Written by: Amanda Angulo
Many news sources and Democrats have been claiming that it is a relief that the 20-year war is over. So they said. But it is not over, for they have left behind several Americans and Afghan allies. The Biden administration has broken the military code to “never leave a man behind.”
Therefore, a group of volunteer American veterans of the Afghan war has launched a mission on Wednesday to save and rescue those left behind. They have been named the “Pineapple Express” and seek to lead hundreds of Afghan allies to their families and safety.
The team has been working unofficially with the U.S. military and the U.S. embassy to move people in small groups or individually through Hamid Karzai International Airport.
On Thursday, the Pineapple Express’ mission went underway on the same day as the Kabul attack. A suicide bomber believed to be an ISIS fighter killed 13 U.S. service members and wounded 15 others.
Thursday morning, the team stated that they took 500 Afghan special operators, allies, and families into the Kabul airport overnight and left them under protective U.S. military custody.
Army Lt. Col. Scott Mann, a retired Green Beret commander who led the Pineapple Express stated, “dozens of high-risk individuals, families with small children, orphans, and pregnant women, were secretly moved through the streets of Kabul throughout the night and up to just seconds before ISIS detonated a bomb into the huddled mass of Afghans seeking safety and freedom.”
The team’s objective was to move people and families onto the “Pineapple Express” in the cover of darkness. It first started by trying to rescue a former Afghan commando who was being texted death threats by the Taliban for having worked with the U.S. Special Forces and the SEAL Team Six for many years. This made him an instant target in their eyes, and they saw it as their duty to save him, especially when the Biden administration turned their backs on so many like him.
Small groups of Afghan allies have encountered Taliban soldiers on foot, threatening to beat them but never checking their identity papers. Luckily, they didn’t find out that the Afghan people were carrying U.S. visas, applications, or worse, that they were a part of killing Taliban leadership.
“This Herculean effort couldn’t have been done without the unofficial heroes inside the airfield who defied their orders to not help beyond the airport perimeter by wading into sewage canals and pulling in these targeted people who were flashing pineapples on their phones,” said Mann. The Pineapple Express showcases the humility of many American veterans, and even when the president abandons allies and citizens, they will take it upon themselves to ensure their safety.
Photo from: Capt. Zac Lois
