Afghans for Trump group looking to make foreign policy - and 2021 withdrawal - front and center in election

Three years have passed since the Taliban's swift takeover upended Afghanistan.

Women have largely taken up home confinement, and men live in fear of being suspected of aiding the resistance, a charge that could result in death. In the chaos, as the U.S. hastily withdrew, countless Afghan allies were abandoned to an uncertain fate.

Zoubair Sangi helped found a movement for the Afghan diaspora to unite and bring a sense of betrayal by the Biden administration to the ballot box with the new advocacy group Afghans for Trump.

"It's been three years where women can't go to school. Terrorism has been on the rise. We have the attacking of ethnic and religious minorities."

Sangi's parents came to the U.S. in the 1980s as the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. 

Much of his family still lives in the nation. 

"What they say is that it feels like they're living in a prison," Sangi said. 

"Anyone who's suspected of resistance, just being kidnapped, jailed, tortured, killed. For the last three years, this has been going on. But zero coverage. So, you know, those who are living here, they feel like they've lost everything."

Sangi says Afghans for Trump is reaching out to the diaspora, those who are Afghan by background but U.S. citizens, and has been in touch with recent refugees who left after the withdrawal, most of whom are not citizens and can't vote in the election. 

"It's a U.S. national security concern as well," Sangi said. The Taliban "have been in connection with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. So, this resurgence is a threat to the West as they are coordinating and planning [attacks]." 

If Trump wins the presidency, Sangi said he hopes Trump will stop the funneling of money to Afghanistan, dollars that are earmarked for humanitarian aid but often end up in Taliban hands.

"There is also a resistance in Afghanistan whose values align with the American people who have been allies of the Americans for over 20 years," he said. 

"They supported the people of Afghanistan. And, you know, we fought our own battle. And it proved successful. So, fighting the Taliban should be much less of a challenge than that time," he said. 

"The Taliban are pocketing this money, and we see them using it for things such as military parades of suicide bombers," said Sangi. 

"None of it is going to the people who are living there. You know, I have family there, and they're not receiving any of this aid. The population is facing starvation, mass unemployment."

With a sense of optimism, Sangi predicted Middle East policy may decide next week's election despite the long-running assumption that elections are decided by domestic issues. 

"This is the one time where I think every single person across almost every spectrum of society feels the repercussions of what's going on, the turmoil in the Middle East," he said. "This cannot continue because, if it does, we can go further into World War III, and nobody wants that."