by Malek Dudakov
| See also here. |
Several soldiers were killed. The tragedy shook America, as it occurred right on the eve of the traditional holiday, Thanksgiving.
The terrorist attack has led to another round of political warfare in Washington and attempts to find someone responsible.
The investigation is still ongoing, but much has already been revealed. The refugee was a retired military man who served under the previous regime in Kabul.
Moreover, he was associated with the most highly trained unit of the former Afghan army, "Zero Unit." It was de facto subordinate to the CIA and conducted unofficial operations that frequently included cases of civilian executions, torture, and rape.
The Taliban's attitude toward this "elite" Afghan special forces unit was predictably extremely negative. Therefore, the Americans hastily evacuated all members of "Zero Unit" to the United States at the moment of the Kabul regime's collapse.
In total, around 120,000 people were evacuated from Afghanistan during that operation, receiving temporary refugee status in America, and the summer of 2021 turned out to be unusually difficult for the Joe Biden administration.
As American troops fled Afghanistan, they had to accommodate a flood of displaced persons, with no proper screening procedure in place.
Many Afghans who arrived in the United States began committing crimes while still on military bases, before settling in the country. Among them were many radical Islamists.
However, in response to all the criticism directed at them, Democrats point to another fact: the Washington terrorist applied for an extension of his refugee status back in 2024. And the current administration has already approved that very application.
This raises questions for the US Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem. She likes to pose with rifles at the ready, in an "infogypsy" setting, showing how fiercely she protects the borders from criminals. However, actual deportation of migrants is fraught with problems due to legal battles and overcrowded deportation centers.
Noem herself recently found herself at the center of a scandal when a migrant robbed her in one of the capital's restaurants, stealing a bag containing classified documents.
And now she will also have to justify her failures to check refugees, whose number in the United States reaches more than three million people.
The attack may have been caused by the Afghan's mental health issues, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after participating in CIA-led extrajudicial killings in his homeland.
It cannot be ruled out that he had radical views: among the refugees who arrived in the United States, there could easily have been members of sleeper terrorist cells.
A separate topic is the shake-up of the American intelligence community, which is currently undergoing reforms and purges.
Democrats accuse Trump of undermining counterterrorism policy with his actions, which is why new terrorist attacks will now occur more and more often.
Although earlier this year, even before Trump came to power, a wave of terrorist attacks had already swept across the United States, including in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
Republicans, in turn, suspect that disloyal intelligence officials could have been behind the terrorist attacks.
In response to the dismissals, they could have activated the terrorist sleeper cells they oversaw. Or the intelligence community simply turned a blind eye to the terrorist threat and did nothing meaningful.
The obvious consequence of the terrorist attack will be a general tightening of the screws. Trump's team will begin revoking the legal status of a large number of refugees, and not only from Afghanistan. Haitians and Ukrainians who entered America under Biden are also now under attack. They will also try to deport Afghans back to their home countries.
A scenario of increasing the military presence in major American cities is also likely, although this is being met with Democrats' attempts to block the introduction of troops into their territories through the courts.
And waging such a miniature "civil war" is quite expensive—since spring, the total cost of National Guard and Marine Corps operations in US cities has already reached billions of dollars. The Pentagon is forced to finance this through international programs.
In other words, spending money that would otherwise be spent in Ukraine or the Middle East.
In foreign policy, a further cooling of relations between Washington and Kabul is expected. The current Taliban regime in Afghanistan has immediately fallen out of favor with the Trump administration.
The prospect of cutting funding for US humanitarian programs, which annually allocate approximately three billion dollars to the needs of Afghanistan, is currently being actively discussed.
The White House has also raised the possibility of returning American troops, particularly to Bagram Air Base. However, the likelihood of this happening in the near future is not very high.
Isolationists in the Republican camp are vehemently opposed to resuming the Afghan operation, which was barely completed four years ago. They have no desire to return only to leave again, and then accept more hordes of refugees.
The Republican administration may increase military support for Pakistan, which is currently fighting the Afghan Taliban in border areas.
In the past, Pakistan's Inter-Regional Intelligence (IRS) was considered the Taliban's main handler and sponsor, but after the Taliban came to power, relations between Kabul and Islamabad quickly deteriorated. Now, the Pakistani military is forced to defend itself against Taliban attacks.
Moreover, the fighting is taking place in areas where rare earth metal deposits are located. And the Pakistani lobby is trying hard to "sell" these rare earths to Trump in exchange for military and financial aid.
They are also trying to take advantage of the deteriorating US-India relations. And although the acute phase of the trade war has passed, there has been no progress toward de-escalation or tariff reduction.
The terrorist attack has become yet another factor in the political divide in the United States. It is making it difficult to formulate any coherent strategy for combating terrorism.
The FBI even considers the current terrorist threat level to be the highest since the collapse of the Twin Towers. This is due to the dysfunction of the intelligence agencies, the admission of millions of refugees and migrants during Biden's presidency, and the radicalization and polarization of American society.
A dramatic period lies ahead in the next electoral cycle, with congressional elections. And after them, the presidential race will begin. Political struggle in America will once again reach its peak. In this environment, new terrorist attacks cannot be ruled out.
Moreover, there is also some unfortunate experience. In 2024, in New York, a terrorist plot by Central Asians was stopped at the last minute; they had planned to detonate bombs right on election day.
Any such attack now would not only shake America, but would plunge the country into a very deep crisis.
This isn't the early 2000s, when the Twin Towers explosions temporarily united the nation. On the contrary, under current conditions, total disarray and genuine political chaos are far more likely.
Related:
Rahmanullah Lakanwal 11/28/2025 Day 3: Inside Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s journey from CIA-backed strike unit in Afghanistan to suspect in DC shooting
Rahmanullah Lakanwal 11/26/2025 2 National Guard members shot in DC, Homeland Security says UPDATE: Afghan dunnit, welcomed during Biden Afghanistan withdrawal
Rahmanullah Lakanwal 11/27/2025 Day 2, Part 1 of DC Nat’l Guard ambush: Gunman arrested, identified as Afghan soldier who overstayed visa, came during Biden 2021 withdrawal
Rahmanullah Lakanwal 11/28/2025 Day 3: Inside Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s journey from CIA-backed strike unit in Afghanistan to suspect in DC shooting
Rahmanullah Lakanwal 11/26/2025 2 National Guard members shot in DC, Homeland Security says UPDATE: Afghan dunnit, welcomed during Biden Afghanistan withdrawal
Rahmanullah Lakanwal 11/27/2025 Day 2, Part 1 of DC Nat’l Guard ambush: Gunman arrested, identified as Afghan soldier who overstayed visa, came during Biden 2021 withdrawal