In a story about last week’s deadly National Guard ambush outside a Washington D.C. metro station, a lead Washington Post story published online Monday and in Tuesday’s print edition actually tried to paint a sympathetic picture of suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal by wondering if his decision to drive from Washington State was done because he became depressed about the stringency of the immigration process.
Leaving aside the very real issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) he almost certainly suffered by working in his native Afghanistan alongside U.S. soldiers and intelligence personnel (including in the CIA), the four-bylined article also lamented “he appeared to struggle to adapt to his new circumstances and refused to take many of the entry-level jobs available to him as a recent immigrant.”
The first portion briefly explained his role in Afghanistan with “the Kandahar Strike Force...in one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan” and that required constant “multiple layers of vetting” to ensure he could be trusted. In addition, reporters Susannah George, Antonio Olivo, Warren P. Strobel, and Jeremy Roebuck said sources told them he had a sterling record.
“The course of Lakanwal’s journey from a trusted U.S. battlefield ally to the suspected shooter...remains unclear, in part. But like many Afghans who had worked for the United States and came...after the chaotic August 2021 U.S. withdrawal...he appeared to struggle to adapt to his new circumstances and refused to take many of the entry-level jobs available to him as a recent immigrant,” the reporters added.
They quoted a “former senior Afghan commander now living in the United States” to back this up that former Afghan allies struggle to find work in the U.S., suggesting without evidence this was Lakanwal’s case that “[t]hey’re not ready to just integrate themselves into” America.
Furthering this sob story, the reporters kicked dirt on the administration for “characteriz[ing] Lakanwal’s alleged violent crime as a by-product of President Joe Biden’s hasty evacuation...and the influx of tens of thousands of Afghans...these officials say took place without proper vetting” when “interviews with former Afghan fighters and the Americans who worked with them suggest a more complex tale.”
The Post huffed that he, “in addition to his earlier vetting to join the Zero Units, underwent extensive vetting by U.S. counterterrorism authorities, including the CIA and the National Counterterrorism Center, before entering the United States, according to people with direct knowledge of the case.”
The dam of fluff then broke wide open, fretting “Lakanwal was confident” he’d find “a stable life in the United States” yet “that didn’t happen” and directly blamed his successful asylum claim this summer “did not come with a renewed work authorization card” as having caused his spiral:
This summer, Lakanwal received what is known as a “Chief of Mission” letter vouching for his contributions to the U.S. war effort, a required step in the process to obtain a Special Immigrant Visa and to establish lawful permanent residency in the United States, according to a former senior law enforcement official briefed on the matter and the former U.S. intelligence officer. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss Lakanwal’s status.
Lakanwal’s humanitarian parole expired in mid-2024, before his visa status was fully approved, so he applied for political asylum instead late last year and was approved in April 2025, multiple people familiar with the matter said.
But his grant of asylum did not come with a renewed work authorization card, which made it difficult to find a job, the former U.S. intelligence officer said, citing conversations with Lakanwal’s fellow Unit 03 fighters after the shooting. The inability to support his family weighed heavily on Lakanwal.
He worked briefly this summer as an independent contractor for Amazon Flex, a program that employs drivers to deliver packages with their own vehicles, a company spokesperson said.
Notice The Post argued it was difficult to find a job to only then admit in the next breath he was able to find work.
Saying this stress (of finding employment and a solid wage no less) led to a “fight over finances” with his brother, The Post said this was emblematic of the “struggl[es]” “both financially and mentally” Afghan refugees have faced “in a country whose language and culture they don’t understand.”
The Post wrapped by acting out the Norm MacDonald bit about whom they believe are the real victims in this attack (click “expand”):
“It’s still unclear what led this individual to commit such a violent and horrific act — whether a mental breakdown or something more severe,” Geeta Bakshi, a former CIA officer who served in Afghanistan and now runs FAMIL, a nonprofit that assists Afghans who served with the U.S. government, said in a statement. Bakshi said her organization had not encountered Lakanwal.
(....)
The combination of years of high-stress combat in Afghanistan and a different kind of stress in the United States — struggling to support a family in a foreign environment — leaves many of these young men particularly vulnerable to falling through the cracks, the former Afghan commander said.
(....)
The shooting and its aftermath are “a disaster for the Afghan community,” the former commander said.
