Evacuate our Afghan allies

My God, are we still fussing over how, or even whether, to evacuate the Afghanis who helped us during our long war in Afghanistan?

Apparently so, according to George Packer's piece in The Atlantic.

In the past few weeks, the outlook for Afghans who helped the United States in Afghanistan has gone from worrying to critical. As U.S. and NATO troops leave the country with breathtaking speed, the Taliban are attacking districts that had long been in the Afghan government’s hands, setting up checkpoints on major roads, and threatening provincial capitals. Many of the 18,000 Afghans who, along with their families, have applied for Special Immigrant Visas will soon have nowhere to hide, no armed force standing between them and their pursuers.

I don't know how President Biden made the decision to extricate U.S. forces from Afghanistan by 11 September 2021 (Packer says that informed opinion is that most will be gone by the 4th of July). I won't second-guess the decision, as I can imagine very good reasons for it. However, it would be unconscionable for the U.S. to abandon those Afghanis who put their lives on the line for us.

Packer cites possible reasons for the administration's foot-dragging:

No doubt an administration that polls poorly on immigration fears a public backlash, particularly as America approaches the bitter 20th anniversary of September 11. Evacuation would require the suspension of all kinds of standard procedures. There is always the risk of fraud, and perhaps of allowing an enemy combatant into the United States. The spectacle of evacuation might induce Afghan security forces to panic and desert in even larger numbers than they’re deserting now, causing a rush to the airports and borders and a collapse of the government of President Ashraf Ghani.

Most of these reasons strike me as abject moral cowardice that should not be tolerated in our government.

The immediate obstacles include legislative ones: Congress controls how immigration occurs. Congress must act swiftly to bend those rules. Guam has offered itself as a place where the necessary processing of immigrants (to keep out enemy combatants, for instance) can take place, rather than forcing all of it to take place in Afghanistan. The logistics of getting everyone out who needs to get out are manageable but becoming more difficult every day.

Mr. Biden, get your administration moving on this. You created this situation. You must address this consequence of your decision.

U.S. credibility and honor are at stake. Do we stand by those who have helped us, or not?