U.S.' 'Safe and Beautiful Task Force' sees its own guardsmen targeted by gunfire

(ECNS) -- Two U.S. National Guard members were shot near the White House last week, leading to the arrest of a 29-year-old suspect. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security described the suspect as “a criminal alien from Afghanistan” who was among thousands of evacuees brought to the U.S. under Operation Allies Welcome following the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Before the gunshots had even faded, the blame game between Democrats and Republicans erupted, with little attention paid to the source of gun violence in the U.S. Republican activists swiftly accused Democrats of fostering violence through lenient immigration policies. In response, Democrats combed through the suspect’s social media activity, with some even floating the theory that it was a “Trump-ordered false flag operation” meant to discredit them.

Republicans have politicized the suspect’s Afghan background, yet they remain silent about the fact that during the rushed 2021 evacuation, the U.S., in a push to expedite the process, airlifted thousands of Afghans who had not undergone full security vetting. Dozens from this group were later secretly placed under house arrest at an American military base in Kosovo.

Meanwhile, the Democrats accuse the Republicans of "racism," yet they avoid addressing systemic flaws in the refugee resettlement process—including widespread document fraud among Afghan arrivals—that have rendered U.S. vetting mechanisms largely symbolic.

Amid the fallout, another debate has emerged: whether the U.S. President can deploy troops to maintain law and order in American cities without the consent of state governments. The Trump administration’s deployment of around 2,000 National Guard troops to Washington, DC, under the banner of its “Safe and Beautiful Task Force” is a key case in this controversy.

Although a federal judge ruled on Nov. 20 that U.S. President Trump's months-long deployment of National Guard forces to Washington, D.C. violated federal law, Trump has, in defiance of this ruling, ordered the deployment of an additional 500 troops following the shooting.

The power struggle between the President and state governments is now playing out nationwide. In cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, courts are facing a wave of parallel lawsuits.

There will be no end to the gunfire outside the White House as long as the president uses the military as a political tool, politicians exploit shootings for political attacks, and the public harbors deep-seated hatred.