Welcome to The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal.
Today, Center for Immigration Studies’ Board Member Phillip Linderman, and AfghanEvac coalition president Shawn VanDiver will be discussing a series of articles Phillip has authored in The American Conservative about the vetting of our Afghan allies and the allegations that the Afghan Evac coalition has ties with the open-border lobby.
Phillip discusses his articles and his belief that the Trump administration’s pause on Afghan arrivals is in the U.S. interest. Shawn provides the counter, examining why it is paramount for our national security to fulfill America’s promise to support the allies who qualify for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and the Special Immigrant Visa program.
We then go point-by-point through claims in each article (“The Afghan Refugee Program Is an Unfixable Mess – and May Bring the Next Terrorist Attack,” and “The Veterans Group Running Interference for Open-Border NGOs”) that contradict demonstrated fact, including by discussing the thorough interagency vetting our allies receive, the danger to our allies in the Taliban’s Afghanistan, the need to fulfill America’s promise to its allies, and the lack of political bias within the #AfghanEvac coalition.
About the guests:
Phillip Linderman is a retired State Department senior Foreign Service officer. Over a three-decade career, he served abroad in U.S. embassies and consulates in Belgium, Mexico, Ecuador, Germany, Cuba, Chile, and Trinidad. He also represented U.S. interests at the Organization of American States and the European Union. Linderman’s diplomatic duties often focused on U.S. border security, international travel, and migration policies, giving him wide experience in working with foreign governments, as well as U.S. law enforcement and intelligence partners, on matters such as visa and passport fraud, human trafficking, terrorist travel, watchlisting, and identity information collection and use.
Shawn VanDiver is the founder of #AfghanEvac. A vocal proponent of civic engagement at all levels, Shawn serves as Vice Chair of the San Diego Convention Center and is the founder of the San Diego Chapter of the Truman National Security Project. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors for Vets Community Connections and the Veterans Community Oversight and Engagement Board.
Shawn attended National University, the Naval Postgraduate School, and University of San Francisco and holds degrees and certifications related to homeland security, cybersecurity, emergency management, and public leadership. Shawn is a Navy veteran, proud father and avid sailor.
About the host:
Beth Bailey worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner.
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on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwbailey85/
on Twitter: https://x.com/BWBailey85
on Substack: https://substack.com/@bwbailey85
on the web: https://bethwbailey.com/
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