letter to the editor

Sat, 08/26/2023 - 3:00pm

Ethan Jones

Two years ago, Kabul fell to the Taliban. U.S. military forces were struggling to manage the Americans and Afghans trying to flee with their lives.

U.S. forces had ceded airport perimeter security to the Taliban. That bizarre decision had tragic consequences as an ISIS bomber detonated his powerful suicide vest and killed 13 U.S. service members and seriously injured 40 more. 170 Afghans were killed, also.

Since then, not one Biden administration official directly involved in the execution of that operation has ever been disciplined. Not Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley; Secretary of Defense Austin or anybody else. Our Gold Star families remain infuriated and scarred to this day. In fact, following the evacuation President Biden actually called the operation an "extraordinary success." Imagine that.

But there's more disturbing news. It has come to light that a Marine security unit spotted two individuals that day who matched the description in a terrorist alert. A Marine immediately reported up the chain of command.

Below are the words of the Marine:

“We communicated...to our chain of command and nothing came of it.

“The response" was that ‘leadership did not have the engagement authority for us. [They told us], ‘Do not engage.' The suspects soon disappeared in the crowd. To this day, we believe he was the suicide bomber. Our expertise was disregarded. No one was held accountable for our safety.”

That Marine, Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews, suffered grievous injuries losing his right arm and left leg in the bomb blast while also enduring 100-150 ball bearings penetrating his body. Amazingly, no investigator ever interviewed him when conducting their after-action report.

All service members know and accept the risks associated with their mission. However, in this tragic instance, President Biden and his subordinates were more interested in the political "optics" of leaving Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 anniversary than the safety of human beings. And instead of applying salve on the wounds of that terrible day, President Biden has torn at the scab by his callous disregard of the Gold Star families. That's inexcusable.

August 26, 2021 -- a day that will live in infamy. Our great troops and our country deserve so much better.

Ethan Jones lives in Rockport