Reprinted with permission from American Independent

On Tuesday, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade claimed "the government" played no role in the rescue of an Afghan police officer who assisted the U.S. military, but the inaccurate statement was immediately shot down by his guest, a retired Army Special Forces commander who was a part of the mission.

On Fox & Friends, Kilmeade was discussing the rescue, named Operation Promises Kept, which successfully evacuated Mohammad Khalid Wardak and his family. His guest was Ryan Brummond, who served in the military from 2003 to 2017, in both the Army Special Forces and in the Marines.

"Ryan, so glad you put this operation together. You're doing something our government can't," Kilmeade said at the beginning of the exchange.

"Really, this was a huge effort. It was a combined effort of both folks that are in and out of government," Brummond replied. "This did involve our government, in some ways, I mean... We had the help of senators, representatives, folks at the State Department, and it was just kind of a huge effort of those that are both in and out of government in order to make it happen."

In recent days, Fox News has been promoting a narrative that the Biden administration is abandoning allies and American citizens in Afghanistan, despite the ongoing rescue operations being executed on President Joe Biden's orders.

The Associated Press reported on Friday that Wardak and his family were hiding from the Taliban in Kabul because Wardak was well known for assisting the U.S. military during the war there and publicly spoke out against the Taliban.

They were taken out of the region by helicopter on August 18. Former George W. Bush administration official Robert McCreary told the AP that the family was "carried out under cover of darkness by the U.S. military and its allies."

McCreary said Wardak and his family are in an undisclosed location "under the protection of the United States."

On Monday, the Biden administration said that approximately 48,000 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan since August 14.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.