The interpreter who helped President Joe Biden escape Afghanistan in 2008 has finally arrived in the U.S.
“I’m totally free. I’m so excited. It was a long trip, with a start from the north of Afghanistan right to the border of Pakistan,” said former interpreter Mohammad Aman Khalili. “It was very scary because the Taliban were on the roads, and they were checking and watching, as everybody is, to find their enemies and arrest them.”
Khalili said he felt betrayed by the U.S. when the country pulled out of Afghanistan last year. Khalili had been approved to leave Afghanistan when U.S. forces were helping American allies flee the country, but he was not willing to leave his wife and children behind. “I had worked with the U.S. forces for about 13 years. It was egregious for me,” he said.
In 2008, Khalili joined Arizona National Guard troops in Afghanistan on a rescue mission to track down two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters that made an emergency landing in a remote valley during a snowstorm. Those helicopters were carrying then-Senators Joe Biden, John Kerry, and Chuck Hagel.
Khalili made headlines last year when he pleaded for help from President Biden, asking him to help save him and his family. The White House issued a statement assuring him that, “We will get you out, we will honor your service, and we’re committed to doing exactly that.”
In October, Khalili and his family successfully fled to the Pakistan border with the help of Brian Genthe, a purple heart veteran who worked with Khalili for years and was a strong advocate for his rescue.
“He was in one house, one room, in Kabul, scared every single day,” Genthe said. “He was contacting me. It wasn’t a good situation. I’m just glad I got the opportunity to do this.”
Read Full Article from Fox News (NY) (02/07/22)
Author: Hill, Bailee
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