The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2022 57 At the end of 2009, the U.S. mission in Afghanistan decided that it was time to do the handover. The transition was supposed to happen fromU.S. forces to the Afghan government, whether it was security, devel- opment or budgeting. They believed there was enough capacity within the Afghan government to run their own government and to be able to prioritize their needs and their people’s needs. Panjshir was the first province to be declared as fully transitioned to the Afghan government. Then I moved to Kabul and joined the U.S. embassy, as an executive office protocol assistant working with the schedules of the ambassador. c I started working for the U.S. government in 2003. Working for two years would allow you to get your Special Immigrant Visa [SIV] and move to the United States. I applied for an SIV in 2006. I never got it. I did not know a U.S. general to write a letter on my behalf. All the way to 2013 I tried. I put my life at risk. I put my kids’ lives at risk. I was working with the U.S. openly. I was accused of spying for the U.S. government. The visa was delayed and delayed, as I waited for my chance to move to the United States to start my life there. And then in 2019, with the help of the embassy, my SIV was back on track. Home- land Security approved it, but then it was put on hold for further administrative processing. It was still refused as of Aug. 15 [2021], when the Afghan government collapsed. So I started contacting people. I said: “I worked for you guys for more than 10 years. I worked with your intelligence, your embassy, your army. Do you want me to get killed? Just Google my name. Hundreds of photos come up of me with ambassadors, Ahmad Khalid Siddiqi (at left) with Bagram base commander (center) and PRT Director Williams Martin in Panjshir province, 2010. COURTESYOFAHMADKHALIDSIDDIQI General David Petraeus (at left) walking with interpreter Ahmad Khalid Siddiqi and the governor of Panjshir province, 2010. COURTESYOFAHMADKHALIDSIDDIQI