HARRISBURG, Pa. — In less than two weeks of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, chaos continued in the country with a bombing attack on several civilians and U.S. troops at the airport in Kabul last week.
The turmoil and unrest have lawmakers and veterans here in South Central, Pa speaking out, asking, "what went wrong?"
Why are we in this situation 20 years later after this war started in Afghanistan?" asked Edward F. Neas, a retired Marine Corps., Sgt. Major.
Neas says he cannot believe what has unfolded in the last few weeks and blames the planning and executions of the current administration. He assures every veteran watching from home wishes they can help.
"We don't want to be sitting on a couch watching tv, we want to put our boots on and get on the ground and help make this better."
PA State Representative Frank Ryan of the 101st district of Lebanon County agrees with Neas. The former reserve marine colonel hopes executive decisions are made to keep current alliances.
"We have to get out those Afghani's that were there that helped us to show honor and commitment to them," Ryan said, "otherwise, other parts of the Islamic world and the Arab world will believe that we're not willing to keep our commitment."
Ryan fears if not, things may not turn out to be peaceful.
"The Taliban will not be kind to those people who helped us, this will be a horrific blood bath," he said.
Before completely removing U.S. military forces, Ryan suggests the removal of equipment.
"There will be $83 billion worth of black market activity to fund Taliban selling that equipment to other forces that might want to use that against us."
Though both Neas and Ryan are confused and disappointed by current events, they both remain hopeful.