Afghanistan is a long way from the United States. I worked there a long time ago, doing supply chain development work, directly supporting commercial Afghan business. It was fulfilling work.

Last night, the USAID Industry Liaison sent a chilling email to companies who worked in Afghanistan.

“Given the security situation in Afghanistan, and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of USAID staff, partners, and beneficiaries, we ask that you immediately review your public websites and social media platforms to archive content that could pose a risk to certain individuals and groups. In particular, we encourage you to archive all photos and videos, names, locations, and other personally identifiable information (PII) of Afghans who have been associated with the US Government, including being associated with USAID-funded implementing partners.”

Supply Chains are global, and Supply Chain Risks can be as well. The long arm of the Taliban just touched me in Northern Virginia. We scrubbed our website. We removed photos. We erased relevant publications. Our partners did the same.

We are sad.