1/9 Many U.S. allies remain trapped in Afghanistan—today, the Taliban said it would prevent citizens from leaving. Those who’ve managed to escape have not had an easy journey. George Packer describes the logistical—and lethal—challenges these Afghans face: theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
2/9 Khan, an interpreter for U.S. forces since 2015, worked desperately to leave Afghanistan with his pregnant wife and young son. For years, the family waited for approval of their Special Immigrant Visa, which came just as the Afghan government began to fall to the Taliban.
3/9 Before the U.S. withdrawal began, Khan was wary of how the Taliban would respond to the departure of American troops. They “will walk with their weapons to the bazaar,” he told Packer in March, “they will search people’s houses night and day.” theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
4/9 As an American ally, Khan has received many death threats from the Taliban. His brother, who spent 12 years working for the U.S., was murdered by Taliban fighters in January. “Your destiny will be like your brother-in-law’s,” he was threatened in May. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
5/9 In July, after Khan and his family’s visas were finally approved, they quickly began to schedule their departure from Afghanistan. Then luck turned against them. Kabul fell to the Taliban on August 15. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
6/9 The Khan family, like many others, tried to escape. They waited at the airport without food or water for hours in the heat. Khan’s pregnant wife was pushed to the ground. Still, they planned to remain there until they got out or died. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
7/9 Finally, on their third attempt to flee—with only their documents, the clothes on their back, and some food—Khan and his family reached the American gate as the crowd scattered after a burst of gunfire. Their visas were approved. They were inside. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
8/9 The ordeal didn’t end inside the Kabul airport. After a chaotic trip through Qatar, Khan and his family eventually made it to America. “It was the first day and the first time that me and my family slept well during the last six years,” he told Packer theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
9/9 Khan’s situation is unique. A visa like his remains the only way onto a U.S. government flight—and even that is useless without the ability to reach a checkpoint, Packer writes. Many other Afghan allies are not as lucky. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with The Atlantic

The Atlantic Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @TheAtlantic

16 Sep
1/5 New technologies are making it easy for historical Black images to be manipulated—and raising questions about who owns the Black body, Latria Graham writes. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
2/5 One example: MyHeritage, an online genealogy platform that uses an artificial-intelligence software called Deep Nostalgia. The site’s users can upload photos of long-deceased relatives to the website, which animates their ancestors with motions such as smiles and head turns.
3/5 “The site tells users that the software ‘is intended for nostalgic use, that is, to bring beloved ancestors back to life,’ and warns that it is not built for more nefarious purposes, such as creating ‘deep fakes’ of living people,” Graham reports.
Read 5 tweets
14 Sep
1/5 Since January, @emmaogreen has been interviewing newsmakers, scholars, and everyday people about some of the most challenging questions facing the country. Today, we’re giving a name to these conversations: “The Atlantic Interview.” theatlantic.com/projects/atlan…
2/5 Emma talked with John Seago, the legislative director of Texas Right to Life, who shepherded Texas’s new abortion law, about what it would mean for the country if the procedure was completely illegal: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
3/5 A month after the Capitol insurrection, Emma spoke with Eric Metaxas, a staunch Donald Trump defender, Christian writer, and radio host, about why he had come to believe that he was righteous for questioning the 2020 election: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Read 5 tweets
13 Sep
1/10 It was once a struggle to get Black characters on TV. Yet even today, as streaming services advertise “Black Lives Matter” and “Representation Matters” collections, Black screenwriters often navigate a set of implicit rules. @hannahgiorgis reports: on.theatln.tc/NdmL2GF
2/10 In the 1950s and ’60s, Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole headlined variety shows. Yet it wasn’t until 1972, when @TheNormanLear and Bud Yorkin launched “Sanford and Son,” that networks tried something more daring, with a show regularly addressing racism.
3/10 “‘Sanford and Son’ and ‘The Jeffersons’ proved that series with predominantly Black casts could be hits,” Giorgis writes. “Yet white executives continued to view Black shows as too much of a gamble.”
Read 10 tweets
11 Sep
1/10 Bobby McIlvaine died when the Twin Towers fell—before his life truly began. His father dove into his grief. His mother pushed hers away. Twenty years later, it’s changed them both.

@JenSeniorNY on a family’s search for meaning after 9/11:
theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
2/10 For Helen McIlvaine, nothing in this world has rivaled the experience of raising her two boys. “A few years down the road, I looked like I’d healed. And it wasn’t true.” At age 60, Helen took up running, not only because it felt good, but also because it allowed her to cry.
3/10 Bob McIlvaine Sr. knows little about his son’s final moments but is committed to exposing what he believes to be the truth about the 9/11 attacks, which is that they were an inside job. “Everything I’ve done in my life is based upon those seconds,” he says.
Read 10 tweets
7 Sep
1/ Who were the first Americans? Did they come by land or sea? @andersen went on an expedition to California’s Channel Islands to find out what archaeology can tell us about humanity’s primeval ancestors. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
2/ The genomes of living Native Americans suggest that their ancestors first traveled from the polar cold of northeastern Eurasia to North America more than 15,000 years ago. This feat of exploration surely ranks among humanity’s greatest, Andersen writes—but who achieved it?
3/ Big-game-killing spear tips—the oldest known is more than 13,000 years old—offer some clues. The “Clovis-first” theory suggests that thousands of years ago, ice sheets rolled back, opening a new corridor east of the Rockies—and humans raced down to the North American interior.
Read 8 tweets
16 Aug
1/7 As a photojournalist covering Afghanistan for two decades, @lynseyaddario has seen how hard the country’s women have fought for their freedom, and how much they have gained. on.theatln.tc/lkEz7sv
2/7 Under the Taliban, women (except for select, approved female doctors) were not allowed to work outside the home or even leave the house without a male guardian. These four once-employed Afghan women, photographed in May 2000, were relegated to a life at home.
3/7 When the Taliban fell in late 2001, “women quickly proved themselves invaluable to the work of rebuilding and running the country,” @lynseyaddario writes—even though conservative values persisted in Afghan society.
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(