8am: In an open letter, more than five thousand former government military personnel implore the United States Congress to support the goal of “a gradual end to the death of Afghan citizens, especially women and former military personnel,” instead of endorsing the self-proclaimed Taliban regime, which claims to represent the will of the people. They appeal to the U.S. Congress to exert pressure on the Taliban for the “immediate release of former military personnel from Taliban prisons, cessation of massacres, detentions, and their torture.” Click here to read more (external link).