Afghan CIA fighters face stark reality in the U.S.

Consider This from NPR

NPR

Society & Culture, News, Daily News, News Commentary

4.1 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

They survived some of the Afghanistan war's most grueling and treacherous missions.

But once they evacuated to the U.S., many Afghan fighters who served in "Zero Units" found themselves spiraling.

Among their ranks was Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man charged with killing one National Guard member and seriously injuring a second after opening fire on them in Washington, D.C., on Thanksgiving Eve.

NPR's Brian Mann spoke to people involved in Zero Units and learned some have struggled with mental health since coming to the U.S. At least four soldiers have died by suicide.

A previous version of this episode incorrectly says that more than 100,000 Afghan civilians died in a 2021 attack at a checkpoint outside the Kabul airport. More than 100 Afghan civilians died.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [email protected].

This episode was produced by Erika Ryan and Karen Zamora. It was edited by Alina Hartounian and Courtney Dorning.

Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	To understand how the Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard soldiers wound up living in the U.S.
0:08.0	and struggling to start a new life, you need to go back almost a quarter of a century.
0:13.5	On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al-Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime
0:23.2	in Afghanistan.
0:24.4	That's President George W. Bush, speaking to the country on October 7, 2001.
0:30.3	The United States began a bombing campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
0:35.8	It was in response to the September 11th attacks.
0:38.9	Given the nature and reach of our enemies, we will win this conflict by the patient accumulation
0:44.0	of successes by meeting a series of challenges with determination and will and purpose.
0:50.9	Over the next two decades, the U.S. would continue to fight in Afghanistan.
0:56.8	Under both Republican and Democratic presidents, the U.S. military, along with its diplomatic
1:02.0	core, would try to help Afghanistan build a democratic government.
1:06.9	Kabul celebrated Afghanistan's first national elections on Saturday.
1:10.7	A free society for men and women and a strong majority. Kabul celebrated Afghanistan's first national elections on Saturday.
1:15.5	A free society for men and women and a strong military.
1:22.1	Here's then U.S. Army trainer Major Kevin McCormick speaking with NPR in Kandahar in 2016.
1:25.2	It takes a long time. It's not a short process.
1:27.4	These skills are perishable. So they require continuous training,
1:30.2	continuous mastery to be proficient. The U.S. effort alongside Afghans would go on until August
1:37.7	2021. That's when over the course of about a week, the Afghan military and government fell to the Taliban.
1:45.8	The government of Afghanistan has fallen.
1:48.2	The Taliban are now in control.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.