The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

28 MARCH 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL T he U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 and the evacuation, relocation and resettlement of allies is a defining moment in U.S. foreign policy. The events continue to elicit a great deal of commentary in the United States and elsewhere, much of it delivered without an appreciation of what was taking place on the ground. We knew that members of the U.S. Foreign Service stood up to assist in the critical hour and played a vital role in evacuating more than 120,000 people from Afghanistan in the largest air evacuation ever and in an ongoing resettlement effort of unprec- edented scale. In early December, we invited members to share their experience working on any aspect of this crisis, including the successes as well as the adversity and tragedy. We received more than two dozen responses. We are so grateful to the authors for writing about their challenging, heart-wrenching work. They served on the task force in Washington, at the airport in Kabul, at the “lily pads” and other landing spots for evacuation flights, at the U.S. receiving airports (Dulles and Philadelphia), and at the U.S. military bases across the United States (the “safe havens”) housing the Afghan guests until they are resettled in American communities where they can start to build new lives. Their essays—organized by the staging of the overall evacuation and resettle- ment effort—offer a unique inside look at the still-unfolding events. We also hear from an Afghan interpreter who describes his family’s journey from Kabul to Colorado in an article that follows the compilation. Each of these individuals has written in a personal capacity, and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. government. —Shawn Dorman, Editor Operation Allies Refuge The FS View from the Front Lines FOCUS ON AFGHANISTAN EVACUATION