There is a high-volume search query playing out in real-time right now: what happens when a superpower packs up and leaves its most dangerous assets behind? We are talking about the **CIA Zero Units**—elite **Afghan special forces** trained by the agency to be the tip of the spear in the war on terror. These men, technically known as National Strike Units, were the human tools of American foreign policy. But following the chaotic **U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan**, these shadow warriors have been displaced into American suburbs, and the results are dominating the news cycle.

For years, the Zero Units were the primary keyword in the night raids of Afghanistan. Funded and trained by the **Central Intelligence Agency**, they did the dirty work that allowed politicians to optimize their press releases for "progress." They were heroes when they were targeting the Taliban. But now, after being airlifted to the U.S. on **humanitarian parole**, the narrative has shifted. We have taken men trained for lethal efficiency in a shadow war and dropped them into the mundane reality of traffic jams and grocery bills. It is a user experience disaster waiting to happen.

That reality has crashed the server with a recent **shooting in Washington, D.C.** involving former members of this force. While the specifics of the crime are a matter for local law enforcement, the SEO fallout is national. The very government that trained these men to utilize violence is now feigning shock that the trauma of war didn't vanish upon entry at Dulles International Airport. Because of this incident, the **immigration status** of these former allies is now trending downward. They are living in fear—not of the Taliban, but of bureaucratic revocation.

This creates a thick irony that ranks high for hypocrisy. These men burned bridges with their homeland to serve American interests. If their **asylum claims** are denied or their status revoked, they are essentially dead men walking if returned to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Yet, in the optics-obsessed theater of D.C. politics, managing the PR crisis of a shooting takes precedence over loyalty to veterans of a secret war. The U.S. built a force of shadow warriors without a long-term retention strategy, and now that the "Zero Units" are no longer useful assets, they are being treated as liabilities to be de-indexed from American society.

### References & Fact-Check * **Primary Source**: [The Zero Units Fought for the C.I.A. in Afghanistan. In the U.S., They’re Living in Fear. (New York Times)](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/magazine/zero-units-cia-afghanistan.html) * **Topic Authority**: For more on the history of the **National Directorate of Security (NDS)** and CIA paramilitary operations, cross-reference reports on the 2021 Kabul airlift and the subsequent legal challenges facing Afghan evacuees.