‘Gross Abandonment’: Former Green Beret Tells Congress A High Price Was Paid For Chaotic Afghan Withdrawal

Following remarks were made on behalf of Lt. Col. Scott Mann (ret.) at the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing. Afghanistan Withdrawal on March 8, 2023.

As a Green Beret and retired Lt. Col. with nearly 23 years in service and three combat tours in Afghanistan, I am here to relive August 2021 with all of you. Not as a Democrat, nor a Republican but as an American Veteran representing 800,000 Afghan combat vets and their families. I will also be sharing my point of view.

Please ask me a question. What is an American Promise?

Military promises are both explicit and implicit. “I have your back.” This is how we were raised. We are born with it.

However, our Afghan allies lost their support and the leaders that held us to such a standard fell silent in August 2021. Although the U.S. government might not have been supportive of Afghan allies, But our veterans did.

Since the beginning of our nation’s existence, veterans have been an inspiration for us to be morally upright, even in tough times.

It is rare to find veterans who loved being part of the Afghan evacuation. After paying our debts, we moved on to our daily lives. I did not plan to jump back into Afghanistan’s quagmire after my military retirement. 

Like thousands of others, my heart was broken when a friend called me.

“I am not afraid to die,” He said it to me. “I just don’t want to die alone.”

These were my words, which brought me back to Afghanistan.

Although his name was Sergeant First-Class Nezamudin Nezami, I had known him since Nezam. He was four months old when his father, a Mujahideen fighter was murdered by the Soviets. He had no family, money, or hope — yet he became an Afghan Commando, one of the elite warriors trained by Green Berets to do 95% of the fighting in the war.

Green Berets including myself who worked alongside Nezam loved him as if he were a brother. Every day, he volunteered to serve on any mission. He was his family.

Despite numerous inquiries to the State Department, Congress, and Army SOF Command HQ, about his SIV status (Special Immigrant Visa), Kabul was falling and Nezam was in terrible trouble — and no one was coming to help him.

He was protecting U.S. Green Berets against a Taliban attack in 2010, when he was gunned through the head. My friend was still on the run and called me to check on my children every two months. We were leaving him to die on the side road. 

The next few weeks saw me assemble a small group of veterans from the nation, which we called Task Force Pineapple. This team was to assist Nezam and many others to safety. 

There are no resources. Access to the battlefield is not possible. We didn’t have the time. However, we were able to do something most people don’t have: trust. Trust and relationships are key. Cell phones, terrain knowledge, and an encrypted chatroom were used to help at-risk commandos, their families, and others, at night. After navigating the crowds, we crossed an open sewer canal to reach a position where bona fides could be obtained and were strategically able link up with NATO service personnel stationed near the four-foot hole within the perimeter fence.

Pineapple wasn’t the only one. There are hundreds of other volunteer organizations that do similar work. There are many volunteer groups that work in the same way, from breakfast tables to basements all over the world. Jane is a Gold Star spouse who lost her husband to Afghanistan in Afghanistan. Will is a double amputee who fought for his life. There are many others who collaborate with Aidan and other warriors who stared across razor wire at an infinite sea of desperate faces.

While we assisted hundreds of allies in war, many thousands were left behind. It was an awful loss to the vulnerable veterans who had previously given so much.

Steve was suffering from PTS and a trauma brain injury caused by an IED. He screamed into his pillow to find his children, who were next door. His former interpreter had been detained at a Taliban checkpoint, and was pleading over the telephone: “Steve, they are beating my wife. My children are watching this for God’s sake. Should I fight them? Why is this happening?!”

Jay was a Navy SEAL and received Signal texts from his Afghan counterpart. “My daughter has been trampled, Sir. I know we are going to miss our chance to escape, but she is unconscious and barely breathing. It’s okay, my friend. Thank you for trying.”

It was a heart-wrenching and gut-wrenching event. It was something I didn’t expect to witness. Then, there is the career-preserving silence of military and civil leaders.

We are facing a serious national security crisis because 27 extremist and violent groups operate on ex-NATO bases, with Taliban as top-cover. We are in the midst of a mental health tsunami for veterans, with 73% saying they felt betrayed after the end of Afghanistan’s war.

One year after Afghanistan’s withdrawal, calls to the VA hotline rose 81%. The calls continue to come in. A few months back, my friend Brad died in an unoccupied hotel room in Mississippi. Dana, his wife confirmed that the Afghan abandonment had reactivated all of the demons he’d put behind him. He couldn’t seem to find the light in the darkened moral wound.

America’s systemic and multi-generational abandonment to its allies is causing a negative reputation. This includes the Montagnards from Vietnam, the Kurds at Syria, and the Kurds.

The veterans of Afghanistan know another thing that the committee should consider. We may be finished with Afghanistan but not with us. The enemy is entitled to a vote. We must not abandon politics and seek accountability for the moral damage done to our military community. This massive foreign policy error will also follow us home. It will eventually lead us back into the same graveyard of empires from which it all began. 

Scott Mann, Lieutenant Colonel (Retired), is an ex-U.S. Army Green Beret, who has served in many countries, including Colombia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Scott Mann is also a war storyteller, and was the founder of Rooftop Leadership Author of The New York Times Best-Seller Instantly, Operation Pineapple Express. He founded the company. Operation Pineapple Express ReliefA 501c3 that supports the immediate needs of Afghan Allies, including safe passage out and unforeseen resettlement.

The opinions expressed in this article are the views of the author, and not necessarily those of The Daily Wire.

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