Posted on 11/29/2025 11:55:45 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
...We don’t have good fidelity on who any of them are."
The 29-year-old Afghan man suspected of shooting two National Guardsmen yesterday in Washington, D.C., was “clean on all checks,” a senior U.S. official told CNN. The official told CNN that “the US government had been doing continuous, annual vetting of individuals since the Afghans’ arrival in the US, especially in the wake of the failed terror plot disrupted before the election last year in Oklahoma, which involved an Afghan evacuee.”
But a senior intelligence official told Public, “There wasn’t adequate screening done,” of Afghan evacuees. “We don’t have good fidelity on who any of them are. We say ‘they’re vetted’ and he [the suspected shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal] was vetted. That meant we thought he wouldn’t turn his guns on us when we were paying him every month. And that worked for a decade with him. But the second we’re not doing that anymore, the deal on their end changes.”
Lakanwal came to the US as part of the Biden administration’s “Operation Allies Welcome.” Said the official, who asked to be anonymous, “Nation-building failed. We ended up importing massive amounts of people.”
Some online have asked why the US didn’t return the evacuees and why they were brought to the US in the first place. “The average Trump voter is asking, ‘Didn’t I vote to kick them out?’ I think that’s fair.” The person said they were told earlier this year, upon entering the Intelligence Community, “You don’t know how bad it is now,” regarding the government’s inadequate screening of evacuees.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2022 published a report warning of security risks among the Afghan evacuees in the U.S. “DHS encountered obstacles to screen, vet, and inspect all Afghan evacuees,” it found. Information was “inaccurate, incomplete, or missing,” it added, and Border Patrol “admitted or paroled evacuees who were not fully vetted into the United States.”
On November 21, the Trump Administration’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a memo saying it would revoke the refugee status of people who do not meet the criteria and would stop processing applications for permanent residence for all refugees who entered under President Joe Biden, about 233,000 people. The memo noted that the Biden administration had cut corners on properly vetting candidates.
The reason the US didn’t find many terrorist ties among evacuees was “because they were fighting the Taliban,” said the official. “If they were fighting the Taliban, we said, ‘They’re not terrorists.’ This individual [Lakanwal] and the election day attacker came up clean. There was no DEROG [derogatory information] on them. So we flew them to the States with no long-term plan.”
There is evidence that Lakanwal was mentally disturbed by his participation in an elite, CIA-run kill squad known as a Zero Unit, which conducted nighttime operations that included targeted assassinations of high-value targets. A childhood friend told The New York Times, “When he saw blood, bodies, and the wounded, he could not tolerate it, and it put a lot of pressure on his mind.”
Human Rights Watch and the UN published separate reports accusing the Zero Unit of having committed war crimes, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and civilian deaths
“You’re never supposed to bring your proxies home,” said the official. “They’re mercenaries we hire for a very specific purpose. We can’t bring large populations with a drastically different culture here. There was never a moment like, ‘Will these guys be good neighbors?’ It was, ‘Can I pay him enough to shoot the enemy and not me?’”
Why did the US government bring so many Afghans to the US in the first place? Was there a better option for them? And what should happen to them now?
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Hiw about now? Would he pass a vetting check now?
“Clean on all checks” It’s called Taqiyya.
He’s an Afghani Muslim. That’s all you need to know before deciding to let him in.
5000 Afghans have already been tagged as National Security threats according to the NY Post.
Guess that means that the unarmed guardsman who stabbed the "suspected" shooter in the head will soon be charged...
How many of the, are sleepers? We don’t know, but that’s the whole point.
You cant vet Muslims, its really that simple. They can pass every single damn background check, look all cute and cuddly in person, act like the sweetest people on earth, but something, ANYTHING can set them off, its in their DNA, it can be nothing, it can be something, and all of a sudden BOOM they will want to slit your throat
Did they check to see if he was a muslim?
“Would he pass a vetting check now?”
He would. He was granted asylum in April 2025.
No bad/islamic connections.
He just had a psychotic episode.
I’m not making excuses for the guy, nor the Biden policy.
I’m saying nobody could have known this was going to happen.
Unless some new info emerges....
He had a gun.
He probably passed a Brady check.
How did he get to DC?
How did he get the gun to DC?
How did he pay to get to DC?
Ask Trump’s buddy Lindsey Graham why...he was advocating to bring in Afghans on the Senate floor in 2021.
You know who wasn’t advocating for them and voted against speeding up vetting the Afghans....MTG
Send them all back.
All of them.
Every last one.
L
Should have never been here.
He has been granted a$ylum. He gets EVERYTHING.
“Should have never been here.”
I agree.
“Everyone knew this was going to happen.”
Well yes, in the aggregate.
But not this particular guy and not this particular act.
Gen Mike Flynn was on Bannon this morning and Flynn had a lot to say about the CIA’s lack of oversight on the Afghan after he came into the USA.
Flynn is called out Ratcliffe to come clean and report the CIA’s oversight on ALL of the Afghans recruited by the CIA and then allowed to come into the USA.
Benefits Available to Asylum Seekers
Asylum seekers in the United States can access various benefits while their applications are processed. These benefits help them meet basic needs and support their transition.
Employment and Work Authorization
Employment Authorization: Asylum seekers can apply for a work permit if their application has been pending for at least 150 days. This allows them to work legally in the U.S.
Social Services and Assistance
Access to Social Services: Benefits vary by state but may include:
Emergency Medicaid for healthcare
Limited cash assistance programs
Educational benefits for children, including free public schooling and nutrition assistance programs like SNAP and WI
Legal Support
Legal Assistance: Non-profit organizations often provide free or low-cost legal services to help asylum seekers navigate the complex immigration process.
Temporary Protection
Protection from Deportation: Once an asylum application is filed, individuals typically receive temporary protection from deportation while their case is being reviewed.
Healthcare and Medical Assistance
Healthcare Access: Asylum seekers may qualify for emergency medical care and, in some states, ongoing medical assistance through Medicaid.
Family Reunification
Family Benefits: Asylees can petition for their spouse and children to join them in the U.S.
Additional Support
Housing and Financial Support: Some states offer housing assistance and financial support to help asylum seekers meet their basic needs.
These benefits are designed to support asylum seekers during a challenging period as they await a decision on their asylum claims.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.