'We should monitor suicides,' a top official at the Veterans Affairs Department wrote the day Kabul fell.
As Taliban militia members streamed into Afghanistan’s capital, Veterans Affairs chief of staff Tanya Bradsher blasted out an email to the department’s senior staff. “My veteran network is reeling and I am sure yours are as well,” Bradsher wrote in the Aug. 15 email, which was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request and shared with POLITICO. “Can we highlight in our comms channels that VA has resources available? I am thinking of the vet centers in particular but open to all resources.
The pain, sadness, anger and frustration service members past and present are feeling in the wake of the United States' chaotic departure from Afghanistan has upended the Biden White House’s relations with veterans groups, many of which are now publicly blaming the president for mismanaging the drawdown. That has sent the administration, which has brushed off criticism from Republicans and some Democrats about the way the war ended, into damage control mode.
“Veteran has been struggling with the fall of Afghanistan and is experiencing an increase in his PTSD symptoms. He is feeling worthless, experiencing fits of rage and anger, not sleeping and can’t eat,” a summary of one of the calls read. Another said, “Veteran reported that it is going to be like 9/11 all over again.”
“They want us to come out of Afghanistan,” Couture said of those in VFW’s networks. “They just don't understand how we've left Americans behind and how we didn't hold our word to our Afghan allies. That goes against what was ingrained in us in our creeds and basic training.” The White House is acutely aware that extricating the remaining Americans and Afghan allies is one of the top concerns facing veterans.
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