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A brazen ambush near the White House left two West Virginia National Guard members shot while on patrol, one of them dying from her wounds and the other clinging to life after surgery. This was not a random act of street violence but a targeted attack on the men and women who answer the call to defend our capital, and Americans deserve straight answers about how the suspect ended up on U.S. soil.
Authorities have identified the suspect as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who was evacuated to the United States in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome and later granted asylum, according to official statements. U.S. intelligence agencies say he previously worked with a so-called partner force in Kandahar that had ties to American operations, a jaw-dropping detail that raises urgent national-security questions.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed a sprawling, cross-country and international probe is underway, noting warrants were executed at the suspect’s last-known address and that investigators will follow evidence “anywhere in the country or the world.” That admission should shock every American who has been told our borders and vetting systems are secure — the FBI is now forced to hunt for overseas associates because domestic screening failed.
This episode lays bare the consequences of reckless immigration and resettlement policies that prioritized speed over security during the chaotic Afghan withdrawal. The administration’s pause and reexamination of Afghan immigration processing is long overdue, but it does nothing for the families of the guardswoman who volunteered on Thanksgiving and paid the ultimate price.
We should spare no sympathy for the poison that made it possible for a foreign national with a complicated past to walk our streets and allegedly open fire on American troops. The National Guard stood in the breach to protect citizens on our holidays; Washington must now stand equally firm in protecting them by overhauling vetting, enforcing immigration controls, and holding accountable anyone who failed in their duty.
Law enforcement and prosecutors must pursue every legal avenue to see justice done — Americans rightly expect the full force of the law when an attack targets our uniformed service members. Political theater and finger-pointing won’t bring back a young guardswoman or mend a wounded soldier, but a relentless, transparent investigation and swift prosecution will at least show we learned a lesson.
Now is the time for tough decisions, not excuses. If Washington wants to honor the sacrifice of those who serve, it must put national security first, fix a broken vetting system, secure the border, and stop pretending the crisis at our gates is someone else’s problem — hardworking Americans and the troops who protect them deserve nothing less.
