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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Graeme Massie

Afghan veteran eviscerates Stephen Miller for saying refugees aren’t welcome: ‘Privileged little brat’

CNN

An Afghanistan veteran eviscerated Stephen Miller for saying that refugees from the country were not welcome in the United States.

US officials are trying to airlift all remaining Americans and allies from Kabul amid chaotic scenes after the Taliban swept back into power after 20 years.

Mr Miller said on Fox News that the Biden administration could not be trusted to vet Afghan refugees and it was cheaper to send them to a country such as Pakistan.

But veteran Matt Zeller tore into Mr Miller in a blistering appearance of his own on CNN.

“As far as I am concerned, he personally, is as complicit as the Taliban in these peoples deaths, he should be held accountable for war crimes,” he told the news network.

“He spent the entirety of the Trump administration purposely trying to prevent these people from coming here.”

Mr Zeller deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 and served as an embedded combat adviser to Afghan security forces.

After just two weeks in the country his interpreter, Janis Shinwari, saved his life by killing two Taliban fighters who were about to kill him.

“I have had meetings with him and his ilk, I brought the interpreter who saved my life to some of those meetings.”

And he added: “They looked at me and said you are doing nothing but letting Islamic fundamentalists into our country and it is our job to stop you.

“Wrong. These are our people. There is no us and them there is just an us.”

US Army Captain Matt Zeller (L) with translator Janis Shenwari, whom he credits for saving his life in a firefight in Afghanistan in November 2008, during an interview on November 21, 2013 in Arlington, Virginia. (AFP via Getty Images)

And Mr Zeller pointed out that Mr Miller has no military experience of his own.

“You know what, Stephen Miller never wore a uniform a day in his life. He is a privileged little brat, he ought to be held for war crimes.

“I can’t stand that man, I can’t believe you are giving him any more air time.

“That is the reason that guy’s views continue to get publicized because the media keeps putting it out there.

“That guy doesn’t represent America, he represents the worst of us.

“People like Stephen Miller need to sit down and shut up as he has been part of the problem for too long.”

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