Afghanistan s Exit and US Withdrawal The Government is not an Insurance Policy

The Government is not your Insurance Policy

It is absurd that two decades after 9/11, Americans are still talking and thinking about how to protect themselves within this era. The threat to American’s safety and healthcare abroad has got worse. Absurdly, even the American Government does not precisely know her citizens currently reside in overseas countries. However, even if one has to go by the state published estimate, around 9 million United States citizens live overseas. As a result, the Government must take care of the safety and health of its citizens, who contribute significantly to the nation’s growth. Practically, following multiple incidents like in Vietnam and Kabul, it is no doubt that the Government cannot provide health insurance and safety to citizens staying abroad. Nevertheless, organizations like Gray Ghost Solution that have demonstrated a robust capability in crisis management in securing the safety and health of its clients should be given a chance to help protect Americans abroad during any crisis (Okano-Heijmans and Caesar-Gordon, 2016).

Subsequently, the current terrorism trend has also targeted Americans’ citizens and properties from other jurisdictions. For example, in Nairobi, Kenya, the American embassy was bomb blasted by the terrorist in 1998, inflicting many injuries to the Americans and workers in Kenya then. The aftermath was a dire need for the safety of Americans who survived the attack and proper medical care for those who got various injuries. Unfortunately, during such circumstances, the American citizens are left to rely on the mercy of the host countries that cannot provide appropriate care. Such incidences remind us about the safety and healthcare wellbeing of Americans’ citizens staying abroad. As witnessed during the evacuation process at Kabul, the Government does not have precise data of the American citizens residing in Afghanistan, thus, hindering the evacuation plan further. It is, therefore, no doubt that the Government cannot provide any health and safety assurance to citizens abroad (Fitzpatrick, 2013).

Moreover, the amount of money and resources the country currently spends to enhance its national security is also huge. For instance, in the year 2004, after 9/11, the country’s budget on defense plus expenditures in Afghanistan and Iraq was about $547 billion, which was a rapid surge in security spending. Such rise in security spending necessitates the establishment of serious organizations that can take care of the Americans’ citizens’ safety during any crisis in foreign countries. Consequently, such surge in security spending has transformed the landscape, thus, calling for reevaluation and reflection. Take, for example, some agencies have been invented and redesigned, others discarded. Some private firms have reformed their relationship with American people abroad, providing crisis management solutions to American citizens (Okano-Heijmans and Caesar-Gordon, 2016).

Equally, United States personnel and diplomatic facilities conduct high-risk, high threat diplomatic engagement, hence, susceptible to attacks that may jeopardize the American relationship with other nations. Such significant threats highlight the need to ensure the health and safety of American diplomats in foreign states are guaranteed. For instance, since the 1960s, terrorism activities targeting diplomats have been on the rise. The terror groups target diplomats due to their vital contribution towards the success of the war against terrorism. Moreover, diplomats are considered the representative character and the symbolic identity of the U.S. government; therefore, they are not only in the midst of political battle but also directly in the firing target of terror groups seeking to thwart counter-terrorism activities. Consequently, there are significant challenges for the American diplomats that seek to achieve their mission within the associated risks and create balance on High-risk, high threat diplomatic engagement. The paradigm in crisis management is timely access to competent and appropriate medical care, more so within a pre-hospital setting. Due to increasing violent terrorist attacks and limited host nation’s capability to provide medical support in High risk, high threat diplomatic engagement, it is vital to establish procedures and evidence-based processes to maximize the survival chances of American diplomats working in High risk, high threat diplomatic engagement (Okano-Heijmans and Caesar-Gordon, 2016).

To mitigate such medical risk, the Directorate for Operational Medicine has made multiple unsuccessful attempts to provide protective medical support for crisis and security response within high risk, high threat diplomatic engagement environment. For instance, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan required non-medical and medical skills to operate in the high-risk, high threat diplomatic engagement environment. The Government, on its failure to provide adequate and appropriate services to the victims of the conflict. Therefore, to perform meaningful operational medicine programs, it is necessary that American diplomats participating in High risk, high threat diplomatic engagement registers with organizations like Gray Ghost Solution that value clients’ privacy and strictly adhere to protocols of discretion. Gray Ghost Solution has, in numerous cases, helped to secure the safety and health needs of their clients than the Government would. The organization’s success in securing Americans during crisis management is anchored on their medical professionals, special forces, and trained professional workers licensed to travel to conduct evacuation, provide remote healthcare, and offer security (Fitzpatrick, 2013).

Furthermore, there is no doubt that government agencies mandated to offer security and health care during crisis management are overwhelmed due to increasing cases of terror attacks, pandemics, and even regional conflicts. For instance, the emergency Management Specialists from MED/DMD/OM/PM in 2012 started deployment to high threat zones to support USG facilities in the following: Kabul, Peshawar, Sanaa, Amman, Mogadishu, Tripoli, Khartoum, and Baghdad, together with border surveys in northern Jordan and southern Turkey. While in 2013, MED/DMD/OM/PM again initiated direct support to DS/T/MSD operations in Libya and Tripoli. As a result, since the inception of MED/DMD/OM/PM, it has provided medical support to several locations, which are a high threat and austere areas such as South Sudan, Kenya, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Haiti, Central African Republic, Haiti, and Pakistan. Moreover, MED/DMD/OM/PM has also completed several medical contingency plans to support posts overseas (Okano-Heijmans and Caesar-Gordon, 2016).

On the other hand, America formed an operational Medicine Program that was aimed at providing support to the administration in enhancing the safety and healthcare of U.S. citizens that need urgent evacuation and health care in foreign states. Unfortunately, contrary to majority expectations, when asked about the organization’s preparedness, the Operational Medicine Program Manager, Mr. Pat Corcoran, confirmed that the Operational Medicine Program has challenges that obviously could derail its effectiveness. Therefore, it is essential that any American citizen out there, particularly those in high risk, high threat diplomatic engagement, seek an insurance plan with formidable organizations that can provide the necessary support and plan to safely rescue their clients during a crisis (DeVault, 1982).

In an attempt to ensure the safety of Americans that travel outside the country, particularly in the middle east, Smart Traveler Enrollment Program was developed to enable U.S. citizens living or traveling overseas to register their trip with any nearer consulate or embassy freely. This was to aid in disseminating important information to the citizens about the security situation in their various host countries to help make a well-informed decision on travel plans (Trump,2017). Equally, the program was to help the United States embassy contact the citizens during any crisis, including family emergency, natural disaster, civil unrest, or terror threats. Regrettably, the Government has done nothing significant to ensure effective operationalization of the program. The majority of the Americans traveling abroad are not even aware of its existence. For instance, there has been a total mixed up and confusion in the current evacuation plan from Kabul where the Government could not indicate the exact numbers of Americans still stranded waiting for evacuation. In some instances, families would call to inquire about their loved one, with little or no feedback from the state agencies. Such frustration and confusion during emergencies in foreign states should get any U.S. citizens worried (Cordesman, 2016).

In addition, the disbandment of the Crisis Response Force that specialized in counter-terrorism, direct action, and hostage rescue mission is a further indicator of the Government’s non-committal to protecting the citizens during crises and emergencies in foreign lands. The Crisis Response Force was regarded as Commander’s-in-extremis companies. Recently, the American embassy in Baghdad was under siege by Iranian-back militias and Iraqi protesters. Unfortunately, the Crisis Response Force known to be well equipped and trained to handle such a crisis safely was not deployed. The Marine elements deployed to deal with the situation are considered less trained and unequipped to address such a magnitude problem. Thus, sending signals to Americans overseas to organize personal protection with outstanding firms with the capacity to safeguard them during emergencies (Okano-Heijmans and Caesar-Gordon, 2016).

Suppose one still doubted that the Government would not rescue you during crisis or emergencies in a foreign state. In that case, the latest move by President Biden to dismantle the Contingency and Crisis Response Bureau (CCR) that the Trump administration formed to protect Americans trapped overseas should worry you. Regrettably, the system’s abolition took place a few months before the Taliban take over Afghanistan. Accordingly, to date, an unknown number of Americans are still stranded in the central Asian country (DeVault, 1982).