America’s rush for the exit in Kabul

THEY RAN from safe house to safe house across Kabul, dodging Taliban gunmen. When given the green light over WhatsApp, the women rushed to one of the gates manned by American soldiers at Kabul’s international airport. In Washington, Meighan Stone of the Council on Foreign Relations and other volunteers passed their information to the State Department, in the hope that the women are on the list for one of the flights that day. At the airport perimeter the women navigated Taliban checkpoints, stampeding crowds and sporadic gunfire. As they headed to the gate, praying it remains open, the volunteers corresponded with officials to make sure soldiers on the ground could identify the refugees. They are the lucky ones. For thousands of other vulnerable Afghans spread across the country, even taking the road to Kabul is dangerous.