Thanks to misguided compassion and America’s naïve refugee policy, the “green on blue” insider attack strategy that killed 152 Coalition troops in Afghanistan has been successfully imported stateside — and U.S. service members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe were its first victims.
For years, American soldiers in Afghanistan learned to watch their backs around the very Afghan forces they were training. Now that treachery has reached been imported to America.
On November 27, 2025, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom volunteered to work through Thanksgiving, serving her country as a member of the West Virginia National Guard deployed to Washington, D.C. On her first day, she was shot at close range near Farragut Square — just blocks from the White House — alongside fellow guardsman Andrew Wolfe. Sarah died from her injuries, and Andrew is still fighting to recover from his wounds.
The man charged with her murder, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, wasn’t a stranger to American forces. He was welcomed into this nation in 2021 under a special immigration program designed to protect Afghans who had worked alongside U.S. troops. Lakanwal had served as a GPS tracker specialist with Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force, working under CIA oversight and helping guard U.S. forces at Kabul airport during the chaotic 2021 withdrawal. His asylum application was approved earlier this year.
In other words, he was vetted. He was trusted. He was brought here specifically because he had proven himself an ally.
And then he allegedly executed two American soldiers on American soil.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. It is actually just the latest instance of a documented pattern that military commanders have known about for years but that most Americans have never heard of: “green-on-blue” attacks.
Treachery Within the Ranks
During the Afghanistan portion of the Global War on Terror, “green-on-blue” was military terminology for attacks on Coalition forces by Afghan security personnel — the very individuals trained, equipped, and trusted to fight alongside American troops.
The “green” refers to Afghan military uniforms, while the “blue” represents NATO and U.S. forces. Between 2008 and 2017, there were at least 96 documented green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan, killing 152 Coalition troops and wounding 200 more.
The numbers present a disturbing narrative. In 2008, these insider attacks accounted for less than 1 percent of Coalition deaths. By 2012 — the peak year — they represented 15 percent of all Coalition fatalities. That year alone saw 44 separate attacks, resulting in the deaths of 61 Coalition troops and another 81 who were wounded.
Afghan soldiers and police officers who had trained beside American troops, eaten meals with them, and conducted joint patrols would suddenly turn their weapons on their supposed allies.
In 2012, Gen. John Allen, then-commander of the International Assistance Security Force (ISAF), initially estimated that about 90 percent of attacks stemmed from “cultural differences and personal enmity.”
By August of that year, his assessment had shifted dramatically: He acknowledged that approximately 25 percent of attacks involved Taliban infiltration or coercion. The Taliban themselves claimed credit routinely, even releasing propaganda videos celebrating Afghan soldiers who had defected after killing Coalition troops.
The strategy was no longer hidden. Mullah Omar, the Taliban’s former leader, openly bragged in August 2012 that the Taliban had “cleverly infiltrated the ranks of the enemy according to the plan given to them last year.”
He urged government officials and security personnel to defect, noting that the Taliban had created a “Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration” department, with branches operational across Afghanistan specifically to encourage such betrayals.
The U.S. military response revealed just how serious the threat had become. New units, designated as “guardian angels,” were formed of soldiers whose specific job was to provide security for troops working with Afghans.
Field commanders could increase these protective details based on tactical situations. Gen. Allen directed all U.S. and NATO troops to carry loaded weapons at all times. The military expanded counterintelligence capability at the battalion level. An eight-step vetting process was adopted. The Afghan army discharged hundreds of soldiers suspected of radicalization and added 300 intelligence specialists to detect infiltrators.
None of it, though, stopped the attacks entirely.
The Government’s God-Given Duty
Scripture is unambiguous about the purpose of civil government. Romans 13:4 declares that governing authorities are “God’s servants for your good” and exist to “bear the sword” against evildoers. The magistrate does not wield authority arbitrarily — he is accountable to God for how he protects the citizens under his charge.
When government fails to protect its people, when it imports danger in the name of “compassion,” and when it prioritizes political narratives over the safety of its citizens, it violates its fundamental mandate.
The latest “green on blue” attack, resulting in the death of Sarah Beckstrom and the critical wounding of Andrew Wolfe, represents precisely this kind of failure.
The Biden administration’s chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan created the conditions for this tragedy. In the rush to evacuate Afghans, proper vetting was sacrificed on the altar of speed and compassion. Tens of thousands of Afghans were brought to the United States under special immigration programs, including individuals whose backgrounds could not be adequately verified because the very systems meant to check them had collapsed alongside the Afghan government.
But the problem runs deeper than inadequate vetting procedures. It was the naivete — the willful blindness — to the possibility that among these “allies” some might be ticking time bombs, prepared to attack Americans when the opportunity presented itself.
Islamic doctrine includes the concept of taqiyya — the permissible practice of concealing one’s true beliefs when advancing the cause of Islam.
While not all Muslims practice this, the doctrine exists and has been employed by jihadists to infiltrate organizations. A man can smile, serve alongside you, express gratitude — and still harbor lethal intentions that no background check will reveal.
You can vet someone’s documented history. You cannot vet their heart, their plans, or their ideological commitments that could be activated years later.
The Trump administration has now announced it will halt all processing of immigration applications from Afghan nationals and review cases of those admitted since 2021 — a response that should have been implemented years ago.
Officials are also re-examining green cards issued to individuals from 19 countries, including Afghanistan, and have suspended asylum approvals.
These measures, while overdue, acknowledge what should have been obvious: You cannot import populations from hostile regions without rigorous, sustained scrutiny.
But here’s what must be understood: This issue is not about ethnicity or nationality in themselves. This is about acknowledging reality.
Afghanistan remains a nation where the Taliban governs, where jihadist ideology pervades, and where infiltration of security forces was a documented military strategy. To pretend otherwise is not compassion — it is a dereliction of duty.
The Naiveté of Misplaced Trust
Americans are generous people, often to a fault. We want to believe the best about those who claim to be our allies. We want to honor those who served alongside our troops. These are admirable impulses, rooted in a biblical ethic that values loyalty and gratitude.
But Scripture also warns against foolish trust. Proverbs 14:15 states, “The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.”
Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Our trust must be in God alone, not in the vetting processes of bureaucrats or the assurances of politicians who prioritize optics over security.
The green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan revealed something crucial: Proximity does not guarantee loyalty. Training together does not guarantee trustworthiness. Even serving in combat alongside someone does not eliminate the possibility of betrayal.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal worked with CIA personnel. He helped guard the airport during the evacuation. He was granted asylum based on this service.
And then he allegedly got in his car, drove from Washington State to Washington, D.C, and ambushed two American soldiers who had no idea what was coming.
This pattern demands that we ask hard questions. How many others like Lakanwal are already here? How many were rushed through inadequate vetting? How many seem grateful to just be in America but are simply biding their time until they feel the urge or sense an opportunity to strike a blow? These are not comfortable questions, but they are necessary ones.
A Call to Fathers, Pastors, and Leaders
All Americans and especially Christian men — fathers, pastors, church leaders — must understand what is at stake. The naiveté bordering on willful blindness of our ruling class has consequences that land on our daughters and sons.
When we fail to demand accountability from those in authority, when we remain silent about failures of this magnitude, we abdicate our responsibility to protect the next generation.
So, here’s what must be done.
Contact your U.S. senators and representatives. Demand that they support legislation requiring comprehensive security reviews of all individuals admitted under emergency immigration programs since 2021.
Challenge your pastors. If your church is involved in refugee resettlement ministries, ask hard questions about vetting procedures. Biblical hospitality does not require foolishness. The same God who commands us to welcome the stranger also established government to protect its citizens. These are not contradictory mandates.
Educate your sons and daughters. Teach them that wisdom and discernment are not hatred. Show them the difference between loving individuals made in God’s image and supporting policies that endanger American lives. They need to understand that nations have both the right and the responsibility to protect their borders.
Support organizations fighting for accountability. Stand with groups demanding transparency in immigration vetting, proper security measures for military personnel, and honest assessments of the threats we face.
This is not about hatred toward Afghans or any other people group. Every person is made in the image of God and deserves to hear the Gospel. But love of neighbor does not require foolishness. Compassion does not mandate open borders. The Great Commission does not abolish national sovereignty.
What is required is wisdom — the kind of wisdom that recognizes government exists to protect its citizens, that vetting processes and skepticism matter, that patterns of violence should inform policy, and that the safety of American sons and daughters is not a secondary concern.
The Hope That Remains
In a Facebook post, Sarah Beckstrom’s father announced that his daughter, a devout Christian, had “passed to glory.”
For believers, this is not empty religious sentiment — it is the promise of Christ Himself. “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus declared in John 11:25. “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”
Sarah’s death is tragic, was preventable, and will long be infuriating. But if she knew Christ, death could not hold her. She stands now in the presence of the One who conquered death, who will one day return to make all things right, who will hold every government official accountable for how they wielded authority.
Until that day, we must demand better. We must require our leaders to fulfill their God-given mandate to protect citizens. We must call out failures wherever they occur, regardless of which party is in power. We must reject the false compassion that prioritizes narrative over safety.
And we must remember that our ultimate hope is not in better vetting processes, stronger borders, or wiser policies — necessary though all of these are. Our hope is in the One who holds all authority in Heaven and on earth, who will return to establish justice perfectly, and in whose presence Sarah Beckstrom now stands.
May her memory be honored not with empty words, but with the courage to demand the accountability and wisdom her service deserved.
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