Afghan Interpreter, Veteran On The Translators 'Left Behind'

John Velis, a Bronze star Army veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan and is now a state senator in Massachusetts, spoke with Jim Braude on Greater Boston Monday about the rapidly decaying situation in Afghanistan.

“Just in the brief break, waiting to come on this show, I got another call from an Afghan linguist who’s still over there that I worked with in Afghanistan, who said that the Taliban were going door to door in his neighborhood. And he said, 'I've been left behind.' And I don't, I don't have a response for that right now, and that really pains me.”

President Joe Biden said Monday that, despite the Taliban’s quick return to power, he stood behind his decision to withdraw troops from the country. The nation’s fall this weekend after 20 years of U.S. forces on Afghanistan soil has spurred finger-pointing and questions about the role of the U.S. military in international affairs among American political forces.

Velis' former translator, using the pseudonym Alex, spoke on the condition of concealing his identity due to concerns about his family’s safety.

Alex obtained a special immigrant visa (SIV), a program that gives Afghan interpreters and other individuals who allied with U.S. forces priority in coming to the United States. But his relatives are still in Afghanistan, as are the parents and siblings of others who have obtained an SIV — and many interpreters who have yet to be granted visas.

Alex said that he doesn’t expect interpreters in future conflicts would as readily agree to work with the United States in light of the broken promise of safety.

“To be honest, I don’t think they will trust the people,” Alex said.

“This has ramifications not only for Afghanistan but, as we move forward, I think it has ramification for any other potential conflict we may find ourselves,” Velis said. “Trust with allies, relationships that quite frankly have been decimated the last several years, we need to rebuild those — and a big part of that is trust amongst our allies.”

WATCH: Veteran and Mass. state senator John Velis and translator Alex