Welcome to Episode 20 of The Afghanistan Project Podcast, where hosts Mikael Cook and Beth Bailey highlight the struggles of Afghans living under Taliban rule, and the efforts of individuals from a variety of backgrounds and political affiliations who have stepped up to provide support to the people of Afghanistan in the chaos that followed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

This week’s guest is Air Force Lt. Col. Will Selber, who volunteers with evacuation non-governmental organization Operation Sacred Promise. Will joined us to talk about moral injury, a phenomenon which was first studied in the aftermath of the Vietnam War when veterans of the conflict noted “distress as a result of violating their core beliefs during combat,” as Selber and his mother, a professor of social work with more than a decade of work assisting veterans, wrote in their recent piece on moral injury in War on the Rocks.

Will talked about the reasons that moral injury has been discussed in recent years as a concern for veterans of our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and told us about his own experience with moral injury and his scholarship on the topic. (This episode is heavy at times - we urge listeners who find it difficult to reach out for support to groups like Patrol Base Abbate, Fight the War Within Foundation, or Operation Allies Refuge Foundation. If you’re in urgent need of assistance, please call the military suicide hotline at 988.

Concluding our episode, we shared a story from “Asadullah,” a young man who suffers from hemophilia. His father Nimatullah has applied for a special immigrant visa, and Asadullah hopes that the SIV will be grated to give the family safety in the U.S., and Asadullah ready access to the medication he needs to survive.

More about Will Selber and Operation Sacred Promise:

Follow Will on Twitter @AggieWill00. Operation Sacred Promise’s website can be found here.

About the hosts:

Mikael Cook was an Army non-commissioned officer and veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He was an active member of the #DigitalDunkirk movement to evacuate our Afghan allies in August of 2021. You can follow his Instagram @Mikaelcook89.

Beth Bailey worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner. Follow her on Instagram @BWBailey85 or Twitter @BWBailey85.

For listeners in Afghanistan:

If you would like to have your story considered for a future episode, please send us a letter about your experiences to our show e-mail address, [email protected]. Please include as much detail as possible, and let us know if you would like us to give you a pseudonym to protect your identity.