Captain Omer Rafiq Visits Dartmouth, Reflects on Afghanistan Withdrawal

On Wednesday, January 24, United States Marine Corps Captain Omer Rafiq spoke at an event hosted by the Dartmouth Political Union to reflect on his experiences during the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. Rafiq was initially deployed to the Helmand Province in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2016, he was commissioned as an officer, and in 2021 served as Aide de Camp to the commanding general of the crisis response force. During the withdrawal, he oversaw evacuation operations in Kabul. For his actions following the attack on Abbey Gate, he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal. 

Rafiq began his talk with a brief biography, emphasizing his unique path to the Marines. He noted that he is a first-generation immigrant, having been born in Saudi Arabia and immigrated to the United States via the green-card system. Rafiq’s immigration journey, he said, gives him a greater sense of purpose and pride in his work as a Marine. He acknowledges the struggles associated with immigration: For most immigrants, he said, “identity reconstruction is a constant cycle . . . of figuring out who you are.” But, when he came to America, he was offered a new sense of self. He remarked: “This is the first country that said, ‘You will have a path to citizenship. You will have an identity.’” 

Rafiq also suffered setbacks as a child. “My path to the military was just as improbable as my path to being an American,” he said. He was arrested as a junior in high school and seemed to be off course. But he made his way to the Marines, which he said gave him a new sense of structure and purpose. When he served in the Helmand Province, he said he realized the impact he could have. He also emphasized that his proudest accomplishment is giving back to society. While he joked that “this is by no means a recruitment pitch,” it is clear that the Marines offered to Rafiq a sense of duty and drive, and made him all the better as a result.

Rafiq then introduced the central topic of consideration for the night, the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which Rafiq acknowledged “has become a politically contentious topic.” Far from offering excuses for the widely considered disaster, though, Rafiq was candid about his personal experiences. After all, as he mentioned, he was not in the upper echelons of leadership during the evacuation. To him, the men and women on the ground deserve recognition for their valiant efforts in a confusing and difficult moment. Rafiq insisted that we have failed to appreciate the contributions Marines and soldiers made despite the challenges they faced.

Rafiq and his team were in Afghanistan a few weeks before it fell into the hands of the Taliban. Their job was to provide the State Department with in-the-moment intelligence regarding the state of the Afghan government. Despite previous intelligence projections that the government would not collapse so soon, it took only a matter of days. “The uniqueness was this happened overnight,” Rafiq said. What ensued was a rapid frenzy to evacuate those vulnerable to Taliban rule. Rafiq said that the sudden shift in Afghanistan was the result of the U.S. not having enough troops on the ground. 

When the Afghan government fell, Rafiq said that the Afghan National Army simply left. This, he argued, was the result of an unstable, disordered nation, while “what makes our military unique is that we have a very stable government.” To be sure, with solid, legitimate, and transcendent values for them to look to and strive for, American servicemen put service above self. Our military is doubtless much more cohesive and reliable as a result. Not having that, Afghanistan’s army collapsed at the first sign of stress.

Rafiq relayed the gut-wrenching story of chaotic evacuation attempts. In the frenzy, parents were throwing their children over fences, trying to get them to safety. In one instance, Rafiq recalls being handed a baby he knew already to be deceased but whose mother apparently did not know and thus insisted that Rafiq take him. This story well encapsulates the tragedy and desperation of the moment. With little guidance from above, Rafiq and others navigated disaster. 

Rafiq concluded his planned remarks by considering the psychological effects of the withdrawal on servicemen. 19 to 23 year olds, he says, were thrown into a chaotic situation and had to listen to the screams of mothers as they fought to save their children. And, to add to the trauma, this went on non-stop for weeks. He said he has concerns for the long-term mental health of these young servicemen. It is safe to say that Rafiq takes from this debacle a predominantly bottom-up view. He is less concerned with the political ramifications of the decision making from the top—something over which he and his fellow servicemen had no control—than he is with the experiences of those directly involved. 

Still, people care about the strategic and political implications. When the program turned to a question-and-answer portion, focus immediately shifted there. A moderator asked Rafiq what the goals of the invasion of Afghanistan were and if they were attained. He, of course, explained that the mission was to dismantle al-Qaeda post-9/11 and to degrade the Taliban’s ability to govern. He also appropriately mentioned the concern for human rights and the desire to prevent the region from becoming a safe haven for terrorists.

Rafiq argued that there was a period during which these goals were actually achieved. While not very specific in explaining why, he said that secondary objectives got in the way, chief among them nation building. 

On the subject of the withdrawal itself, Rafiq was not too explicit, but he did hint that an early departure was a questionable decision. Retrospectively, he said that withdrawing forces signaled to opposing entities, namely the Taliban, that the government was failing. It also sent a message to the Afghan government that the U.S. did not completely trust it. From a policy perspective, we can readily assume that Rafiq thought an early withdrawal meant a disruption to stability. 

Rafiq also addressed the Abbey Gate incident. At the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, suicide bombers killed thirteen Marines and sailors and 170 Afghan civilians. The incident has been a key focal point of the withdrawal, capturing intense media scrutiny. Rafiq applauded the calls for accountability, because “that is the essence of our democracy.” But he also emphasized the strangleholds placed on those on the ground. For him and for his fellow servicemen, it was “haunting” to listen to the screams “with very little formal authority to do anything about it.” They were not following readily available procedures but were acting in the moment, without the right systems in place. It is doubtless fair to say that, for those on the ground, they did the best they could. This was certainly an important reminder that Rafiq communicated.

He said that he knows people question such soldiers’ American values, given that they were attached to the failed military operation. But, while working tirelessly to evacuate as many as possible, he was motivated, he said, by the fact that there were still American lives to be saved. On that day, he said, the worst of humanity was on full display, but in the Marines there was the best of humanity.

Rafiq defended the government to some extent, too. He asserted that the Department of Defense’s report was “beyond transparent” and that the D.O.D. is open with the fact that the withdrawal was a disaster. He also questioned whether certain strategic changes, which have since been suggested, would have made any difference. For example, he said he does not think closing the Bagram Air Base would have allowed for a quicker evacuation process. 

Among other questions, an audience member asked Rafiq about war crimes committed by the United States, and whether that should permit international investigations into soldiers’ conduct. Rafiq was dismissive of the idea that American soldiers committed atrocities en masse, explaining that there are complex procedures and training in place to prevent it. While he would welcome an international investigation if need be, he said, he thinks our justice system and accountability measures should be trusted. 

In all, Rafiq’s talk gave a valuable glimpse into the disastrous military operation. It offered a reminder to distinguish between the policy makers—that is, the top military brass and those atop the Defense Department—and the servicemen simply doing their duty in the face of extreme risk. While the Afghanistan withdrawal was by any measure a failure, we mustn’t disparage those who did their duty well. After all, they put their lives on the line to save their fellow Americans.