In rural Mason Neck, Virginia, among homes with Confederate flags hanging out front and towering pickup trucks occupying driveways, a stately brick mansion makes for an unexpected neighbor.
In the home’s front lawn, sitting amid manicured shrubs, rises an even more unusual sight: the flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. It is one that has not flown in its own country since 2021, when U.S. forces departed and top leaders fled, ceding control to the Taliban.
Former Afghan Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat believes he’ll once again see that flag ascend in Afghan skies.
This is his home, and also the hub for the Afghanistan United Front, an organization he founded — and largely self-funds — to “unite Afghans and return Afghanistan to the constitutional order, ensuring that Afghans can enjoy freedom, peace, and prosperity.”
Inside the house, behind Sadat’s desk, is another Afghan flag, one he took from the compound of the provincial governor of Helmand province when Sadat ordered the evacuation of the province’s capital city of Lashkar Gah on Aug. 12, 2021.