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Where is Mark Frerichs? Family of Navy vet kidnapped by Taliban confronts Biden for not freeing him

'We don’t question the president’s reasons for getting out of Afghanistan. We needed to hear why he didn’t use any leverage to get my brother home'

The family of a suburban Navy veteran kidnapped by the Taliban in the winter of 2020 is urging president Joe Biden to answer why he did not do more to release their loved one from captivity. Amidst the Taliban's recent re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, family members of the kidnapped veteran identified as Mark Frerichs want Biden to work towards his safe return. As America's twenty-year vigilance on Afghanistan recedes with Biden recalling all the troops, Frerichs family is clouded by the worries of how increasingly complicated his release becomes. 

This backlash against Biden comes amidst spate of several different complaints the masses have expressed against the 46th POTUS. From criticizing the president for vacationing as the Taliban crisis hits Afghanistan to Gold Star Wives demanding Biden resign for the way he's tackling this situation - the president has even been called looking confused in the wake of this crisis. And now, individual families of those who have sacrificed lives in Afghanistan, or are being held in captivity are demanding answers.

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Who is Mark Frerichs?

The Navy veteran and engineer from the suburban village of Lombard, Illinois is currently in captivity of the Taliban. As the insurgent group's siege of the capital of Kabul reinstated their rule over Afghanistan, Frerich's family has grown increasingly worried about how or when they might get to see their loved one again. While they are not questioning the Biden administration's decision to withdraw forces, they are wondering why the president didn't do more to get him out.

“We don’t question the president’s reasons for getting out of Afghanistan. We needed to hear why he didn’t use any leverage to get my brother home, and what he’s prepared to do now,” Frerichs’ sister Charlene Cakora said in a statement, reports local NBC Chicago outlet. The family was in Washington ahead of Biden's address to the nation on Monday, August 16, and while they have been patiently awaiting Biden's response, they insist the fall of the Afghan government demands prompts action from the president. “We want our troops to come home safely to their families, but my brother is a Navy veteran and a good man – he deserves to come home to his family too. We have been patient and we trusted our government. Now we need results,” Cakora added.

In his address to the nation, defending the unceremonious exit of Americans from Kabul airport, the POTUS said: "After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw US forces. American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.” Criticizing his moves, retired US Navy Lt Cmdr Andrew Tangen told NBC Chicago: “We knew that the Taliban was going to do what they did. We didn’t think it was going to be this quick. Instead of helping the people that we promised to help, we have turned our backs on them again.”