Nationwide alert issued for 17 Afghan military men AWOL from Texas Air Force Base

But relax: it's "more an immigration violation than a national security threat." And who ever heard of Afghans getting involved in jihad activity, anyway? "EXCLUSIVE: Alert Issued for 17 Afghan Military Members AWOL From U.S. Air Force Base," by Jana Winter for FOXNews.com, June 17 (thanks to Will):

A nationwide alert has been issued for 17 members of the Afghan military who have gone AWOL from a Texas Air Force base where foreign military officers who are training to become pilots are taught English, FoxNews.com has learned.
The Afghan officers and enlisted men have security badges that give them access to secure U.S. defense installations, according to the lookout bulletin, "Afghan Military Deserters in CONUS [Continental U.S.]," issued by Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Dallas, and obtained by FoxNews.com.

The Afghans were attending the Defense Language Institute at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The DLI program teaches English to military pilot candidates and other air force prospects from foreign countries allied with the U.S.

"I can confirm that 17 have gone missing from the Defense Language Institute," said Gary Emery, Chief of Public Affairs, 37th Training Wing, at Lackland AFB. "They disappeared over the course of the last two years, and none in the last three months."

Each Afghan was issued a Department of Defense Common Access Card, an identification card used to gain access to secure military installations, with which they "could attempt to enter DOD installations," according to the bulletin. Base security officers were encouraged to disseminate the bulletin to their personnel....

A senior Defense Department official in Washington told Fox News he had no direct knowledge of the 17 men being AWOL. The official added that this is not the first time foreign trainees have gone missing, and suggested it was more an immigration violation than a national security threat....

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29 Comments

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lilredbird | June 17, 2010 4:04 PM | Reply

They disappeared over the course of the last TWO YEARS? The CID just getting around to updating their files, are they?

undaunted | June 17, 2010 4:10 PM | Reply

BIG difference between AFOSI and CID.

Lazarus | June 17, 2010 4:25 PM | Reply

Americans have to learn:

Never support people who hate you.
Never train them in military or anything else.
Never give them money or any kind of help.

Just keep them out and defend your borders by any means.

And, if possible, don't allow leftard leaders to bomb your friends...

duh_swami | June 17, 2010 4:28 PM | Reply

"They disappeared over the course of the last two years, and none in the last three months."

...'none in the last three months."
Well, it looks like they now have it under control, so we don't have to worry...

Remembermedina | June 17, 2010 4:44 PM | Reply

Why the nationwide alert?

We have millions of people in this country who are violating our immigration statutes. Why the sudden concern?

Our military has been eviscerated.

tanstaafl | June 17, 2010 4:56 PM | Reply

Why worry? What trouble could 17 Afghani soldiers get into? At least they can't crash a White House function .................. can they?

Ibici | June 17, 2010 5:20 PM | Reply

Didn't see a question regarding..if they disappeared, did you delete their ID cards as not to have access to any areas??? Or do we just hope that is SOP?

pulsar182 | June 17, 2010 5:30 PM | Reply

they were " military pilot candidates ..."

hmmmmm, Muslims flying planes doesn't sound good.....

kelbi yahud | June 17, 2010 5:35 PM | Reply

Imagine a newspaper headline from WW2 reading like this:

Nationwide alert issued for 17 German military men AWOL from Texas Air Force Base

oh the insanity!

Ipso Facto replied to comment from kelbi yahud | June 17, 2010 5:55 PM | Reply

"Imagine a newspaper headline from WW2 reading like this:

Nationwide alert issued for 17 German military men AWOL from Texas Air Force Base."

You forget that the missing persons belong to a freindly and democratic nation allied in the fight against terror and islamofascism.

I can imagine a newspaper headline from WW2 reading like this:

Nationwide alert issued for 17 British military men AWOL from Texas Air Force Base. They probably got stone drunk in a Whiskey Bar or went out in the midday sun." ;-)

ebonystone | June 17, 2010 6:08 PM | Reply

"They disappeared over the course of the last two years, and none in the last three months."

"none in the last three months" -- probably because there were only 17 to begin with, and three months ago, the last one left

The way our immigration system works, each of them has probably secured a fake identity, brought over all of his wives and children (and maybe some of his brothers and their families), produced an "anchor baby", and they're all living on welfare in Dearborn.

ebonystone | June 17, 2010 6:13 PM | Reply

"They disappeared over the course of the last two years, and none in the last three months."

"none in the last three months" -- probably because there were only 17 to begin with, and three months ago, the last one left.

The way our immigration system works, each of them has probably secured a fake identity, brought over all of his wives and children (and maybe some of his brothers and their
families), produced an "anchor baby", and they're all living on welfare in Dearborn.
And Acorn registered them all to vote (in several places), and together they cast about a thousand votes for BHO.

ebonystone | June 17, 2010 6:21 PM | Reply

Oops. Sorry about the double post. I wish this comment system had an "edit" key.

dumbledoresarmy | June 17, 2010 7:14 PM | Reply

From the article: "a senior Defense Department official in Washington told Fox News he had no direct knowledge of the 17 men being AWOL.

"The official added that this is not the first time foreign trainees have gone missing, and suggested it was more an immigration violation than a national security threat".

'More an immigration violation than a national security threat'...

A distinction without a difference.

lilredbird | June 17, 2010 7:42 PM | Reply

They probably ought to check out MacDill AFB in Tampa where they just arrested those two clowns trying to smuggle weapons on base. Our AWOL Afghans could be holed up at the base's camping facilities, shopping at the BX, playing a couple rounds at the golf course. And learning English, of course. That's what they came here for, right?

Alarmed Pig Farmer | June 17, 2010 8:38 PM | Reply

Well, I think that what the federal gubmint should do is call Hillary back from Ecuador to negotiate with these Moslem soliders.

*** 92:8 ***

After all, she graduated from Yale Law (very prestigious) and she just announced a federal lawsuit against Arizona for the crime of enforcing the law, so it all makes sense if ya think about it.

*** 33:51 ***

With brilliance like that, and those tragic ankles, no wonder Prez Bill was cheating on her.

Susanp | June 17, 2010 9:11 PM | Reply

You forget that the missing persons belong to a freindly and democratic nation allied in the fight against terror and islamofascism.

Please tell me you're joking! Afghanistan is hardly a 'friendly' or 'democratic' nation. It is a primitive, uncivilized, corrupt, islamic backwater with a constitution based on sharia, a president in cahoots with the taliban, and hundreds of tribal warlords competing for power and control. The only exports I'm aware of come from the opium poppy crops and the madrassas in Pakistan that produce holy warriors for worldwide distribution. Karzai is engaged in a delicate balancing act to appease his rabid countrymen and his benefactors in the West.

FYI, democracy is not defined by allowing people to vote for their personal favorite tyrant. In Afghanistan, the illiterate hordes vote to elect sharia-enforcers. That is not 'democracy'. The missing Afghan soldiers are probably terrorists and I'm guessing they have joined their sleeper cells to wait for the call to martyrdom.

kelbi yahud replied to comment from Ipso Facto | June 17, 2010 9:15 PM | Reply

I should have put Nazi instead of German, my mistake. I'm not referring to modern Germany.

I'm trying to make a point that were are training the enemy, Muslims. It would be just like training Nazis in WW2

profitsbeard | June 17, 2010 9:40 PM | Reply

It's a Madhouse! A Madhouse!

London Jim | June 18, 2010 12:52 AM | Reply

Profitsbeard, that link is wonky.

DP111 | June 18, 2010 3:54 AM | Reply

May be they are in the UK seeking asylum.

Who can blame them. NATO is soon to withdraw from Afghanistan, and these Afghan officers would be at the end of a rope once the Taleban take over.

DP111 | June 18, 2010 3:57 AM | Reply

The official added that this is not the first time foreign trainees have gone missing, and suggested it was more an immigration violation than a national security threat....

Sure.

sos | June 18, 2010 5:37 AM | Reply

We're teaching muslims to fly planes? Am I the only one that finds this to be SUPREMELY stupid?

How many times are we going to train and arm momentary friends to achieve short-sighted goals? You would think we would have seen enough after the folks that we armed to battle the soviets (some of them we are fighting right now!!) turned on us.

skep | June 18, 2010 6:37 AM | Reply

The pilots are probably now working for Air Canada.

Randy McDaniels replied to comment from Ipso Facto | June 18, 2010 6:57 AM | Reply

Ipso Facto: Afganistan our ally....hmmm part of the problem with this war is our Military Men do not know who is an ally or not.

Insurgency/counter insurgency????

Saudi Arabia is supposed to by an ally...yet they spend about 4 -5 billion per year to export whabbist Islam... the most radical form of Islam on the planet.

They fund most mosques & virtually all MES studies, and interfaith outreach to spread their DAWAH...yet do not allow any churhces or the same within their borders under penalty of death in some cases.

Just because they have a title of Ally does not make it so....

Wake up to reality and get out of fantacy land. Just why did these Ally's go AWOL???? maybe that would be a better question. What is the ideology and the threat doctrine of Islam? maybe another good question.

Maybe America should begin to be less tolerant of CRIMINAL Acts by foreigner and maybe try to enforce the laws to protect the American Citizens from POSSIBLE threats from a theocratic totalitarian Ideology bent on destroying non-muslims world wide, the implementation of Sharia or Islamic law in America and the world, and a world wide Calipahte, as they have stated.

Could it be these men were sent for a reason and disappeared for a reason?

If they have been gone for 2 years... Where is their support structure?... food, housing, money,etc... hmmm chances are your local mosque is behind making sure they have what they need.

WAKE UP

ImNoDhimmi | June 18, 2010 7:52 AM | Reply

"Who can blame them. NATO is soon to withdraw from Afghanistan, and these Afghan officers would be at the end of a rope once the Taleban take over."

Do you really think the allied troops will be leaving anytime soon, since the discovery of trillions of dollars worth of important minerals under Afghanistan's sand?

Charles Kosmerl | June 18, 2010 10:41 AM | Reply

This is directed to Susanp:
Your remarks about Afghanistan are well taken, but you stated:

"FYI, democracy is not defined by allowing people to vote for their personal favorite tyrant. In Afghanistan, the illiterate hordes vote to elect sharia-enforcers. That is not 'democracy'."

Actually, you're wrong because that IS democracy. A lynch mob is participative democracy in action. Please check the definition of "democracy" anywhere you can find it and you'll see what I mean. Here is an excellent article on "Democracy vs. Republic":

http://www.personalliberty.com/liberty/a-republic-if-you-can-keep-it/

Susanp replied to comment from Charles Kosmerl | June 18, 2010 2:02 PM | Reply

Charles, I understand the difference between a republic and a democracy and I realize that pure democracy is merely mob rule. I should have elaborated by stating that mere elections are not indicative of freedom or 'democracy' as it is understood by Westerners. The primary point I was trying to make is that any government based upon sharia is repressive and tyrannical whether the sharia enforcers are elected or not. In other words, 'democratic' Afghanistan is just as much a retrograde islamic hellhole as it would be if it was ruled by a dictator. In reality, all islamic hellholes are controlled by the clerics and islamic scholars, who are not elected. We hold elections and Afghanistan holds elections; this is a free country (for now) and Afghanistan is not. The poster I was responding to implied that we have a kinship with Afghanistan because it is a 'democratic' country.

gravenimage | June 20, 2010 9:07 PM | Reply

The official added that this is not the first time foreign trainees have gone missing, and suggested it was more an immigration violation than a national security threat....
................

"Not the first time foreign trainees have gone missing"—well, then, I feel so much better! sarc/off

"More an immigration violation than a national security threat"—yes, indeed. I understand some of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 had "overstayed their visas", as well. Really, more an immigration violation than a national security threat...

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