US gives 1st public look inside base housing Afghans
By FARNOUSH AMIRI
51 mins ago
FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday provided the first public look inside a U.S. military base where Afghans airlifted out of Afghanistan are being screened, amid questions about how the government is caring for the refugees and vetting them.
“Everyone Afghan who is here with us has endured a harrowing journey and they are now faced with the very real challenges of acclimating with life in the United States,” Liz Gracon, a senior State Department official, told reporters.
The three-hour tour at Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, was the first time the media has been granted broad access to one of the eight U.S. military installations housing Afghans.
But even so, reporters, including those with The Associated Press, were not allowed to talk with any evacuees or spend more than a few minutes in areas where they were gathered, with military officials citing “privacy concerns.”
Nearly 10,000 Afghan evacuees are staying at the base while they undergo medical and security checks before being resettled in the United States. The operation was described by officials at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State as a “historic” and “unprecedented" effort to facilitate the relocation of a huge number of refugees in less than a month’s time.
On Friday, Afghan children with soccer balls and basketballs played outside large white tents. Families walked down a dirt driveway with stacks of plastic food containers piled under their chins and Coca-Cola cans under their arms. One young girl, still wearing dirty clothing, cried in the middle of the road after her food spilled and soldiers attempted to help her. Inside the containers, which refugees had spent around 15 minutes in line for in the blistering sun, were traditional Afghan meals of basmati rice and hearty stew.
The U.S. government spent two weeks building what it calls a village to house the Afghans on the base. It is a sprawling area with hundreds of air-conditioned tents used as dormitories and dining halls on scrubby dirt lots, a landscape that in some ways resembled parts of the homeland they fled. The base was previously used to hold migrant children in 2016.
Under the program called “Operation Allies Welcome,” some 50,000 Afghans are expected to be admitted to the United States, including translators, drivers and others who helped the U.S. military during the 20-year war and who feared reprisals by the Taliban after they quickly seized power last month.
Nearly 130,000 were airlifted out of Afghanistan in one of the largest mass evacuations in U.S. history. Many of those people are still in transit, undergoing security vetting and screening in other countries, including Germany, Spain, Kuwait and Qatar.
Members of Congress have questioned whether the screening is thorough enough. Many of the Afghans who worked for the U.S. government have undergone years of vetting already before they were hired, and then again to apply for a special immigrant visa for U.S. allies.
After they are released from the base, they will be aided by resettlement agencies in charge of placing the refugees. The agencies give priority to places where the refugees either have family already in the United States or there are Afghan immigrant communities with the resources to help them start a new life in a foreign land. Those with American citizenship or green cards are able to leave once arriving at the base, according to a State Department representative.
If other evacuees — whose release is dependent on completing health protocols mandated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — choose to leave prior to the full resettlement period, that may be used against them.
So far, no one at Fort Bliss has been released for resettlement.
The Pentagon has said all evacuees are tested for COVID-19 upon arriving at Dulles International Airport outside Washington.
The Biden administration is also using the base to house thousands of immigrant children, mostly from Central America, who have been crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers on their own, without adults. The children are housed there until they can be reunited with relatives already in the United States or with a sponsor, usually a family friend, or sent to a licensed facility.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
No way. Dementia Joe killed what again in his drone strike?
So you must have just learned that our military does drone strikes because I don't recall your comments about them prior to January 2021. I'm sure you were also outraged between 2009 - 2016. Drone strikes suck when conducted under any President's tenure, especially over the last 20 years. I don't think I've seen anyone (not that I recall) cheer when there was a drone strike, but I do recall when people complain about them, when it's not their president calling the shots. Maybe complain to your rep and get some movement on capitol hill about restricting their usage instead of only caring when the other side is in power. Video game war is here to stay, but if we push for some more restrictive usage, then maybe there'll be better oversight.
No way. Dementia Joe killed what again in his drone strike?
So you must have just learned that our military does drone strikes because I don't recall your comments about them prior to January 2021. I'm sure you were also outraged between 2009 - 2016. Drone strikes suck when conducted under any President's tenure, especially over the last 20 years. I don't think I've seen anyone (not that I recall) cheer when there was a drone strike, but I do recall when people complain about them, when it's not their president calling the shots. Maybe complain to your rep and get some movement on capitol hill about restricting their usage instead of only caring when the other side is in power. Video game war is here to stay, but if we push for some more restrictive usage, then maybe there'll be better oversight.
I started a thread about Obama's drone strike program and how democrats were virtually silent and the thread died a very quick death.
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
No way. Dementia Joe killed what again in his drone strike?
So you must have just learned that our military does drone strikes because I don't recall your comments about them prior to January 2021. I'm sure you were also outraged between 2009 - 2016. Drone strikes suck when conducted under any President's tenure, especially over the last 20 years. I don't think I've seen anyone (not that I recall) cheer when there was a drone strike, but I do recall when people complain about them, when it's not their president calling the shots. Maybe complain to your rep and get some movement on capitol hill about restricting their usage instead of only caring when the other side is in power. Video game war is here to stay, but if we push for some more restrictive usage, then maybe there'll be better oversight.
I started a thread about Obama's drone strike program and how democrats were virtually silent and the thread died a very quick death.
Hahah. Yup. Can’t say I was surprised. The loudest people on here were nowhere to be found.
No way. Dementia Joe killed what again in his drone strike?
So you must have just learned that our military does drone strikes because I don't recall your comments about them prior to January 2021. I'm sure you were also outraged between 2009 - 2016. Drone strikes suck when conducted under any President's tenure, especially over the last 20 years. I don't think I've seen anyone (not that I recall) cheer when there was a drone strike, but I do recall when people complain about them, when it's not their president calling the shots. Maybe complain to your rep and get some movement on capitol hill about restricting their usage instead of only caring when the other side is in power. Video game war is here to stay, but if we push for some more restrictive usage, then maybe there'll be better oversight.
I started a thread about Obama's drone strike program and how democrats were virtually silent and the thread died a very quick death.
Hahah. Yup. Can’t say I was surprised. The loudest people on here were nowhere to be found.
maybe because it is one of those things that happens under every President? Regardless of who is in charge?
Kind of like complaining about gas prices?
Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018) The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago 2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy 2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE) 2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston 2020: Oakland, Oakland:2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana 2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville 2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
No way. Dementia Joe killed what again in his drone strike?
So you must have just learned that our military does drone strikes because I don't recall your comments about them prior to January 2021. I'm sure you were also outraged between 2009 - 2016. Drone strikes suck when conducted under any President's tenure, especially over the last 20 years. I don't think I've seen anyone (not that I recall) cheer when there was a drone strike, but I do recall when people complain about them, when it's not their president calling the shots. Maybe complain to your rep and get some movement on capitol hill about restricting their usage instead of only caring when the other side is in power. Video game war is here to stay, but if we push for some more restrictive usage, then maybe there'll be better oversight.
I started a thread about Obama's drone strike program and how democrats were virtually silent and the thread died a very quick death.
Hahah. Yup. Can’t say I was surprised. The loudest people on here were nowhere to be found.
i hate drone strikes and think they are about as ethical as landmines, booby traps, and roadside bombs. i said that a couple of weeks ago on here. drones are tactics of the cowards.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
SOS Blinken testifying before Congress on Afghanistan withdrawal. Visa application process, 14 step process including in person interviews, mandated by Congress, had been put on hold since March 2020 and had a 7,000 applicant backlog. Biden Administration had it back up and running within two weeks of taking office.
No way. Dementia Joe killed what again in his drone strike?
So you must have just learned that our military does drone strikes because I don't recall your comments about them prior to January 2021. I'm sure you were also outraged between 2009 - 2016. Drone strikes suck when conducted under any President's tenure, especially over the last 20 years. I don't think I've seen anyone (not that I recall) cheer when there was a drone strike, but I do recall when people complain about them, when it's not their president calling the shots. Maybe complain to your rep and get some movement on capitol hill about restricting their usage instead of only caring when the other side is in power. Video game war is here to stay, but if we push for some more restrictive usage, then maybe there'll be better oversight.
Trump conducted more drone strikes in teh first 9 months than Obama did in eight years.
SOS Blinken testifying before Congress on Afghanistan withdrawal. Visa application process, 14 step process including in person interviews, mandated by Congress, had been put on hold since March 2020 and had a 7,000 applicant backlog. Biden Administration had it back up and running within two weeks of taking office.
Hold your faux outrage.
exactly. the trump administration did everything in their power to make the covid response and the afghanistan withdrawl the shit show that they were. they did everything they could to salt the ground and make it as difficult as possible for biden.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
SOS Blinken testifying before Congress on Afghanistan withdrawal. Visa application process, 14 step process including in person interviews, mandated by Congress, had been put on hold since March 2020 and had a 7,000 applicant backlog. Biden Administration had it back up and running within two weeks of taking office.
Hold your faux outrage.
exactly. the trump administration did everything in their power to make the covid response and the afghanistan withdrawl the shit show that they were. they did everything they could to salt the ground and make it as difficult as possible for biden.
Representative from Georgia is complaining about the 6 “lies” Biden has allegedly told about Afghanistan. Given POOTWH’s history, he’s got 25,000+ to go.
No way. Dementia Joe killed what again in his drone strike?
So you must have just learned that our military does drone strikes because I don't recall your comments about them prior to January 2021. I'm sure you were also outraged between 2009 - 2016. Drone strikes suck when conducted under any President's tenure, especially over the last 20 years. I don't think I've seen anyone (not that I recall) cheer when there was a drone strike, but I do recall when people complain about them, when it's not their president calling the shots. Maybe complain to your rep and get some movement on capitol hill about restricting their usage instead of only caring when the other side is in power. Video game war is here to stay, but if we push for some more restrictive usage, then maybe there'll be better oversight.
I started a thread about Obama's drone strike program and how democrats were virtually silent and the thread died a very quick death.
It truly sucks and is probably Obama's biggest failure as president, but I don't come on here and only complain when the other party is the one dropping bombs and then pretend it doesn't happen otherwise. Drone strikes have a place, but they have become far too common and the innocent casualties are disregarded.
On a similar note, my wife's side of the family had a get together a few weeks back and one her cousins used to be a contractor for the pentagon. We were all discussing programming because another cousin was talking about how he created a CRM for his clients when he mentioned that he could tell us about his work as a programmer, but it would be too gruesome and depressing. Of course we all asked why, but I had an idea of what he did based on previous comments over the years. He then briefly mentioned how he once had to design a program so a drone would only kill the driver of a vehicle and leave the passenger alive. Fucked up shit. All I know is that I remember when he was doing that type of work because he was making a shit ton of money. He doesn't do it anymore and now just spends his time day trading. What a life.
No way. Dementia Joe killed what again in his drone strike?
So you must have just learned that our military does drone strikes because I don't recall your comments about them prior to January 2021. I'm sure you were also outraged between 2009 - 2016. Drone strikes suck when conducted under any President's tenure, especially over the last 20 years. I don't think I've seen anyone (not that I recall) cheer when there was a drone strike, but I do recall when people complain about them, when it's not their president calling the shots. Maybe complain to your rep and get some movement on capitol hill about restricting their usage instead of only caring when the other side is in power. Video game war is here to stay, but if we push for some more restrictive usage, then maybe there'll be better oversight.
I started a thread about Obama's drone strike program and how democrats were virtually silent and the thread died a very quick death.
It truly sucks and is probably Obama's biggest failure as president, but I don't come on here and only complain when the other party is the one dropping bombs and then pretend it doesn't happen otherwise. Drone strikes have a place, but they have become far too common and the innocent casualties are disregarded.
On a similar note, my wife's side of the family had a get together a few weeks back and one her cousins used to be a contractor for the pentagon. We were all discussing programming because another cousin was talking about how he created a CRM for his clients when he mentioned that he could tell us about his work as a programmer, but it would be too gruesome and depressing. Of course we all asked why, but I had an idea of what he did based on previous comments over the years. He then briefly mentioned how he once had to design a program so a drone would only kill the driver of a vehicle and leave the passenger alive. Fucked up shit. All I know is that I remember when he was doing that type of work because he was making a shit ton of money. He doesn't do it anymore and now just spends his time day trading. What a life.
After not holding the Shrub Administration accountable for the invasion of Iraq. 22 million missing emails.
No way. Dementia Joe killed what again in his drone strike?
So you must have just learned that our military does drone strikes because I don't recall your comments about them prior to January 2021. I'm sure you were also outraged between 2009 - 2016. Drone strikes suck when conducted under any President's tenure, especially over the last 20 years. I don't think I've seen anyone (not that I recall) cheer when there was a drone strike, but I do recall when people complain about them, when it's not their president calling the shots. Maybe complain to your rep and get some movement on capitol hill about restricting their usage instead of only caring when the other side is in power. Video game war is here to stay, but if we push for some more restrictive usage, then maybe there'll be better oversight.
I started a thread about Obama's drone strike program and how democrats were virtually silent and the thread died a very quick death.
It truly sucks and is probably Obama's biggest failure as president, but I don't come on here and only complain when the other party is the one dropping bombs and then pretend it doesn't happen otherwise. Drone strikes have a place, but they have become far too common and the innocent casualties are disregarded.
On a similar note, my wife's side of the family had a get together a few weeks back and one her cousins used to be a contractor for the pentagon. We were all discussing programming because another cousin was talking about how he created a CRM for his clients when he mentioned that he could tell us about his work as a programmer, but it would be too gruesome and depressing. Of course we all asked why, but I had an idea of what he did based on previous comments over the years. He then briefly mentioned how he once had to design a program so a drone would only kill the driver of a vehicle and leave the passenger alive. Fucked up shit. All I know is that I remember when he was doing that type of work because he was making a shit ton of money. He doesn't do it anymore and now just spends his time day trading. What a life.
obama had to do it. he inherited the war on turr from prior administration and it would have been political suicide for the first african american president to come in and stop the program. the neocon america uber alles movement was still pretty strong when obama came in. i wish he would have done more to stop it, but completely understand the pressure he was under to continue. back then it was not a 20 year war and the american people were not in war fatigue yet.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
I just don’t understand why people continue to be radicalized, especially after such high level heartfelt apologies….
yeah, I saw that and i"m like "uh, you sincerely apologize? for murdering children, and that's all you got?". holy shit.
The sad thing is a lot of people were rah rah rahing for Joe’s military making a “strong” move at the time of this strike. Preemptive drone strikes aren’t good ever, bush, Obama, trump or Biden.
I just don’t understand why people continue to be radicalized, especially after such high level heartfelt apologies….
yeah, I saw that and i"m like "uh, you sincerely apologize? for murdering children, and that's all you got?". holy shit.
The sad thing is a lot of people were rah rah rahing for Joe’s military making a “strong” move at the time of this strike. Preemptive drone strikes aren’t good ever, bush, Obama, trump or Biden.
At least we’re out of there for now but repubs are going to run on returning. Damned if Dems do and damned if Dems dont.
My guess? Someone somewhere fed misinformation and “intelligence” to US forces for the sake of inflaming and embarrassing. In that morass of alliances and allegiances it’s not difficult to fathom. Doesn’t absolve or excuse US forces but fog of war and blowback exist.
Comments
Not surprising the leadership taking hold of the Taliban government are a bunch of terrorists.
FORT BLISS, Texas (AP) — The Biden administration on Friday provided the first public look inside a U.S. military base where Afghans airlifted out of Afghanistan are being screened, amid questions about how the government is caring for the refugees and vetting them.
“Everyone Afghan who is here with us has endured a harrowing journey and they are now faced with the very real challenges of acclimating with life in the United States,” Liz Gracon, a senior State Department official, told reporters.
The three-hour tour at Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, was the first time the media has been granted broad access to one of the eight U.S. military installations housing Afghans.
But even so, reporters, including those with The Associated Press, were not allowed to talk with any evacuees or spend more than a few minutes in areas where they were gathered, with military officials citing “privacy concerns.”
Nearly 10,000 Afghan evacuees are staying at the base while they undergo medical and security checks before being resettled in the United States. The operation was described by officials at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State as a “historic” and “unprecedented" effort to facilitate the relocation of a huge number of refugees in less than a month’s time.
On Friday, Afghan children with soccer balls and basketballs played outside large white tents. Families walked down a dirt driveway with stacks of plastic food containers piled under their chins and Coca-Cola cans under their arms. One young girl, still wearing dirty clothing, cried in the middle of the road after her food spilled and soldiers attempted to help her. Inside the containers, which refugees had spent around 15 minutes in line for in the blistering sun, were traditional Afghan meals of basmati rice and hearty stew.
The U.S. government spent two weeks building what it calls a village to house the Afghans on the base. It is a sprawling area with hundreds of air-conditioned tents used as dormitories and dining halls on scrubby dirt lots, a landscape that in some ways resembled parts of the homeland they fled. The base was previously used to hold migrant children in 2016.
Under the program called “Operation Allies Welcome,” some 50,000 Afghans are expected to be admitted to the United States, including translators, drivers and others who helped the U.S. military during the 20-year war and who feared reprisals by the Taliban after they quickly seized power last month.
Nearly 130,000 were airlifted out of Afghanistan in one of the largest mass evacuations in U.S. history. Many of those people are still in transit, undergoing security vetting and screening in other countries, including Germany, Spain, Kuwait and Qatar.
Members of Congress have questioned whether the screening is thorough enough. Many of the Afghans who worked for the U.S. government have undergone years of vetting already before they were hired, and then again to apply for a special immigrant visa for U.S. allies.
After they are released from the base, they will be aided by resettlement agencies in charge of placing the refugees. The agencies give priority to places where the refugees either have family already in the United States or there are Afghan immigrant communities with the resources to help them start a new life in a foreign land. Those with American citizenship or green cards are able to leave once arriving at the base, according to a State Department representative.
If other evacuees — whose release is dependent on completing health protocols mandated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — choose to leave prior to the full resettlement period, that may be used against them.
So far, no one at Fort Bliss has been released for resettlement.
The Pentagon has said all evacuees are tested for COVID-19 upon arriving at Dulles International Airport outside Washington.
The Biden administration is also using the base to house thousands of immigrant children, mostly from Central America, who have been crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers on their own, without adults. The children are housed there until they can be reunited with relatives already in the United States or with a sponsor, usually a family friend, or sent to a licensed facility.
___
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
-EV 8/14/93
-EV 8/14/93
have you ever backed up anything with a solid link? Or is it easier for you to just post out you ass….
so Trudeau didn’t wear blackface more time than he can remember…feel free to dispute.
oh that’s right, you nerver heard of blackface before Trudeau…hahaha.
Kind of like complaining about gas prices?
The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Hold your faux outrage.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
On a similar note, my wife's side of the family had a get together a few weeks back and one her cousins used to be a contractor for the pentagon. We were all discussing programming because another cousin was talking about how he created a CRM for his clients when he mentioned that he could tell us about his work as a programmer, but it would be too gruesome and depressing. Of course we all asked why, but I had an idea of what he did based on previous comments over the years. He then briefly mentioned how he once had to design a program so a drone would only kill the driver of a vehicle and leave the passenger alive. Fucked up shit. All I know is that I remember when he was doing that type of work because he was making a shit ton of money. He doesn't do it anymore and now just spends his time day trading. What a life.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/17/politics/kabul-drone-strike-us-military-intl-hnk/index.html
-EV 8/14/93
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
-EV 8/14/93
There are no kings inside the gates of eden
My guess? Someone somewhere fed misinformation and “intelligence” to US forces for the sake of inflaming and embarrassing. In that morass of alliances and allegiances it’s not difficult to fathom. Doesn’t absolve or excuse US forces but fog of war and blowback exist.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Barbers in Afghanistan's Helmand Province are now prohibited from shaving beards and playing music
Taliban hang body in public; signal return to past tactics
There are no kings inside the gates of eden