Kristen L. Rouse Profile picture
Feb 2 14 tweets 4 min read
I read this yesterday. I keep wanting to scream. This is an important piece. But it is nowhere damning enough. A few thoughts: 1/ theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
First, it is surprising to notice someone who ran relentless cover for the Biden withdrawal last August seems to feel bad about it now & is made out to be someone of conscience here. It's puzzling, but not the point of the piece. 2/
Also, let it be known that Mission Essential Personnel has told more lies about our #AfghanAllies than the Taliban. This was systemic betrayal of loyal Afghans. They fired our friends for "security reasons" time & again. It seems directed at SIV denial.
It also needs to be screamed to any & all who will listen that most of our interpreters--who are the only reason we were able to do anything at all ever in Afghanistan--were left behind in the August evacuation. Countless others we relied on, too. 4/
Our interpreters spent years working thru an impossible SIV process, w/ dubious contractors like L3 & MEP submitting bad papers to wrongfully deny these visas. Some interpreters are still getting denial notices from "US Embassy Kabul" which doesn't exist anymore. 5/
Even in the lead-up to August, US Embassy Kabul refused to grant virtual interviews for family members of US citizens & other visa applicants bc of COVID. The pre-August blockage of visas in Kabul was cruel bureaucracy. A longform piece should be written about this too. 6/
I talked w/ State Dept staffers last August who ended up quitting bc of the enforced cruelty within the agency. This is State's legacy in Afghanistan: "BUREAUCRACY IS KILLING MORE PEOPLE THAN THE TALIBAN." 7/
Also, the cruelty of blaming Afghan security forces for the Taliban takeover has been truly obscene to me. It seems to be nothing more than cover for the abject abandonment of Afghan forces to their Taliban murderers. They fought & died at astonishing rates these last 20 yrs. 8/
I still get daily pleas for help from former Afghan security forces. We turned over brave heroes who fought for unity & democracy to terrorists. I will never not feel enraged about this abandonment also. Our pledge of "shona ba shona" was made into a lie. 9/
This piece points touches on how Canada & other countries did far more for their #AfghanAllies than the US. It has sickened me to write pleas to foreign dignitaries explaining that the government I served has failed & I'm asking their help to save Afghan lives. 10/
I've seen folks commenting on the "no responsibility" comment & the cold cruelty of abandoning millions of Afghans who believed in the structures of governance, defense, education, media & democracy we built w/ them over 20 yrs. But maybe the most outrageous to me is this: 11/
THIS ADMINISTRATION KNEW THAT VETERANS WOULD WATCH OUR FRIENDS DIE. I will never not be outraged that they'd rather give veterans therapy to cope with kidnappings & murders than grant SIVs to our #AfghanAllies. 12/
Again, this is an important piece. Please read all of it. But also know there is more to the story. So many heroes among the Afghan diaspora who mobilized globally to evacuate people. Also media organizations who worked to evacuate their Afghan staff & help many others too. 13/
Plenty of folks working 24/7 ops last August were not veterans. So many caring, compassionate people across the world came together to help Afghans. They are still working. Meanwhile US govt has yet to get through emails they received last August. This is far from over. 14/14

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More from @TrueBoots

Feb 17, 2021
Rush Limbaugh's legacy of stoking hate, bigotry, insults & lies will sadly live on. Remembering today the bile he spewed at veterans. Like when he called veterans wounded in Iraq "phony soldiers" for speaking up about the lies that started the war: abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2…
On transgender military service, Rush Limbaugh offered this "support" for the troops: "So the Trannies Could Now Get Into The Military Along With Everybody Else. Of Course, What Could Go Wrong?" mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/…
At one point, women veterans demanded Rush Limbaugh be taken off of Armed Forces Network because of the misogynist hatred he spewed. He was never taken off the programming. stripes.com/blogs/stripes-…
Read 11 tweets
Jan 7, 2021
A few years ago @CapitolPolice arrested more than 150 peaceful protesters, many of them sexual assault survivors, using their 1st amendment right to protest the Kavanaugh nomination. I haven't been able to find one report or photo of any marauders or looters arrested today.
When disability rights protesters peacefully objected to cuts in Medicaid, more than 180 were arrested. @CapitolPolice took down people with physical disabilities. I have not yet found even one marauder or looter handled like these disabled heroes were.
When disabled people peacefully protested the harm legislators wanted to inflict upon them - @CapitolPolice literally flipped people out of their wheelchairs. I've seen no such aggression toward those who looted our Capitol today.
Read 10 tweets
Oct 2, 2020
I don't wish COVID-19 or any illness on anyone. But like countless others, I'm enraged it took this long for the WH to put on masks. To treat this as the crisis it is. 210k dead. Mourning families. Unpayable medical debts. Lost jobs & businesses. This global tragedy is unending.
Seeing discussions of helicopter vs. ground travel from WH to Walter Reed - which is well and interesting - got me thinking of March-May in NYC when ambulances were constant, EMS & ER staff were overwhelmed & hospitals had morgue trailers filling with our neighbors & loved ones.
Wishing New Yorkers had options then - or that other Americans have options now. In early months, folks were told to stay home unless they couldn't breathe. Hospital hall space was taken up with critical patients, many of whom died from lack of staffing & equipment.
Read 8 tweets
Sep 30, 2020
That "308,000 deaths in the military" number is very specific, so I did a simple search. Appears that 308,000 is the number of civilian casualties in Iraq. Real numbers, real lives - zero context here in #Debates2020. statista.com/chart/20699/es…
More than 20k people died of COVID-19 in my city. Healthcare workers had no PPE. NYC begged for supplies & equipment as morgue trailers filled. Deceased people were carried away in rental vans. We were failed by our federal govt profoundly. politico.com/news/2020/03/2…
NYC saved lives by limiting social contact and mandating masks. We do not want to go back to the mass-death we experienced in terrifying early months of this pandemic. This isn't a game, this isn't a political football. Americans are dying. #Debates2020
Read 14 tweets
Sep 24, 2020
"We are united & if they try to divide us they will not succeed." NYC has been labeled an "anarchist jurisdiction" but so many diverse Brooklyn neighbors came out tonight in sorrow, pain & anger to say that there was no justice today for #BreonnaTaylor. #BlackLivesMatter
A massive crowd in front of Barclays laid down flat, observing the full 8 minutes 46 seconds #GeorgeFloyd choked under a policeman's knee. We heard so many voices of pain tonight. #BreonnaTaylor #BlackLivesMatter Image
It's jarring yet fitting to have words of #RBG, daughter of Brooklyn, as backdrop tonight. Some of the young people leading tonight have been out here every day since May. They are exhausted yet relentlessly calling for justice for #BreonnaTaylor. #BlackLivesMatter Image
Read 5 tweets

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