Vance’s Warnings About Afghan Refugee Vetting Resurface After National Guard Shooting

The facts are stark and undeniable. Two National Guard troops were shot in Washington on Wednesday by a suspect identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who entered the United States legally in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, the Biden administration’s rushed Afghan refugee resettlement program.

This tragic incident validates concerns Vice President JD Vance has raised consistently since 2021 about the adequacy of refugee vetting procedures. The question is not whether we should have helped Afghans who assisted American forces. The question has always been whether we implemented sufficient safeguards to protect American citizens while doing so.

In 2021, Vance, a Marine Corps veteran, directly addressed this issue in response to then-Senator Ben Sasse’s arguments about America’s obligations to Afghan refugees. Vance’s position was clear and measured: “Yes, let’s help the Afghans that helped us, but let’s ensure that we’re properly vetting them, so that we don’t get a bunch of people who believe they should blow themselves up at a mall because somebody looked at their wife the wrong way.”

This was not xenophobia. This was prudence based on available data. Vance cited research indicating that four in ten Afghans believe suicide bombing is justified to protect Islam. While the specific Pew Research Center survey could not be independently verified by reporters, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an American state-funded media organization, reported identical statistics in 2013.

The vice president reiterated these concerns in January during an interview when he stated, “We have vetting problems with a lot of these refugee programs. We absolutely cannot unleash thousands of unvetted people into our country.” He specifically referenced Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, another Afghan national who had been charged with planning a terrorist attack around Election Day 2024. Tawhedi subsequently pleaded guilty to two terrorism-related charges in June.

The pattern is disturbing. Multiple individuals admitted through Operation Allies Welcome have now been connected to violent crimes or terrorism-related charges. This represents a systemic failure of the vetting process, not isolated incidents.

During a visit to Fort Campbell on Wednesday, Vance called the shooting a “somber reminder” of the daily risks faced by American service members. The irony is profound. These National Guard troops were not shot on a foreign battlefield but on American soil by someone our government admitted through a program designed to help those who supposedly shared our values and assisted our military mission.

The Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome was implemented with speed prioritized over security. The results speak for themselves. When political leaders dismiss legitimate security concerns as prejudice or fear-mongering, they create the conditions for preventable tragedies.

It bears noting that Afghanistan’s Ulema Council has issued Islamic rulings against suicide attacks, claiming such actions contradict Islamic teachings. This demonstrates that concerns about radicalization are not indictments of Islam itself but acknowledgments of specific ideological threats that require careful screening.

The fundamental responsibility of any government is protecting its citizens. Compassion for refugees cannot supersede this obligation. Proper vetting is not optional. It is essential. The shooting of two National Guard members demonstrates the real-world consequences when this principle is abandoned in favor of political expedience or performative humanitarianism.

The question now is whether policymakers will learn from these incidents or continue prioritizing optics over security. The American people deserve leaders who place their safety first.

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