Today, Congressman Kaialiʻi Kahele (HI-02) released the following statement on the situation in Afghanistan:
I am deeply concerned over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and the crisis unfolding in the capital city of Kabul. Decisions made by previous and current administrations have put the United States in a calamitous situation and swift, decisive decisions must be made immediately.
Now is not the time to point fingers and find blame; instead, we must be unified in immediate solutions to evacuate American citizens and our Afghan allies and ensure their safety.
As a National Guardsman and C-17 pilot who was deployed to Afghanistan multiple times in support of air mobility operations, including aeromedical evacuation operations, I believe that we must immediately initiate Noncombatant Evacuation Operations (NEO) through United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) whereby activating all available air mobility assets worldwide necessary to evacuate all American civilians and Afghan allies immediately. In addition we must secure the entire Hamid Karzai International Airport with the 82nd Airborne Division and additional forces if necessary before it becomes too difficult to accomplish that mission. Finally, we need to deploy a robust Tanker Airlift Control Element (TALCE) to provide the operational mission support elements to safely and effectively execute this monumental no notice air evacuation.
Now is not the time to deliberate courses of action, we must act swiftly. I urge the administration to airlift our Afghan partners, their families and those who have applied for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) to the United States Pacific Territory of Guam as was suggested two months ago. The United States must provide a path for safety for those who worked alongside our troops. Failure to do so will have long term consequences that may be too difficult to overcome in future conflicts.
My thoughts and prayers this evening are with our American citizens, our Afghan allies as well as our U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan and those being deployed at this very moment. I pray for their safety and their expedited return to their families.