Listening to Rachel Maddow about Zak and his family.

[Stinky The Clown]

Story still being told

It really fucking HURTS to listen to this.

[XanaDUer2]

1. I'm crying nt

[Stinky The Clown]

2. The story ends with two words: Wheels Up

I am not religious, but Thank God.

Typing thru tears here.

[tishaLA]

3. Replaying that interview Zak did with Ali Velshi

was a little too much for me.

OK, now the pictures of them flying to the US.....tears again

[Satch59]

4. Was riveted!!

Awesome ending…Rachel is crying…so am I…

[IcyPeas]

5. Omg thank god they got out

What an ordeal.

Not often Rachel cries.

[dsp3000]

7. Next time we parrot that this was the right thing to do, think about people less fortunate than zak

[ShazzieB]

20. Are you saying that getting ot of Afghanistan is NOT the right thing to do?

That's a whole separate conversation about a complex topic.

[cilla4progress]

22. Yes, I am starting a GoFundMe

for some...

[stopdiggin]

23. I think the vast majority of both DU

AND the general public are quite capable of being both resolute that the time is/was long past for the U.S. to get OUT - and heartsick at the repercussions and suffering left in its wake.

Have to kind of wonder at the individuals that continue to frame this as a binary question.
----- -----

[crimycarny]

30. "parrot"?

I don’t see many on DU “parrot”ing anything. Folks on DU are capable of critical thinking and evaluation of complex conditions. Pretty much everyone understands we need to do our best to get these people out while also understanding that this chaos is not exactly surprising after a complicated 20 year war.

It’s a mess. Was it a mess that could have been avoided? Not completely. Monday morning quarterbacking can wait. Right now Biden is working on addressing the situation as are other countries and private entities.

I’m personally looking for ways to help financially, so researching the best way to do so.

[Hortensis]

34. It was the right thing to do, but final withdrawal should have been done better.

You know, back in 2020 President Biden said flat out that officials had been lying to the public for years about what it was possible to accomplish in Afghanistan. And in the end he had what we now know was very flawed intelligence about how long it would take the Taliban to take over the last cities.

WaPo: Under Biden’s three predecessors, countless senior officials from agencies like the Pentagon and State Department paraded before Congress or television cameras to deliver rosy (or at least unrealistic) forecasts that often veered into falsehood territory. ...

“The strategy became self-validating. Every data point was altered to present the best picture possible,” Craig quoted a senior counterinsurgency officer, retired Army colonel Bob Crowley, as saying. American commanders served up public displays of optimism “so unwarranted and baseless that their statements amounted to a disinformation campaign,”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/18/daily-202-biden-said-us-officials-lied-about-afghanistan-its-not-clear-whether-theyll-be-held-account/

Afghan culture is Islamic, extremely conservative, and often compared to 14th century medieval. In this era even we're having real trouble keeping our own far right, who are downright liberal in comparison to Afghanistan's conservatives, from dragging America backward.

[elleng]

6. Wheels up!

Would LOVE if they come and receive help near here (DC 'exurb.')

[Stinky The Clown]

17. Thanks for a wonderful thought.

[BigmanPigman]

8. Now I'm in tears again.

I reread the story of the Uruguayan Rugby team lost in the Andes after a plane crash and how they had to eat the dead bodies to survive last night and this morning, crying the majority of the time even though I had read it 35 years ago.

Then I turned on Rachel and she has the tears flowing again.

I have a desire to have Stephen Miller taken into custody, dressed as a woman and dropped into a remote rural area of Afghanistan and left to fend for himself. I have other such fantasies for Stephen Miller but they are too nasty to write here without the DU jury all over me.

[electric_blue68]

12. Listening to Rachel ....phew! ...

...Heh - your Stephan Miller fantasy...
Such a fantastically viscious scenario 👏👏👏



Sorry, NOT Sorry!

[BornADemocrat]

9. Who's cutting onions?

I choked up when she did.

So glad it had a happy ending. It must have been brutal for them to keep quiet day after day, waiting for a good result.

Even though I knew he was safe once she showed his and his families faces, I still was on the edge of my seat until she said they were out of country.

[nolabear]

10. Boy. She cried. I cried. I imagine thousands of us cried.

I'm so happy for them.

[ecstatic]

11. I'm not crying, you are!

She was so right. That story got me. So glad he was safely evacuated with his family. It's horrifying to know there might be other similar stories out there.

[Mersky]

13. Maj Schueman is calling for a little more common sense in allowing service men and women to attest

To an interpreter’s identity and work for US forces. That Zak’s approval for SIV got gummed up for six years due to a contractor that folded is frustrating.

Can see the pure expression of relief on their faces. All of it really gets to me.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. I'm hoping that is at least one way forward . . . . . .

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215750111

[Mersky]

18. Posted over in your thread

I think discussion of such is all around helpful. Want to see as many allies out of there as possible.

[stopdiggin]

27. should have been done that way

from the get-go. Pencil pushers waiting for 'proper documents' and 'process' - is just another way of saying 'tough luck' and 'we really don't wanna' ..'

The U.S. military should be insisting (leaning hard and publicly on Congress) that a better system be put in place - before the next conflict comes along where we desperately need the help of these people. Their lives will depend on it too.

[Elwood P Dowd]

14. Every DU member needs to watch that video when it's posted later.

Hell, Biden, Harris, Sec of Defense and State and every single congress member needs to watch it.

[Traildogbob]

16. Happy tears

For Zack and family, but, along with very sad tears for those that will not survive Taliban. I’m a grown damn man, a vet, not ashamed of this cry. Fuck Stephen Miller and Fox white assholes.
Wish Zack and family everything. Would love to shake his hand and welcome he and his family to the good America.

[Mersky]

19. I'm hopeful for our allies getting out under President Biden

I don’t think they would have a chance under TFG.

[Ilsa]

21. As soon as she showed his face in a picture, I figured

he and his family got out. She wouldn't have risked it, I bet.

I'm not crying, you're crying...

[FM123]

24. Such an amazing segment, had me in tears.

I taped it to share with my kids.

[KS Toronado]

25. After watching Rachel talk about Zak's ordeal tonight.....

I remember when I was in the Army, a lot of guys said "Shoot 'em all, let God sort 'em out". And I got to
thinking about how many people with similar stories are crowding the airport attempting to flee
Afghanistan because they fear for their lives and what the Taliban plan to do to them. Reading between the
lines I suspect we are asking for "Your papers please". How many stories like Zak's are we going to hear
about after the airlift that we left behind? So I'm suggesting we keep the airlifts going until everyone who
wants to get out of Afghanistan gets out. I'm older and hopefully wiser than 50 years ago so now I believe
"Round 'em all up, we'll sort 'em out later". We're not flying them directly to the US anyway, they're going
to 2 neighboring Arab countries. Let's take 'em all there!

[irisblue]

26. Is Zack an Afghan translator? no cable here

[TreasonousBastard]

28. Listening to the midnight replay and I recognize this story from over a week ago...

It was NPR or BBC running it. Sounds like nothing has changed in the meantime. Or has it?

[TreasonousBastard]

29. OK, now I hear he got out.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

31. Rachel was great last night

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[GoodRaisin]

32. Based on all the comments I'm looking forward to watching this tomorrow.

Couldn't watch tv tonight but got it on DVR.

[Rhiannon12866]

33. Here's the video(s) for those who missed it:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017675352