghanistan; and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Citing the risks of removing American forces to Afghan security and the U.S. Embassy, they recommended that the U.S. keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan while stepping up diplomacy to try to cement a peace agreement.

Politico added at the time that Vice President Kamala Harris played a "key role" in the withdrawal decision.

What else?

The conflicting accounts are the latest controversy for the Biden administration amid a rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan that has garnered criticism and outrage from both sides of the aisle.

Republican scrutiny of Biden's handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal was to be expected. But the crisis has also generated a surprising level of backlash from members of the president's own party.

Democrats turned on the Biden administration this week, vowing to launch investigations into the withdrawal and calling the situation a "disaster" and a "catastrophe."

Democrats turn on Biden, vow investigation into Afghanistan fiasco: 'Negligence,' a 'disaster,' they 'screwed up so bad that it's fireable'



While addressing the American people on Monday, President Joe Biden said the "buck stops with me" with regard to the Taliban's alarming takeover of Afghanistan amid the U.S. military's withdrawal. Then he went on spreading blame to everyone but himself, including former President Donald Trump.

But Biden's blame-game tactic appears to have failed, even among members of his own party.

Democratic lawmakers this week turned on the president over his botched handling of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and are demanding answers from his administration, the Hill reported.

What are they saying?

One Democratic member of Congress, who remained anonymous in order to speak candidly, told the outlet, "I am bewildered and frustrated and, privately talking to a lot of House Democrats, they feel the same thing."

"The scenes are just brutal and there is no excuse for just how badly State or the Defense Department or both completely bungled the evacuations and getting folks out," the lawmaker fumed. "Someone was really asleep at the switch."

"I do want to know who was responsible. Where was the ball dropped? Because that person needs to be held accountable," the lawmaker added. "At least one person, or a group of people, screwed up so bad that it's fireable."

The Hill reported that a similar sentiment is shared by several in the Democratic caucus, with many desiring to see people within the administration held responsible.

"It is imperative that the administration provide the American people and Congress transparency about its Afghanistan strategy," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.

Meeks announced on Tuesday that his committee would soon be holding hearings on the Afghanistan debacle, during which Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will be called to testify.

Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee agreed. The committee, led by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.), vowed this week to investigate the administration's withdrawal for "policy execution and intelligence failures."

In a blistering statement, Menendez said that "Congress was told repeatedly that the Afghan Defense and Security Forces were up to the task, that it had the troops, equipment and willingness to fight. To see this army dissolve so quickly after billions of dollars in U.S. support is astounding. The American and Afghan people clearly have not been told the truth."

What else?

Ahead of Biden's speech, Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (Texas) tweeted: "There's no way to hide it. The situation in Afghanistan is another shame on this admin. Withdrawal was never going to be easy but it didn't need to come to this. The US must do everything in its power to help our partners & allies to safety & protect our national security."

According to the Hill, several other Democratic members were just as severe:

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) has described the situation as a "disaster" that was "avoidable."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said he was "disappointed that the Biden administration clearly did not accurately assess the implications of a rapid U.S. withdrawal."

Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) called what was happening a "catastrophe." Writing in Foreign Policy, Langevin, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, complained that "this negligence was par for the course for the last administration. I am disappointed to see it now."

Chaotic scenes showing Afghan residents dangling from departing U.S. planes in an attempt to flee the country have shocked the world in recent days. Some fell hundreds of feet to their deaths. Others may have died while clinging to a plane's landing gear. Afghan women, anticipating harsh treatment under the new regime, have been left to despair over their new reality.

Thousands of U.S. troops were rushed back to the Kabul airport in Afghanistan to ensure that scores of American citizens and Afghan translators could be evacuated.

It's the result of Taliban forces sweeping Afghanistan with stunning speed and wresting control over the country, an outcome Biden called "highly unlikely" only days ago.

The fiasco is perhaps the administration's greatest setback yet. One that, for now, appears to have reset the political landscape.

Taliban forces brutally murdered an Afghan mother of 4 during nationwide sweep. Now they claim the 'inclusive' new regime won't victimize women.



The Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan in recent weeks has left many of the country's residents filled with fear and dread over what their futures will look like under the new militant regime.

That palpable fear was apparent in the heartbreaking video of a young Afghan woman crying over the sad state of affairs in her country. It was also on full display over the weekend, when scores of desperate Afghan residents climbed onto departing U.S. planes in hope of escape from the country — some falling hundreds of feet to their deaths.

Women, especially, are expected to lose many of the rights they enjoyed under the last two decades of U.S. military occupation and be subjected to the harsh treatment they experienced under the Taliban's previous rule.

Perhaps foreshadowing the trials to come, CNN told the story of an Afghan mother of four who suffered a brutal death last month at the hands of Taliban militants as they swept through the northern region of the country:

Najia was at home with her three young sons and daughter in a small village in northern Afghanistan when Taliban fighters knocked on their door.

Najia's daughter Manizha, 25, knew they were coming — her mother had told her they'd done the same thing the previous three days, demanding that she cook food for up to 15 fighters.

"My mother told them, 'I am poor, how can I cook for you?'" said Manizha. "(The Taliban) started beating her. My mother collapsed and they hit her with their guns — AK47s."

Manizha said she yelled at the fighters to stop. They paused for a moment before throwing a grenade into the next room and fleeing as the flames spread, she said. The mother-of-four died from the beating.

In its report, CNN described the horrifying incident as a "chilling preview of the threat now facing women across Afghanistan." The outlet even used aliases for Najia and Manizha in order to protect their identities.

If history repeats itself, violence similar to the kind carried out against Najia will soon threaten many more Afghan women. During the Taliban's last reign in Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001, women were treated as second-class citizens.

In a 2001 report, the U.S. State Department said that "the Taliban regime cruelly reduced women and girls to poverty, worsened their health, and deprived them of their right to an education, and many times the right to practice their religion."

The regime also "perpetrated egregious acts of violence against women, including rape, abduction, and forced marriage," causing some families to send their daughters to Pakistan or Iran for their protection.

Yet now, in the wake of its takeover, the Taliban is reportedly vowing to inaugurate an "inclusive" new government. In the tolerant new regime, women won't be victimized, Taliban spokesperson Enamullah Samangani said on Afghan television.

The Taliban is ready to "provide women with the environment to work and study, and the presence of women in different (government) structures according to Islamic law and in accordance with our cultural values," he claimed.

The claims have been received with healthy skepticism, justifiably so. Many believe the regime is simply paying lip service to the Western world.

On Monday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the U.S. might recognize a potential new government of Afghanistan so long as that government "upholds rights, doesn't harbor terrorists, and protects the rights of women and girls."

Trump calls Afghanistan 'the most embarrassing military outcome' in American history



Former President Donald Trump has been on the attack, criticizing the Biden administration over the issue of Afghanistan as the nation swiftly falls to the Taliban while the U.S. seeks to withdraw.

"It's not that we left Afghanistan. It's the grossly incompetent way we left!" he declared in a statement on Monday.

"Afghanistan is the most embarrassing military outcome in the history of the United States. It didn't have to be that way!" Trump said in another statement.

"Can anyone even imagine taking out our Military before evacuating civilians and others who have been good to our Country and who should be allowed to seek refuge? In addition, these people left topflight and highly sophisticated equipment. Who can believe such incompetence? Under my Administration, all civilians and equipment would have been removed," Trump said in another statement.

But Trump is not the only American unhappy with the situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has been seizing control of the country.

A recent survey found that a majority of likely general election voters disapprove of President Biden's handling of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan — 59.5% strongly disapprove and an additional 9.8% disapprove, which combines for a whopping 69% in the survey expressing disapproval.

Many GOP lawmakers have leveled criticism against the Biden administration over the situation in Afghanistan.

"Biden, the White House & their shameless hype men at MSNBC continue attacking the straw man of leaving #Afghanistan," Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida tweeted. "It isn't about deciding to leave, it's about the incompetent way they executed it."

GOP Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah blamed the "ongoing catastrophe in Afghanistan" on the president and the Pentagon.

"But the ongoing catastrophe in Afghanistan was entirely avoidable and is a blatant failure of leadership – both by President Biden and the Pentagon," Stewart said in a statement. "Allowing weapons, helicopters, ammunition, and classified documents to fall into the hands of the Taliban is inexcusable. Not being able to defend our own embassy is a disgrace. Leaving the Afghani soldiers and interpreters who fought beside us to fend for themselves is incomprehensible. Competent military leadership could have withdrawn our forces in an orderly fashion, creating benchmarks and priorities that would have prevented the current situation. Neither the President nor the Pentagon did any of that."

'It's a disgrace to this country to depart like this': Vets watch Afghanistan deteriorate amid US withdrawal



As Americans and the rest of the world witness the rapid fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban as the U.S. moves to withdraw, the unfolding situation can be particularly painful for U.S. veterans and Gold Star families.

"It's a disgrace to this country to depart like this," said retired Army Colonel Dave Brostrom, whose son Jonathan died in combat in Afghanistan in 2008. "This is very disheartening," he said, according to CBS News.

"You know, my son died trying to protect his fellow soldiers, but for the ultimate cause of stabilizing the country and establishing a good government, yes, it was a sacrifice that was for naught," Brostrom noted when asked whether it felt like his son gave his life for nothing, the outlet reported.

Republican Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, a veteran who served in Afghanistan, explained that he has swung between rage and grief.

"You know it, it's a painful back and forth between rage and — and grief, to be perfectly candid with you," he said, according to WMFE. "It is incredibly difficult to watch so many of us, not just veterans, but particularly Gold Star families, even 9/11 victims have reached out, you know, asking, was it all in vain, just watching all of that blood, sweat, and tears, and treasure go up in smoke. And I want everyone to hear me loud and clear that it was not in vain. Their sacrifice was not in vain that America was kept safe for the last 20 years. But it's incredibly, it is an incredibly difficult time. And for anyone who's going to a very dark place, please, please reach out. There's a veteran crisis hotline and you're not alone."

Other lawmakers have also been sharing the Veterans Crisis Line on social media. People can choose to call on the phone, text message, or chat online.

"I just can't help thinking about what a waste it is. I can't allow myself to think about how after all that blood and treasure, it ends like this," retired Army Colonel Janet Holliday said, according to the New York Times.

To current active duty servicemembers and veterans in the Third District who may be struggling with the ongoing cri… https://t.co/MxEPIKBRLu
— Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. (@RepGregMurphy) 1629129991.0