Few operations in the War on Terror in Afghanistan would have been possible without the help of a vital group-Afghan translators and interpreters. While these individuals served alongside our troops, often at significant risk, many did not make it out during the August 2021 withdrawal and are still awaiting evacuation.
One who did manage to escape, however, was Afghan interpreter Jamil Hassan, and this is his story.
Promises Betrayed provides a first-hand account of the evacuation, along with a historical narrative about the war in Afghanistan, all told from the unique perspective of an Afghan ally. Having served as a translator for General David Petraeus and General John Nicholson in Afghanistan meant that Jamil and his family were, and are, high-value targets for possible Taliban retribution.
Like many Afghans, Jamil Hassan believed in what our leaders were selling-the hope for a better life and a better future. He served alongside our troops and worked toward goals anchored on promises made by our country. But in August 2021, those promises were broken. Everything Jamil Hassan-along with countless American and coalition soldiers-worked for, was swept aside during the disastrous August withdrawal. For all intents and purposes, Jamil’s home country is now lost, probably forever, and the fate of his friends and family members left behind is tenuous at best.
In the pages that follow you’ll read Jamil’s minute-by-minute account of how he and his family, by the narrowest of margins, eventually made their way onto a plane and out of Kabul, on August 18, 2021. Promises Betrayed tells the real story of America’s "War on Terror" in Afghanistan, and how the Biden Administration’s actions failed America, our allies, and most of all, the freedom-loving Afghans who were left behind.
Promises Betrayed tells the real story of the War on Terror in Afghanistan, and how the Biden Administration’s actions failed America, our allies, and most of all, the freedom-loving Afghans who were left behind.
Abdul Jamil Hassan was born in 1986 in Zurmat District of Afghanistan's southeastern Paktia province. During the civil war, his family moved to the capital, Kabul, and from there to Jalalabad city, the provincial capital of eastern Nangarhar province. A year after Taliban took control of Jalalabad, they migrated to Pakistan's Rawalpindi. In 1997, after a family friend assured their safety and financial support, they left Pakistan for Afghanistan's western Herat province where they spent 16 years. Jamil attended school, learned English and worked for over four years with Coalition Forces in Herat. In 2013, following his admission to Kabul University's Faculty of Law and Political Science, he lived, studied and worked in the Capital until he and his family escaped Afghanistan during the chaotic evacuation of August 2021.Mr. Hassan has a degree in political science from Kabul University, and was supposed to defend the thesis for his Master's Degree in International Relations at a private university in Kabul, a few days after August 15, 2021 when Taliban toppled the West-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani. Before serving with Coalition Forces (2008- 2012), Jamil worked as an ESL (English as Second Language) teacher in Herat, and following his graduation from Kabul University in 2017, he served as a high-level trilingual interpreter/translator at the Headquarters of NATO's Resolute Support Mission - Afghanistan (RSMA) until a month before the events of August 15, 2021. Jamil and his family arrived in Northern California in November, 2021, where they now live. After acquiring his CDL (Class A Driver's License), he currently drives for Amazon, DoorDash and Uber Eats. He is now helping his wife learn how to drive. Promises Betrayed is the first book Mr. Hassan has ever written, and he considers it the most important achievement of his entire life so far.
David H. Petraeus (born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012.] Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus served 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and commander, NATO/U.S. Forces in Afghanistan (USFOR-A) from July 4, 2010, to July 18, 2011. His other four-star assignments include serving as the 10th commander, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) from October 13, 2008, to June 30, 2010, and as commanding general, Multi-National Force in Iraq (MNF-I) from February 10, 2007, to September 16, 2008. As commander of MNF-I, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq. Petraeus has a B.S. degree from the United States Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1974 as a distinguished cadet (top 5% of his class). He was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College class of 1983. He subsequently earned an M.P.A. in 1985 and a Ph.D. degree in international relations in 1987 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He later served as assistant professor of international relations at the United States Military Academy and completed a fellowship at Georgetown University.
