Oh, dear God. I am sick to my stomach and my heart is broken all over again.
A Marine Corps sniper stationed at the Kabul airport the day of a deadly suicide attack wept on Wednesday as he described i.
Oh, dear God. I am sick to my stomach and my heart is broken all over again.
A Marine Corps sniper stationed at the Kabul airport the day of a deadly suicide attack wept on Wednesday as he described in horrific detail the chaos and bloodshed surrounding the U.S. military’s hectic withdrawal in the final hours of the war in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who was seriously wounded in the attack, described the scene at the airport as “surreal,” with hundreds of Afghans rushing toward the airport gate in a frantic attempt to flee the brutal Taliban regime.
It was a hellhole in the Kabul streets outside Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey gate, with terrified Afghans packed into the narrow roadway, desperately looking for any way to leave.
The Taliban were there, too.
…In emotional testimony Wednesday, Vargas-Andrews described harrowing scenes he witnessed during those final days.
A sniper living out of an airport tower, Vargas-Andrews saw thousands of people approach the airport attempting to leave Afghanistan — mothers carrying dying infants, others suffering from heat exhaustion.
“Countless Afghans were murdered by the Taliban 155 yards in front of our position…We communicated the atrocities to our chain of command and intel assets but nothing came of it,” Vargas-Andrews said, adding that some who were turned away tried to kill themselves on the protective razor wire, thinking it “merciful compared to the Taliban torture that they faced.”
“Countless Afghans were murdered by the Taliban 155 yards in front of our position…We communicated the atrocities to our chain of command and intel assets but nothing came of it.” https://t.co/WUSGBV93SU
Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) March 8, 2023
We told our chain of command but NOTHING CAME OF IT.
Frosty as the Marines were in the situation, they reported what they knew to be an IED practice session to their chain of command. When a security alert later came, they paid attention to the enormous crowds below them and bingoed the possibles almost immediately, requesting permission to take them out.
…On August 22, the sergeant and his fellow service members reported to the chain of command that the enemy performed an IED test run.
