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STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) A retired Army colonel is helping the city of Stillwater prepare to host dozens of refugee families from Afghanistan.

U.S. Army Col. Mike FitzGerald, a 20-year veteran and current operations manager for Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma, says the first families are expected to start arriving Nov. 1.

These are people that are asking for our help, he told Tulsa World. They are young families with small children. These arent the bad guys.

Accommodations are being provided by Oklahoma State University and private landlords, FitzGerald said.

Stillwater is a very welcoming community and home to a lot of international students as part of OSU and has been a very diverse community because of our status as a university town, Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce said. I would expect that any new refugee or other international visitors will find it to be a very welcoming place.

Organizers have also set up a committee structure to help with transportation, adult and childrens education, jobs, household supplies, furniture and groceries.

The children will be allowed to enroll in Stillwater Public Schools, FitzGerald said, and English language classes will be available.

The U.S. Department of State is also providing $1,225 per person in a family and work authorizations are being expedited so family members can find work quickly.

Very Rev. Brian OBrien, pastor of Saint Francis Zavier Catholic Church in Stillwater, said he welcomes incoming refugees.

Whenever a need has arisen, it gets met, OBrien said.

The rest is here:
Stillwater to host Afghanistan refugees with help of veteran - Associated Press

Society of Active Retirees (SOAR), a Farmington Hills-based lifelong learning community billed as a health club for the brain, is hosting a special event featuring Craig Whitlock, staff writer for The Washington Post and author of The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War on Thursday, October 7 at 2 p.m., live via Zoom.

Whitlock will provide an in-depth look at the 20-year history of the United States involvement in Afghanistan. Whitlock will base his talk on the groundbreaking investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public about Americas longest war.

The event will provide revelations by security, governmental and military personnel who played a direct role in the war and will provide a discussion over what went wrong and how we are to understand Americas longest war. The book debuted at number one on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list for the week ending September 4, 2021. Whitlock has recently appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher, PBS NewsHour and several other national media events.

Back in the summer of 2016, Whitlock got a tip from a source that former U.S. Army General Michael Flynn had given an extensive interview to a federal agency called the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Whitlock was interested to see what Flynn said about the war in Afghanistan.

After putting in a public records request to get transcript notes from the interview, the request was refused. Flynn then became President Donald Trumps National Security Advisor, which led Whitlock to believe the interview would be even more potentially newsworthy.

The Post ended up having to file a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Inspector General to get the interview, and while they were doing that, it was uncovered that the Inspector General had actually interviewed more than 400 people for a project they called Lessons Learned to try and identify mistakes made during the war in Afghanistan.

Once we found that out and we got a look at Flynns interview after we won in court, I knew there was a much bigger story there because Flynn was very blunt and unvarnished in his criticism of the war in Afghanistan in the interview, Whitlock said. I thought if the others are anything like this, its going to be an important story.

The interviews ended up being a way to get arms around a bigger project to report out what went wrong in Afghanistan and how people in government werent forthright about all the problems that were going on. The Afghanistan Papers were published in December 2019 by the Post, and after it became one of their most-read stories of that year, readers urged them to turn it into a book.

I did that and we expanded on the original series by obtaining several hundred other interviews that were conducted with veterans in the war and other senior officials, Whitlock said. It really enabled us to write a narrative of what went wrong in Afghanistan from beginning to end.

In reading the documents and interviews, what was most shocking to Whitlock is just how blunt the admissions of failure were by the people in charge.

There were literally several people who said, we didnt know what we were doing in Afghanistan, Whitlock stated. There were multiple generals who said they didnt have a strategy. To hear that from the people in charge, people who worked at The White House or the top levels at the Pentagon or military headquarters in Kabul was completely shocking to me, and even when I re-read their remarks today, I still cant believe they said some of this stuff.

Whitlock will be giving a talk during the event, but its really going to be a Q&A where viewers can ask anything theyre curious about. More than anything, Whitlock hopes the event allows people to get a better understanding of what happened in Afghanistan.

We had been told for years by people in charge that we were making progress in Afghanistan, so how did this happen? This is really an event to try and explain some of that and answer anybodys questions.

Registration for this event is open to the public. The event fee is $10.00. For more information about SOAR, or to register for the event, go to http://www.soarexplore.com or call (248) 626-0296.

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SOAR Hosting Virtual Event with Craig Whitlock, Author of 'The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War' Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News

Donald Trump had to be talked out of announcing plans for a 2024 presidential run amid the USs chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to reports.

The former president, who has been teasing a future bid for a second term despite twice being impeached during his first term, was talked out of making such an announcement right away in August, The Washington Post reported, citing two people familiar with the situation.

As the US withdrew from Afghaistan, images emerged of thousands of people flooding to the airport in Kabul in a desperate attempt to leave the country as the Taliban swept to power in a matter of days.

The Biden administration faced widespread criticism of their handling of the withdrawal, while much censure was also directed at Mr Trump for signing the deal to end the USs 18-year presence in the country.

But rather than realising the poor timing of such an announcement,Mr Trumps advisers instead told him such a move might detract from GOP efforts come midterms.

The biggest point we drove home was that he doesnt want to own the midterms if we dont win back the House or Senate, the anonymous source told The Post.

Indeed, the continued nudge-nudge wink-wink hinting from Mr Trump that he may indeed run for the presidency in 2024 is taking a toll on the Republican party, with some loyalists unable to set their sights on their own future until Mr Trump decides what he is planning to do.

He tacitly keeps the 2024 crowd on notice that nobody can move a major muscle until he decides what hes doing, former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway told The Post.

Continued here:
Trump had to be talked out of announcing 2024 presidential bid as US withdrew from Afghanistan, report says - The Independent

Lesson Overview

Featured Article: What Will Become of Afghanistans Post-9/11 Generation? a photo essay by Kiana Hayeri

In April 2021, President Biden announced that American troops would withdraw from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021. Following the announcement, Kiana Hayeri, a photojournalist, began documenting the end of the 20-year occupation from the perspective of young Afghans who were raised in the decades after the U.S. invasion in 2001.

In this lesson, you will see the ways in which six young people who had lived in a world of new freedoms and opportunities suddenly found themselves in a changed world with the rise of the Taliban. Then, you will write a letter to one of the young people from the article, or to their family, sharing the ways in which you connected with their story.

Discuss as a class or in small groups:

What do you know about the war in Afghanistan? What about the U.S. withdrawal of troops and the Taliban takeover?

Where have you received your information? News articles? Social media? Talking with friends and family?

What questions do you have about what is happening?

If you need more information or context about what is happening, start with our Lesson of the Day about Americas longest war its causes and its consequences.

The featured article focuses on the stories of young people. Watch this video of three young women sharing their stories of living in Afghanistan now, and then respond to the questions.

What is one emotional reaction you had to the video?

What is one thing you learned from the video?

What is one question you have after watching the video?

Read the article, then answer the following questions:

1. The writers describe the ways in which the lives of young Afghans are rapidly changing. What is one example or description from the introduction that helps you to understand and visualize those changes?

2. The article begins with the story of childhood friends, Karim, Gul Ahmad and Saeed. What is one way that you connected to their story of work and friendship? Choose one image and one quote that you think best illustrate that theme.

3. When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, Gul Ahmad laughed. Based on the article, why do you think he responded that way?

4. What were Esmats hopes and dreams for himself and for his family? Why do you think Esmat both hoped for a future, but was also aware he might not live to see the future? Does that make you think of anything else you have read, seen or experienced?

5. How did the subject matter of the play that Maryam performed in become even more relevant for her and the other actresses? What does that story, both in real life and in the world of the play, demonstrate about fears that young women, like Maryam, have?

Who are the Taliban? The Taliban arose in 1994 amid the turmoil that came after the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including floggings, amputations and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Heres more on their origin story and their record as rulers.

Who are the Taliban leaders? These arethe top leaders of the Taliban, men who have spent years on the run, in hiding, in jail and dodging American drones. Little is known about them or how they plan to govern, including whether they will be as tolerant as they claim to be. One spokesman told The Timesthat the group wanted to forget its past, but that there would be some restrictions.

6. How did Naser Khan take a stand for his country? How did that place him in a dangerous situation during the U.S. withdrawal?

7. The article ends describing Kiana Hayeris last days in Kabul. As you read about her experiences leaving Afghanistan, what more do you want to know? Think of a question you would like to ask Ms. Hayeri and submit it as a 30-second video using this form.

In the featured article, Maryam, 17, said to Kiana Hayeri, the photographer, If youre writing about this, please tell about the situation of Afghanistan. Why do you think Maryam felt it was important to share that with Ms. Hayeri? And why do you think Ms. Hayeri chose to include her plea in the essay?

Write a letter to one of the young people in the featured article. In your letter, let that person know what you learned from the stories and photographs of young people in Afghanistan. You can share how it felt to read the words and see the faces of people living there now, and you can also let the person know how you personally connected to the stories you read. Then, ask one or two questions about that persons life or current circumstances.

You can share your letter in the comments section of this article.

Additional Teaching and Learning Opportunities

Register to view the on-demand recording of our interactive student panel about the post-Sept. 11 generation featuring the photographer Kiana Hayeri.

Create your own gallery exhibit using four photographs and four quotes from the featured article. Then, write an artists statement explaining why you chose those particular photographs and quotes.

Learn more about the 20-year history of the war in Afghanistan and the U.S. withdrawal in our Lesson of the Day The U.S. War in Afghanistan: How It Started, and How It Ended.

Learn more about Lesson of the Day here and find all of our daily lessons in this column.

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Lesson of the Day: What Will Become of Afghanistans Post-9/11 Generation? - The New York Times

CAMP PENDLETON

Almost 300 Marines and sailors returned to Camp Pendleton Sunday after a six-month deployment to the Middle East where many of the troops found themselves among an emergency response force sent to Kabul, Afghanistan, to assist in the massive August evacuation.

Ten service members assigned to the unit were among the 13 killed in a suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport Aug. 26.

The unit, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, deployed as part of a rapid-reaction force in the Middle East. As the Taliban seized the Afghan capital of Kabul, the unit mobilized to secure the citys airport alongside other Marine, Army and Air Force units.

During the ensuing 18-day airlift, almost 124,000 people were evacuated from the country. After an initial, chaotic surge of desperate Afghans flooded the airports tarmac, U.S. troops were able to secure the airport and began the painstaking process of screening people for evacuation.

On Aug. 26, at the airports Abbey Gate where Afghans had been congregating en masse trying to escape troops were conducting searches of evacuees when a lone ISIS-K suicide bomber approached. The bomber detonated his or her vest in the midst of the crowd. At least 170 Afghans were killed alongside 13 U.S. service members.

The 282 Marines and sailors who returned from deployment Sunday were not the first from the battalion to come home, said Maj. Roger Hollenbeck, a spokesperson for the 1st Marine Division.

Of the roughly 1,000 Marines and sailors that deployed, just over half have returned, including Golf ompany, whose Marines and sailors were killed in the explosion.

Marines and sailors marched onto the large asphalt parade deck at the Camp Horno area of Camp Pendleton around noon where hundreds of friends and family members waited under the sweltering October sun. Temperatures at the base topped out just above 90 degrees. Marines in civilian attire brought ice chests full of beer and handed them out to the just-returned Marines and sailors.

No Marines from the unit were made available for interviews although some did talk to reporters. Marine public affairs personnel would not allow reporters present to leave a cordoned-off area to talk to Marines and their families although some did.

Lance Cpl. Robert Kunz, 23, a mortarman from 2/1, said he was among those sent to Kabul but declined to go into detail about what he saw. He said he was proud of the work they did, however.

It was just another day, Kunz said. We did what we could do.

Selina Sweet, whose husband, Nathan, is a corporal in 2/1, waited for her husband with their two kids, 6-year-old Damian and 8-month-old Sabrina. She said it was a difficult deployment because so many of the units troops were placed in harms way, although, she said, her husband was not among those sent to Kabul.

It hit close to home, you know? she said. You just didnt want to hear bad news. Luckily, we were able to hear from him.

The rest of the Marines and sailors from 2/1 are expected to return over the coming days and weeks.

Continued here:
Camp Pendleton battalion returns from deployment that included Afghanistan evacuation mission - The San Diego Union-Tribune