Afghan Allies Are Dying to Come to the U.S. Before Troops Leave, Can Biden Save Them? On 5/27/21 at 10:37 AM EDT One such individual, an Afghan former interpreter whom Newsweek will call Ahmad, knows firsthand the risks that come with the job, one he began working with U.S. government-affiliated projects shortly after high school. By 2013, already about 12 years into the U.S.-led war in his country, Ahmad was working directly with U.S. forces and, like many others, said that he "was thinking that the country is going in a way that everyone is going to have a bright future."