Afghan Interpreters: Trusted With a Gun but Not a Visa

Afghan interpreters who are seeking a U.S. visa continue to be stone-walled by the United States Department of State. Read more in "The US trusted them with a gun, but not a visa", Brisbane Times, February 4, 2014.

Afghan Interpreters Still Getting Screwed Over by State Department

It appears that the State Department is not taking Congress and its critics seriously on the State Departments inability to process visas to deserving Afghan interpreters who have put their lives at risk to aid our military. The State Department has been heavily criticized the past year for not processing visas in a timely manner (if at all). One would think that with the heavy public pressure the State Department would respond to fix their failure but evidently they are so insulated from reality they are not aware of it - or maybe they just don't care about the Afghan interpreters. I have been told the problem resides within the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Perhaps a little less time in the "Duck and Cover" and more time behind the computer would achieve better results. Read more on this topic in "U.S. backlog for visas leaves Afghan interpreters in limbo", Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2014.

Book - "The Pomegranate Peace"

A new book has been published called "The Pomegranate Peace" by Rashmee Roshan Lall. The novel is about the failure of the United States reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan - how we threw money away on big and small projects with a lack of expertise and oversight. This story centers around a woman sent by the State Department to run a project that will increase the export of pomegranates to develop the economy, eradicate poppy cultivation, improve the lives of Afghans, and pull support away from the Taliban. The author spent some time in Kabul and relates the life of an American working the war effort on the development front. A recent book review has more "Book Review: The Pomegranate Peace", Fire Dog Lake.com, January 24, 2014. The book is available at Amazon.com - The Pomegranate Peace.

Interpreter Dodges Taliban and Waits Out State Department

Read the story of an interpreter who survived retaliation by the Taliban for his assistance to the U.S. Marines and who frustratingly waited for the State Department to get its act together so he could get a visa to the United States. The State Department has done a horrible job granting visas to Afghans who put their lives on the line for U.S. military personnel. See "Left Behind: Afghan translator dodges Taliban on long road to America", NBC News, January 23, 2014.

NY Times Interpreter Killed in Afghanistan

Noor Admad Noori, an Afghan interpreter for The New York Times, was found beaten and stabbed to death outside of Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. Many interpreters are trying to receive visas from the United States Department of State to avoid the violence and because they feel they are targeted by the Taliban because of there work for the military or foreigners. See "Former Interpreter for The Times is Killed in Afghanistan", The New York Times, January 24, 2014.

State Department Bungles Visas for Afghan Interpreters

The U.S. State Department has not covered itself with glory on the issue surrounding the lack of visas processed for Afghan interpreters under the Special Immigrant Visa program. If you read the State Department website you would think everything is under control and proceeding nicely.

"Across the U.S. government, every effort is being made to ensure qualified applicants are processed in a timely fashion before the Afghan program's scheduled end date." 

That is just a bucket full of HORSE MANURE!

Read a recent news column on how well (or badly) the State Department is doing with the processing of visas for Afghan interpreters and translators in "Support Afghans who helped U.S. soldiers", USA Today, January 3, 2014. The quote above comes from a statement on the State Department website found at the following link. http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3738.html. Perhaps the bureaucrats working on the approval committee for visas at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul should visit the website and read the above statement.

Marc Grossman to be New AfPak Envoy

Retired diplomat Marc Grossman has been selected to be the new "AfPak" envoy.  Read more in "Clinton to announce new AfPak envoy", The Washington Post, February 15, 2011.

Karl Eikenberry - U.S. Ambassador - Optimistic on Afghanistan

The U.S. Ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, has been quoted in a recent news article as being optimistic about Afghanistan.  He says that as the U.S. begins to transition from a combat role to a support role over the next four years that things will improve.  Eikenberry notes that sufficient resources have now been provided to the U.S. military for the first time since the invasion in 2001-2002.  Read more in "U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan optimistic about reaching goals", Fayetteville Observer, January 16, 2011.

Frank Ruggiero Replaces Holbrooke as acting U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan

"The death on December 13 of U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who was President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, blew a gaping hole in the U.S. team heading up the civilian mission of the White House's strategy.  On Friday, December 10, Holbrooke was meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when he fell ill and was rushed to hospital. Three days later, he was gone -- the victim of a ruptured aorta.  The drama unfolded at the start of the week in which the White House was set to unveil its long awaited strategy review of the war in Afghanistan.  State Department spokesman Philip Crowley announced the day after Holbrooke's death, on December 14, that one of his top deputies, Frank Ruggiero would step in as acting special envoy." 

Read the rest of the article here at Eurasianet.org (December 18, 2010).