Trump overreacts to attack on National Guard

I write this as someone who has used this platform to support efforts to bring into this country Afghans and Iraqis who worked with U.S. forces in their home countries. Many were vouched for by U.S. military, some of whom told me their lives were saved by their interpreters or scouts.

I don’t know what got into the mind of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the accused shooter of two West Virginia National Guard soldiers patrolling Washington, D.C. One of the soldiers, Sarah Beckstrom, succumbed to her wounds.

In typical over-the-top, shoot-first, aim-later fashion, President Donald J. Trump slammed the door on asylum claims, paused visa issuances for Afghan nationals, even suggested the status of naturalized citizens might be reviewed.

This is crazy overreaction, almost as crazy as the actions of Lakanwal, who reportedly had been a member of the CIA’s “Zero Units,” charged with hunting down, capturing or killing terrorists, such as those with the Taliban, al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and others.

The Afghan was admitted to the U.S. under Joe Biden’s presidency, and received asylum under Trump, which should keep partisan finger-pointing benched, but it has not.

The Afghan reportedly drove from Washington state to D.C. to gun down two random Guard members. It is reported he used a .357 pistol, which noncitizens can purchase with some restrictions. 

In the AP account, I read that although he was granted asylum in the spring, he was deeply troubled for a long time. The AP quoted from emails circulated among concerned people.

He was described as a man who was struggling to assimilate, unable to hold a steady job or commit to his English courses while he alternated between “periods of dark isolation and reckless travel.” 

The question I have is this: If he had a gripe against America, the government, or the military, why did he travel 2,800 miles to scratch that itch? Were there no targets in Bellingham, WA., where he lived?

It’s a mystery that might be answered at trial.

Meanwhile, though, to hold all Afghan refugees responsible for the actions of one man, would be like holding all Italian Americans responsible for accused killer Luigi Mangione, all Blacks responsible for sexual pervert Sean “Diddy” Combs, or all Jewish Americans for pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. law does not condone guilt by association or collective punishment.

Afghans, or any other group, should be judged and treated as individuals. If they do something wrong, punish them. But it’s wrong to  punish them merely for being a member of a group.