America has a moral obligation to the military interpreters it left behind: Howard Manuel
Updated 5:34 AM;
Today 5:34 AM
In this Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, photo, Zia Ghafoori displays his Purple Heart at his home in Charlotte, North Carolina. He received the award as an interpreter wounded while fighting insurgents with U.S. Special Forces during the Battle of Shok Valley, Afghanistan. He received a Special Immigrant Visa in 2014 and took his oath of citizenship in 2020. In a guest column today, Howard Manuel of "No One Left Behind" writes that many who worked with U.S. forces are now in peril for their lives and still waiting for their Special Immigrant Visas -- a situation made more urgent by accelerating efforts to end U.S. involvement in the war. Advocates hope a new sitcom, "The United States of Al," imagining a fictional interpreter relocated from Afghanistan to Columbus, Ohio, that premiered last night on CBS-TV, will help raise awareness about the problem. (AP Photo/ Sarah Blake Morgan)AP