After losing 13 U.S. servicemen, including 11 of their own, U.S. Marines were ordered to pick up human feces as part of an effort to clean up Kabul Airport for the Taliban.
That’s according to a new book from Jerry Dunleavy and James Hasson described as “the definitive account of the Biden administration’s most disgraceful hour—and the chaos it unleashed in the world.”
Titled “Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End,” the book explains how the Afghan exit fiasco “spurred a dangerous new era” that will persist for decades.
“Before they were allowed to leave Kabul in August 2021, having just lost 13 comrades to a suicide bomber, Marines were ordered to pick up human feces and other disgusting trash at the airport so as to leave it pristine for the Taliban,” New York Post columnist Miranda Devine wrote of the book.
Calling the alleged task a “humiliation,” Devine noted that the Kabul airport passenger terminal was “filthy” on Aug. 28, 2021, after the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. Citing a passage from the book she said more than 120,000 Afghans had camped there for a week, “defecating and leaving trash, bags, clothes, and other unspeakable things.”
A junior Marine told Dunleavy and Hasson that the order to clean the airport “came with a threat that we would not leave at all if it was not completed.” Marines at every level were reportedly infuriated at being “forced to scoop up human poop.”
“It was degrading and ridiculous. We took a lot of casualties and put a lot of effort into that mission and to close it out that way was wrong. Morale was really down at that point, and it was an extremely pointless effort,” the junior Marine said.
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:
Who ordered them to clean up ?
— J Camilli (@camilli_j) September 11, 2023
Pick up feces, but leave the military equipment?
— Thom Bate (@thom_bate) September 11, 2023
Give Nancy Pelosi a uniform and keep her in San Francisco until it’s cleaned up.
— Richard Weinfeld (@RichardWeinfeld) September 11, 2023
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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