Official Statement from Mormon Women for Ethical Government on Our Ongoing Obligation to Afghan Allies

America’s longest war officially came to its conclusion on August 31, 2021. In the weeks leading up to our departure from Afghanistan, the U.S. and its allies staged a significant effort to remove our citizens and friends, including Afghan nationals who had either assisted our armed forces or were actively building a peaceful state grounded in human rights and modeled on the principles of liberal democracy. Having embraced this cause, their lives are now at grave risk. At Mormon Women for Ethical Government, we believe that ending the war in Afghanistan must not end our commitment to our Afghan allies. Our responsibility to these brave individuals is just beginning, and we must do all within our power to ensure that as many as possible are brought to safety. 

Our principles of peacemaking remind us that suffering can be redemptive when met with productive and compassionate efforts to mitigate and heal. Over two decades, U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan has created significant suffering, and while it is not within our national capacity to offer redemption from this pain, it is our moral duty to seek, whenever possible, to consecrate that suffering for good and to provide measurable relief. 

In America, a generation of American soldiers carried the full weight of this foreign policy effort. Now at war’s end, we have a responsibility to care for their mental and physical needs. We can also honor their sacrifices by keeping faith with their friends and allies and offering safety to the individuals with whom they worked. By nurturing the seeds of democracy planted in the hearts of so many Afghans and ensuring these seeds can still bear fruit, we prove how much we valued our soldiers’ efforts.

In Afghanistan, a generation of their citizens bore the brunt of this conflict in ways we cannot begin to imagine. But for many, the American presence marked a period of economic stability, increased opportunity, and hope for the future. With the exit of NATO troops, this hope for a democratic and free future has been replaced by violence and fear. We must mitigate the suffering of those who courageously promoted peace and fully embraced our shared values of dignity and human rights, particularly those who fought to educate women and girls, those who strove to foster democracy, and those civil servants and journalists (specifically those who are women) who labored for a free and independent press. We can do this simply by offering them refuge. 

We call upon every American to hold our political leadership accountable both in the expansion of our refugee programs and for their treatment of Afghans entering our country. We have the opportunity to save what we can from this enterprise, specifically good Afghan people. We call upon Americans to help by affirming support for refugee populations, advocating for their safe resettlement, creating welcoming communities, and providing financial support and friendship.

We maintain our national integrity not by continuing an endless war, but by living at home the values we promoted abroad. We must close out this war by offering our Afghan friends peace and the opportunity to enjoy the full range of human rights, develop their individual capacities, and live according to the dictates of their consciences. We must offer them safe harbor in a democratic America.