Welcome to Episode 106 of The Afghanistan Project, where we cover all topics related to two decades of war in Afghanistan, and the fallout of our Afghanistan withdrawal.

Today, my guest is Geeta Bakshi, founder of nonprofit Familand 14-year veteran of the CIA.

Geeta and I talk about the CIA-trained National Strike Units,more commonly known as the Zero Units, and the challenges they faced as our most highly-vetted partners over twenty years of war, and during the final weeks of our presence in Afghanistan. We focus particularly on the role the Zero Units played in clearing Hamid Karzai International Airport in August 2021 and the upheaval they experienced after being exfiltrated from their homeland.

We talk about the toll that losses and injuries within theZero Units had on the group and the families of the wounded and fallen, and the ongoing challenges they face in the U.S. We also discuss the imperative to help the Zero Units now as many have still not been processed for Special ImmigrantVisas and are reaching the end of their humanitarian parole.

Find Famil here: http://familusa.org/

About the host:

Beth Bailey worked in support of Afghanistan operations as acivilian 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.

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