VETERANS’ COALITION, PROJECT DYNAMO: GETTING REMAINING AMERICANS & AFGHAN CITIZENS OUT SOON
The Mission
Americans and Afghans applying for Special Immigrant Visas, thousands of whom are stranded and facing almost certain death at the hands of the Taliban, will soon be able to escape through a privately run civilian airlift organized by the veterans' coalition Project Dynamo 2.
The mission – part of the movement #DigitalDunkirk and named in reference to Allied forces’ evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II with the help of thousands of civilian watercraft -- will gather evacuees in four provinces outside Kabul and airlift them to safety, said Jen Wilson, chief operating officer of Army Week Association and a member of the coalition. The coalition, which is paid for entirely by the veterans and any donations they receive, has mobilized and plans to fly out its first evacuees within days, she said.
For anyone left behind when the United States and its allies pull out, she said, the future looks grim
without civilian rescue.
"They go back to the 7th century, if they live," Wilson said.
Evacuations will begin in several outlying provinces, away from Kabul, she said. For many people in the outer regions of Afghanistan, it's too dangerous to try to reach Kabul and its chaotic airport. Once there, dense crowds of people all trying to get into the airport through Taliban checkpoints have made it nearly impossible for most to pass.
Wilson said American passport-holders, green card-holders and their children, along with Afghans applying for the special visas, should contact Project Dynamo 2 through her email address at jen.wilson@armyweek.org until the coalition's website is operational. Someone from the group will then tell them where to go for processing and a route out of the country.
Many of the people trying to escape with their families worked as interpreters for the U.S. military during its 20-year war against the Taliban, and were promised protection in exchange for their service.
And now, every second counts for them, she said. The Taliban plans to cut off all Internet and cell phone communication with the outside world when American and NATO troops leave Aug. 31, Wilson said.
"Once they lose the ability to communicate, it's game over," she said."They lose the ability to get out if they
can't talk to the West."
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