Biden Admin Evacuated 55 Afghans on Terror Watchlist—And Yeah, It’s a Mess
Look, let’s be real—the whole Afghanistan withdrawal back in August 2021? Absolute chaos. You remember those scenes at Kabul airport, right? People clinging to planes, desperation everywhere. But here’s the kicker: turns out, in all that madness, we accidentally brought over 55 folks who were literally on the terror watchlist. That’s the thing that just blows my mind. A DOJ report just dropped this week confirming it, and honestly? It’s worse than we thought.
So What’s in This DOJ Report?
First off—timing. They released it Tuesday, and man, it doesn’t pull punches. Basically says what Republicans have been yelling about for months: the vetting process was a disaster. Speed over security, that kind of thing. And get this—some of these guys were on the no-fly list. How does that even happen?
Here’s how bad it got: during those last crazy days, officials were so swamped they were basically rubber-stamping people through. Incomplete background checks, missed biometric flags—the works. The report straight-up admits they lost track of high-risk evacuees. Not great.
How’d This Even Go Down?
Okay, so remember “Operation Allies Welcome”? Good idea on paper—help interpreters and allies who worked with us. But execution? Total trainwreck. They were supposed to cross-check fingerprints and stuff, but in the rush, a lot of that just… didn’t happen. And get this—some evacuees didn’t even have papers. Like, at all.
Fast forward to now: some of these watchlist guys are still out there. A few got picked up later, but tracking the rest? Good luck with that. The DOJ’s basically like, “We’re trying, but…” Yeah. Not reassuring.
Cue the Political Firestorm
Republicans are losing it, and can you blame them? One senator called it “gross negligence”—and that’s one of the nicer takes. There’s talk of hearings, demands for accountability, all that jazz. Meanwhile, the White House’s defense is basically: “Hey, we were saving lives here!” Which, fair, but… 55 potential threats? That’s hard to spin.
Media’s having a field day too. Conservative outlets are treating this like Watergate, while polls show people are getting real nervous about border security. Can’t say I’m surprised.
Why This Matters
Let me put it this way: remember that 2016 attack at Ohio State? Refugee with extremist ties. Now imagine that scenario, but with dozens of guys we knew were risks. That’s the nightmare scenario keeping security folks up at night.
They’re trying to clean it up now—tighter vetting, all that. But here’s the thing: once someone’s in, they’re in. Tracking them down? Lawyer up, because it’s gonna be a fight. And prosecutions? Forget about it. Evidence is thin on the ground.
Bottom Line
This report is brutal. Like, no-sugar-coating, “we massively screwed up” brutal. The administration can talk all they want about good intentions, but letting 55 watchlisted individuals waltz into the country? That’s indefensible. And honestly? It’s gonna haunt them for years.
Moral of the story: when you trade security for speed, you get burned. Every. Single. Time.
If You Want to Dive Deeper
- The Full DOJ Report (grab some coffee first)
- White House’s “Yeah, But…” Statement
- How the Media’s Spinning It
Source: NY Post – US News