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wbur The presidents order to military officials to devise a plan in the next 30 days to defeat ISIS, writes Andrew Carleen, was obscured by Trump's other actions. But it could be the first step toward full-scale war. Members of the Patriot Guard Riders gather for a funeral procession for Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV arriving at the Sacred Hearth Catholic Church in Coronado, Calif., Friday, May 13, 2016. The 32-year-old Keating received a Purple Heart and a Combat Action Ribbon for what he did the day he was killed in a gunbattle against ISIS on May 3. (Julie Watson/AP) COMMENTARY

I was just a couple of weeks into my freshman year in high school when planes piloted by al-Qaida hijackers slammed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. At 14, I lacked the worldliness to fully wrap my head around the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but even I sensed that a seismic shift in the direction of our country had occurred. Over a decade later, I would be on the ground in Afghanistan, fighting in the war that began on that day.

In 2017 our military adventure in Central Asia will enter its 16th year. Thousands of American service members remain deployed in the country, stuck in a stalemate that shows no sign of abating.

The Afghan war is remarkable in American history not only for its length but also for the unprecedented lack of public and congressional debate over its merits. The conflict has spanned two, two-term administrations of presidents from both parties and has cost nearly $5 trillionin taxpayer dollars and thousands of young American lives. Despite the conflicts longevity and centrality to U.S.foreign policy this century, the war was barely discussed by either major candidate in the most acrimonious presidential election in living memory.

In his first week as president, Donald Trump managed to perpetrate a litany of apostasies against the vision of the United States to which most liberals and progressives subscribe. The presidents order to the Pentagon Saturday to devise a plan to defeat ISIS in the next 30 days was obscured by this laundry list of outrages.

In his inaugural address, President Trump stuck to the same, imprecise, bellicose tone, promising to wipe the Islamic State from the face of the Earth.

Claiming that he did not want to telegraph exact military plans to the enemy, candidate Trumps platform for addressingISIS was strikingly short on details. Judging from crude soundbites on the campaign trail anddumbfoundingly hyperbolic critiques of President Obamas approach to the organization, one could reasonably assume he planned on pursuing an aggressive strategy.

In his inaugural address, President Trump stuck to the same, imprecise, bellicose tone, promising to wipe the Islamic State from the face of the Earth. The guarantee was delivered in the way a politician might promise a tax cut or education reform, as though it were merely a matter of process and political will, and not an excruciatingly complicated geopolitical issue in a part of the world already strewn with failed U.S. interventions.

President Trump is hardly the first commander-in-chief to oversimplify nuanced foreign policy issues. Given his apparent immunity to facts, however, I fear that our current chief executive may be uniquely unwilling to apply the lessons of recent history to any decision on use of force.

President Trump has inherited an executive branch with the authority to effectively dictate policy regarding national security issues. This power comes courtesy of the second Bush and Obama administrations and the feckless Congresses that failed to insist on the legislative branchs coequality in these realms. To borrow a phrase from Boston University Professor Emeritus Andrew Bacevich, the imperial presidency seems to have found its emperor.

Thanks to the expansive interpretation of the post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force, vigorously defended by the Obama administrations lawyers which essentially allows the president to decree which global threats it can be applied to President Trump will have a blank check to implement whatever action he sees fit.

Many national security experts see no path to dislodging ISIS outside of full-scale war.

There is no reason to believe the military will not carry out its charge of devising a plan to satisfy the presidents ambitious promise to the American people. Many national security experts see no path to dislodging ISIS outside of full-scale war. This would constitute a return of American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to the disastrous fighting in the Levant our country extricated itself from less than a decade ago.

That President Trump would make a promise with such implications in his inaugural address and have it go unaddressed by elected officials is truly astonishing. His rhetoric suggests a complete disregard for the consequences of achieving this end, all for a threat that could never reasonably be described as existential to the United States.

What we have seen from our thin-skinned commander-in-chief is an obsession with his public image. Idon't think it's alarmist to suggest that President Trump is above expanding a war in the Middle East in order to wrap himself in the flag and label his detractors as unpatriotic weaklings who hate the troops.

Given the indifference of Congress to 15 years of war in Afghanistan and the sheer number of distractions sure to arise throughout the Trump administration, I have no confidence that our legislators will act on their own to prevent yet another catastrophic military adventure in the Middle East.

What it will take to hold our elected officials accountable is large-scale, grassroots opposition to further military over-extension and an escalation that would satisfy only a vocal, hawkish minority in the presidents base.

As an opponent of virtually all of the presidents policies, I have been heartened by the extensive backlash from the general public on issues such as the border wall and immigration restrictions. I fervently hope that the same passion that has animated people on behalf of the groups impacted by these policies will be mobilized on behalf of our military men and women and their families who will be the ones to bear the burden of our presidents reckless inaugural promise.

Will crowds of people take to the streets if the president orders service members to die for his vanity project? I hope so. The question remains, however, where have these crowds been for the last 15 years?

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Andrew Carleen Cognoscenti contributor Andrew Carleen is a former public affairs officer in the U.S. Navy who lives in Quincy, Massachusetts.

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Afghanistan Veteran: We Need Massive Protests If Trump Escalates Military Action - WBUR

A refugee family from Afghanistan touched down in Atlanta late Monday, becoming among the last to arrive in Georgia undera polarizing new executive order restricting immigration enacted by the Trump administration.

Wali Omari had worked as a driver in the U.S. embassy in Kabul. He and his his wife, Parwana, along with their five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son landed at Hartsfield Jackson International-Airport just before midnight.

They were greeted with hugs and flowers by about two dozen well wishers in the arrivals area, some holding signs that said Welcome Home. Many were with the International Rescue Committee in Atlanta, which is preparing resettle them here. The family, looking happy but tired, had traveled more than 25 hours, a journey that was marked by uncertainty after President Donald Trumpon Friday temporarily blocked refugees from coming to the United States as part of a promised crackdown on immigration.

Speaking briefly to reporters at the airport, Omari said he was anxious he and his family would not be able to complete the final leg of their trip - from Germany to the United States - because of Trumps ban.

Omari feared he and his family were in danger because of his work with the Americans in Afghanistan, said his cousin, Ahmad Zia Mahbob, who lives in Clarkston.

The family is among 872 refugees from around the world exempted from Trumps order because they had already been approved for resettlement in cities across the U.S., were in transit and because their denial of admission would cause undue hardship.

Widespread protests erupted over the weekend as the travel ban took effect at airports around the country, including Atlanta. The Trump administration has tweaked some aspects of the plan, making clear, for example, that travelers with green cards could re-enter the United States. But it has stood firm behind the order, arguing it is needed to shield Americans from would-be terrorists.

Trumps order, signed Friday, suspends all refugee entries for 120 days. http://www.accessatlanta.com

Protecting the people of the United States remains the top priority of its leaders, he said, and thoughtful vigilance on this front has made our nation a beacon of hope to people throughout the world.

But a widening list of critics argue it is aimed at denying entry to Muslims and doesnt include some nations, like Saudi Arabia, with known ties to terrorism.

On Monday night, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, formerly the top federal prosecutor in Atlanta,ordered the Justice Department not to defend the measure in court. Trump promptly fired her. She was an Obama administration appointee.

A Bhutanese father, mother and their 18-year-old son were also set to arrive in Atlanta Monday night, said Joshua Sieweke, the Atlanta office director for World Relief, a refugee resettlement agency. They were flying in from Nepal.

Jesse Ciavone, 20, was awaiting the arrival of the Omari family late Monday with a friend who works as an intern for the IRC.

"It's our duty as a nation to try and provide for those trying to flee a crisis situation," he said.

"When someone is in the face of death they shouldn't be turned away because of race or religion."

Well wishers gather to welcome a refugee family from Afghanistan at Hartsfield Jackson-International Airport on Monday night. Photo: Ellen Eldridge

Those exempted must still submit to interviews and national security checks. And the exemption does not apply to the seven predominantly Muslim countries covered in Trumps executive order: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Meanwhile, many other refugees from Eritrea, Somalia and Myanmar have been blocked from resettling in the Atlanta area amid enforcement of Trumps decree, according to three Atlanta-area resettlement agencies. Among them are a 57-year-old widow and her 31-year-old wheelchair-bound niece from Somalia, said J.D. McCrary, executive director of the IRC in Atlanta. McCrary could not confirm the cancellation of their trip was related to Trumps order, though he assumes it is because of the timing.

These two women could not possibly be considered a security threat to America, he said. Choosing to slam Americas door on refugees is a betrayal of who we are as a nation and is deeply disturbing.

The IRC is expecting the arrival of 24 other refugees this week from Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Among them is a 32-year-old Christian woman from Myanmar who wants to reunite with her husband in Georgia.

But others arent so lucky.

Another Atlanta area refugee resettlement agency New American Pathways confirmed 18 refugees from Eritrea, Myanmar and Somalia who had previously been scheduled to arrive in Atlanta starting this week have been blocked by Trumps order. Among them are a pregnant woman from Eritrea and some Rohingya Muslims who are facing persecution in their predominantly Buddhist homeland of Myanmar. Lutheran Services of Georgia reported that several dozen refugees, set to touch down in February, will no longer be coming. They were from Syria, Iran, Somalia, Burma, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Further, a Syrian Refugee family that was expected to arrive in Atlanta this week has been blocked from coming here, said Sieweke, of World Relief. But a 19-year-old El Salvadorian refugee is scheduled to arrive in Atlanta Tuesday followed by two people from the Ivory Coast and seven from Eritrea in February, he said.

On Monday, controversy over Trumps decree surfaced on the floor of the state Senate, where several Democratic lawmakers decried the chaos it created over the weekend and said they supported those protesting it. But their objections were met with a stony silence from Republicans, as well as a reprimand from state Sen. Greg Kirk, R-Americus. Kirk said he had spent the weekend looking after the communities around his district in South Georgia, which is still recovering from recent storms that killed at least 15 people in the state. The presidential election was over, Kirk said.

It is time for us to come together and stop the divisiveness, he said.

Issued late Friday afternoon, the presidents order bars any refugees from resettling in the U.S. for four months and it indefinitely blocks Syrian refugees from resettling here. Further, it bars people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for three months: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

Trump took to Twitter Monday morning to defend his order. He said only 109 out of 325,000 travelers who arrived in the U.S. Saturday were detained for questioning.

Excerpt from:
Afghanistan refugees fleeing persecution expected to arrive in Atlanta - Atlanta Journal Constitution

For seven years, Ekram Razeqy worked alongside U.S. forces in some of Afghanistans most volatile provinces, surviving roadside bombings and Taliban ambushes as an interpreter for American troops.

Fearing he could be targeted by Taliban sympathizers when he returned to civilian life, he applied for a special visa that allows interpreters who assisted U.S. forces in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to resettle with their families in the United States. In May 2012, he sat for an interview at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and was told to wait up to 12 months for his application to be processed.

Nearly five years later, Razeqy is still waiting for an answer one he now fears might never come because of President Trumps executive order shutting down the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and banning all citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days.

While Afghanistan is not one of the seven countries on the list, Trumps efforts to reduce immigration, particularly from Muslim nations he perceives as security threats, have alarmed Razeqy and others who feel the Special Immigrant Visa program will be abolished or curtailed even further.

Im really worried about this, Razeqy, 33, said Sunday by phone from Kabul, where he lives with his wife and two children. I think its really, really bad news for Afghans who are still waiting for the SIV.

The executive order Trump signed Friday does not mention the SIV, intended for interpreters whose lives may be in dangerbecause of their service to the United States. But the orders vague, sweeping language prompted mass confusion and protests at U.S. airports this weekend as authorities detained immigrants and visitors with valid visas and lawyers fought to have them released.

The Pentagon said Monday that it was working to ensure that interpreters and others who worked with the U.S. military were exempt from the ban on entry.Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, referred specifically to Iraq, which, unlike Afghanistan, is among the seven countries whose nationals are banned.

But White House spokesman Sean Spicer later pushed back against blanket exemptions.

We recognize that people have served this country, we should make sure that in those cases they're helped out, he said. But that doesn't mean that we just give them a pass.

An Afghan national traveling on an SIV was detained briefly Friday at San Francisco International Airport while his wife and children were allowed through, said Matt Zeller, an Afghanistan veteran and founder of No One Left Behind, a nonprofit group that helps Afghan and Iraqi combat interpreters resettle in the U.S.

Customs and Border Protection officers held the Afghan man for several hours because they were unclear on which nationalities were subject to the ban, Zeller said.

Hameed Khalid Darweesh, an Iraqi man who worked for U.S. forces for 10 years and obtained an SIV this month, was detained upon arrival Friday at Kennedy Airport in New York because Iraq is one of Trumps seven countries of particular concern.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of Darweesh and another Iraqi detainee, winning a judgment late Saturday that blocked the deportation of visa holders.

Trumps order would slash the number of refugees allowed into the United States in 2017 to a maximum of 50,000 fewer than half the number allowed last year. That could significantly restrict approvals under the SIV program, which has a backlog of 13,000 applicants in Afghanistan and only 1,500 more visas available over the next four years under the latest congressional authorization.

The visa program also seems in trouble because Trumps order will prohibit immigration from countries that fail to provide adequate information to the U.S. about visa applicants. Record-keeping in Afghanistan has long been scant; many SIV applicants, for example, never obtained birth certificates.

Trumps nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, is one of the harshest critics of the visa program and has argued that it should be killed.

Were profoundly concerned about what this means for U.S. national security, Zeller said. Were already starting to see previous translators express dismay at this order online and question why they ever signed up to work with us, saying they dont trust Americans.

If thats the prevailing narrative, how are we ever going to find allies in future conflicts or humanitarian situations around the world if we dont keep our word to leave no one behind?

The visa program has resettled more than 52,000 Afghan and Iraqi interpreters and family members in the United States since 2007. The program in Afghanistan was long criticized for bureaucratic delays until the State Department significantly sped up processing of the applications in 2014.

Proponents of the program say SIV recipients have put their lives on the line to assist U.S. personnel. They are among the most thoroughly vetted of visa applicants, undergoing exhaustive background checks by U.S. military and intelligence agencies that often last years not to mention the extensive screening that took place before they were hired as interpreters in the first place.

As the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan has dwindled to about 8,000, jobs for interpreters have dried up. At the same time, Taliban insurgents, who have said they will target anyone who collaborated with foreign troops, have strengthened their grip onlarge parts of northern and southern Afghanistan.

Many SIV applicants live in fear in Afghan cities while others have given up waiting and joined the dangerous migrant trail to Europe.

Razeqy, who is jobless, said he checks the State Department website sometimes multiple times a day for updates on his status. He and his wife spent more than $1,000 collecting the required documents, letters of recommendation and medical reports for themselves and their two children.

I send a lot of emails to the U.S. Embassy, Razeqy said. I told them: You dont know my situation. Everyone knows I was an interpreter. I cant travel easily. I cant work.

My message to President Trump is that I worked seven years faithfully for Americans, shoulder to shoulder, Razeqy said. And its not just me but there are thousands of us. Its not fair to leave us behind.

Other former interpreters have been stymied by the visa application process. Alireza Rezai, 26, said he couldnt contact his former U.S. military mentors for recommendation letters because he forgot his Facebook password and was locked out of his account. Emails he sent went unreturned.

Six years ago, Rezai was riding at the front of a U.S. Army convoy in western Afghanistan when his truck struck a roadside bomb. The soldiers and Rezai escaped without severe injuries, and the platoon leader praised the young interpreter for remaining cool under pressure.

His enthusiasm for the job is unwavering, and his professionalism is without equal, Lt. David S. Savanuck wrote in a recommendation letter Rezai collected.

I dont think Trump understands that for most of the Afghan guys who worked with the U.S., their lives are in danger, Rezai said by phone from Herat, in western Afghanistan.

Every day the security is getting worse here. So if they end this [SIV] process, I am sure that most of the guys who worked with the U.S. Army will be at risk.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Times staff writer W.J. Hennigan in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia

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Afghans who helped the US military worry they, too, will suffer under Trump's refugee ban - Los Angeles Times

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN

Heavy clashes have erupted in southern Afghanistan, after Taliban rebels staged a coordinated assault on a district center.

Afghan officials and insurgents have made conflicting claims about Mondays fighting in the Sangin district of Helmand, the largest of the 34 Afghan provinces.

Provincial government spokesman Omar Zwak told VOA insurgents assaulted multiple security outposts, but Afghan forces repulsed the Taliban. He claimed many assailants were killed and wounded, but would not say whether government forces also suffered casualties.

A Taliban spokesman claimed insurgents overran more than 25 outposts and bases around Sangin, saying intense fighting continued in the area.

He said a Taliban suicide bomber struck a military compound before insurgents stormed the area and killed or wounded more than 100 Afghan forces. The insurgent group often issues inflated casualty tolls for government forces.

The Taliban dug a tunnel near a military compound taking advantage of surrounding civilian houses and packed it with explosives before detonating it to begin the assault, Afghan regional corps commander, General Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai told VOA.

Most of Helmand is under the control of the Taliban. The government fully controls only the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, and a few surrounding district centers.

The United States has announced it would deploy a new group of around 300 troops to Helmand later this year to help Afghan forces defend the city and beat back the Taliban during the spring fighting season.

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Taliban Assaults District Center in Afghanistan's Helmand Province - Voice of America

Khaama Press (press release) (blog)

20 ISIS loyalists killed by own bomb in South of Afghanistan Khaama Press (press release) (blog) At least 20 loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in a premature bomb explosion in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan. Local official said late Monday that the incident took place on Sunday evening in ...

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20 ISIS loyalists killed by own bomb in South of Afghanistan - Khaama Press (press release) (blog)