US pullout from Afghanistan could leave 17,000 interpreters' lives in danger

Nearly 17,000 Afghan interpreters who risked their lives working for the U.S. military are trying to leave the war-torn country ahead of President Biden’s Sept. 11 deadline to withdraw remaining U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said those interpreters have a bulls-eye on their backs, and that if the U.S. does not help them, there could be scenes at the U.S. Embassy like those when the last U.S. helicopters flew out of Saigon.  "We have a duty and a moral responsibility to protect them from the Taliban and al-Qaeda. If we do not give them special immigrant visas, they will be left behind and be slaughtered by the enemy," McCaul said. The congressman and Ryan Crocker, President Obama's ambassador to Afghanistan, addressed the issue in the New York Times.