Their work began on the flight back from Berlin. Torres says, “You had a group of students from very different backgrounds, who had networks and contacts and knowledge and ability, who all melded together in a crisis situation.” The MA-IBP cohort had just completed a course module in Germany when they heard the news of the collapse of the Afghan government. Though final counts are still being calculated, their work enabled several hundred people to escape the Taliban. In an endeavor that Torres estimates involved a third of the cohort, the students supported numerous successful evacuations, overseeing everything from fundraising for charter flights to coordinating external communications and getting evacuees to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. Part of what I love about our cohort is that we’re a service-minded group.” “Everyone responded with, ‘there’s no question.’ When we asked someone for help, they jumped in head first. “When I got the call from Tito, there was really no question for me,” says Kristie Cole (IBP’21), a student in the program and one of the first people Torres recruited for the evacuation effort. Torres immediately turned to his MA-IBP classmates for help. They told him they needed assistance to get at-risk individuals out of the country and quickly. Army officer, began reaching out to organizations he knew were working on the ground. The Berlin Wall, a symbol for freedom, was outside my window across from my hotel, and the painful irony is that I couldn’t assist my interpreters in getting through the gates of the Kabul airport,” he says. and its allies placed targets on their backs under the impending new regime. They were terrified, knowing that their collaboration with the U.S. Army ranger and in various diplomatic military roles.Īs the Taliban proclaimed victory, his phone was buzzing with messages from friends, family members and former Afghan colleagues desperately trying to flee the country. Army Officer, helped to coordinate the student-led evacuation efforts.Ī 2021 Tillman Scholar, Torres spent most of his twenties in Afghanistan, serving a total of nine tours in the country as a U.S. Like many around the world, he heard about the collapse of Afghanistan’s U.S.-supported government through news channels and social media. He had just finished a course module with fellow classmates enrolled in the Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) and McDonough School of Business Master of Arts in International Business and Policy (MA-IBP) program and had planned to stay to explore the city. It’s happened here in Spain.As the Taliban swept into Kabul on August 15, Timothy “Tito” Torres (IBP’21) was at a hotel in Berlin. “Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq – we have so many examples of countries that have been ravaged with our participation. “When they are interested, they are there. And sometimes they come here and they have nothing to lose and have nothing to do.”ĭe la Torre pointed out that the West was also responsible for the situation, stressing that the U.S.’ 20-year occupation allowed Western corporations to exploit Afghanistan, from pharmaceutical companies harvesting opium to mining companies taking valuable minerals. They lose their rights and sometimes their lives. They have nothing there – it’s a terrible situation. And why are these conflicts produced? We went there to see how the conflicts begin. “Why do these things happen? When they arrive here, they come as refugees, they are utilized politically and in the end they are also victims of conflicts. While the first two seasons dealt with terrorism coming to Europe, Season 3 takes the viewer to its place of origin. Having the series set in Afghanistan also allows viewers to see everything that is happening in the country, he added. Likewise, it’s important to look at how the Taliban took power, how they are violating the rights of people in Afghanistan, particularly women.” … It’s also very important to know where the problems come from in order to solve them. “A lot of times the problems that come here have their origins in other countries, in other cultures. Putting the focus on Afghanistan can help explain some of the problems in Europe that have their roots in distant lands. He noted that Spanish authorities were able to bring many humanitarian aid workers, former police officers and refugees to Spain. Because “La Unidad” has focused on terrorism in Europe since its inception, de la Torre said it was also important to look at the origins of terrorism, where it comes from and how it develops.
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