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UN-SPUN: On The Ground in Afghanistan with Ben Owen

The following article, UN-SPUN: On The Ground in Afghanistan with Ben Owen, was first published on Flag And Cross.

As Secretary of State Antony Blinken plays a game of partisan patty-cake in front of Congress this week, the daunting task of evacuating Americans, our allies, and our assets from Afghanistan continues.

But the performative antics of the men and women of Congress are just that:  Antics.  The soundbites and the spin are all there, as per the usual, helping to fuel this donkey-and-elephant show and feed the mainstream media’s appetite for ratings.

The truth about Afghanistan is not going to be written in the halls of Congress, and Americans are now beginning to understand that the record produced by Congress has, and will forever be, massaged and molded to the whims of Washington DC herself – complete with the spin and sensationalism that has melded entertainment and politics in a way that will bring only suffering sometime in the not-so-distant future.

On the ground in Afghanistan is a different story entirely.  One of sacrifice, betrayal.  Duty and honor.  Of righteous, dangerous work that must be completed at all costs.

The men and women doing that work tell a different story than those pontificating in front of the cameras 7,000 miles away, and they are eager to let their experience be known.

One of those men in Ben Owen, Founder of Flanders Fields, an organization whose mission to support veterans in need has been extended to include a robust and dangerous effort to evacuate all who require it in Afghanistan.

Owen’s take on the situation does not square with the tall tales being bandied about on The Beltway.

“Some of the story is getting out there, but depending on the outlet, it’s wildly inaccurate or missing critical details”, Owen tells me.  He then cites a dire and specific example of the mainstream media’s erroneous reporting.

“WSJ did a write up about the ~300 orphans who got in the gate and then had to leave.  I sent the authors an email to correct an error in fact, that the reality was the 284 orphans were entirely inside the wire, (the hardest place to get and the final hurdle to get on a plane), but the commander ‘didn’t like the way’ our guys brought them in and ejected them all from [the airport]”.

This hinderance to the work of Flanders Fields hasn’t sat well with veterans advocate, who rebukes the idea that the deadline of August 31st was a problem.

“Truthfully, we could have had all the American citizens and green card holders out by 8/31 if we hadn’t had the situation at the gates blocking entrance as a rule.  I became entirely unable to get any of my families, even AMCITs through the gates for a full 72hrs prior to pull out”.

Then, almost unbelievably:

“Leading up to that, planes were leaving empty, paid for flights with far less than half capacity on them.  If the airport had actually been functioning as an airport, (allowing people who had flights to board planes), we likely could have seen a far greater number–if not all–of the AMCITs evacuated, and far higher percentage of the at risk persons as well”.

And those people are of a paramount importance not only to Owen and those who are assisting him in the effort, but as a matter of principle for the American reputation.

“We made a commitment to our interpreters, their families, the women of the AUP, and countless others that we would take care of them.  America needs to band together and make good on that promise.  Anyone who is vetted, confirmed, an ally, an orphan, etc—we need visas and a resettlement plan in place ASAP.  The private sector is able and willing to facilitate anything we can, but we can’t grant visas”.
As for the partisan politicking currently filling the air inside the Capitol, Ben Own has little use for it so long as there is work to do in Afghanistan.
“The criticism of the US Gov is justified, wholly and entirely.  This is coming from a veteran, a patriot, somebody who wishes to see all partisanism removed from this.  I make a living appealing to conservatives, and I’ll be the first to tell you, I’m not bringing politics into this.  This has been a failure of government as a whole”.

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