As America’s war in Afghanistan comes to an end, many see the inevitable parallels to Vietnam - a long aimless war, a determined enemy ready to out bleed us, and now with word that the Department of Defense has begun planning, perhaps an evacuation reminiscent of the chaos of Saigon’s final hours. 

As North Vietnamese forces bore down in a final assault on the dying nation of South Vietnam, American diplomats, spies, and the small remaining cadre of military advisors desperately mounted a last minute rescue. None of it was planned ahead of time. The fact that we were able to evacuate 130,000 of our Vietnamese wartime allies in such circumstances is a miracle. Most escaped via ships - the remnants of the South Vietnamese Navy and merchant fleet - sailed to Guam. 

Afghanistan is a landlocked country - we do not have the luxury of an ocean and boats to aid us in the evacuation of the over 70,000 Afghan wartime allies estimated in need of rescue from certain Taliban death. We are not the Soviet Union - we cannot load everyone into trucks and drive north into Tajikistan now that our war is over. Should we choose to save our Afghan wartime allies, we are going to need the largest air lift since Berlin. Our allies destination of salvation? Guam.

Guam, solves all of our needs at once. It is US territory, so any Afghans housed there will allow for our immigration system to efficiently and appropriately vet them, while also significantly reducing the overall cost. Guam is also a single flight from Afghanistan - thus we would not have to stop anywhere to refuel along the way. Finally, the cost is eminently affordable - $700,000,000, or around $10,000 per person to move them from Afghanistan, house them on Guam, process their visa, and then move them permanently to the US. To put that cost in perspective, $700 million is the equivalent of an additional 8.3 hours in this year’s Department of Defense budget - an easy to make downpayment to keep Americans alive in future wars. 

Most importantly, the people of Guam stand ready to support this mission and welcome the evacuation. The Guam economy depends on tourism, which COVID wiped out. Unemployment on Guam currently sits around 20 percent - their hotels sit empty due to COVID. Housing our Afghan allies in these hotels could serve a dual purpose of providing refuge to our friends while also giving a boost to the economy of Guam when they most need it.

We will not reinvade Afghanistan to save these people. Either we put our Afghan wartime allies on planes, get them to Guam, and then process their visas in safety, or stand back and watch the Taliban murder them. If we are to prevent this Never Again moment in the making we are rapidly running out of time.

Any lives we save now will prove to allies later that Americans keep their word and will not abandon our friends to our enemies. Our allies are in danger because of their service to the United States mission in Afghanistan. America must meet our commitment to them. Only President Biden can give the order. It's Guam or bust. Please, save our allies. Get them to Guam.