This is disturbing.

At least 152 Afghans sent to the U.S. for military training since 2005 have gone absent without leave and the situation is unlikely to improve soon, according to a watchdog report released Friday.

According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, 13 of the 152 who had gone AWOL were still at large as of March 7 of this year. Seventy of the 152 had fled the United States; 39 gained legal status in the U.S.; and 27 were arrested, removed or in the process of being removed from the U.S. Three no longer were AWOL or returned to their training base in the U.S.

"There are so many problems here, it’s hard to know where to start," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement. "This is bad for national security, bad for Afghan military readiness, and bad for U.S. taxpayers."

AWOL Afghans are considered a security risk in the U.S. because they have military training and are of fighting age, and relatively few are ever arrested or detained.

Nearly all the Afghans who fled since 2005 were officers. Most were what the military calls "company grade" officers, meaning they were at the rank of lieutenant or captain. The prevalence of this group to abandon training posts is "particularly alarming," the report said, given the officers' important role in maintaining the overall readiness of the Afghan military.

The Afghans have fled from posts across America, including Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, where they are required to take English-language training; Fort Rucker, Ala.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

The report cited numerous bureaucratic impediments to catching AWOL Afghans. They are required to provide limited biographical and background information while in the U.S., which can make it difficult to track them down, it said. Also, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents cannot take any action to locate a missing Afghan trainee until the departments of Defense and State take certain actions to revoke the individual's official status. This delays the start of an ICE investigation in which time is of the essence, the report said.

Most training is done in Afghanistan, but selected Afghans are brought to the U.S. each year for training and education opportunities that cannot be offered in their home country, the report said. The AWOL problem is one of many that have dogged the U.S. effort to make the Afghan military capable of defending itself. As of July, the U.S. has spent $68 billion to train and equip the Afghan army, air force, commandos and other security forces.

Though the report only reviews data through March of this year, inspectors noted that the State Department reported that four AWOL Afghan trainees were caught by Customs and Border Protection in Washington state in August.

In response to the report, the State Department told the inspectors that the number of AWOL cases was "unacceptably high."

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis asking for additional details.

"The majority of these Afghan military trainees have been located, but the fact that any of them remain unaccounted for is deeply concerning and it's important we get more information on how this happened and what's being done to locate these individuals," she wrote.

In a letter of his own, Grassley asked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke to explain disagreements with the report's recommendations on information-sharing among departments.

The worst years for the AWOL problem were 2009, 2015 and 2016 — years that coincided with higher reported levels of violence in Afghanistan, the report said. Although the report had no figures for the period after March of this year, it said the Defense Department reported "a significant up-tick in absconders" among Afghan Air Force trainees in the U.S. this year.

http://www.foxnews.com/politic...us-report-finds.html

quote:

39 gained legal status in the U.S

How? They were Afghan officers who were our guests that were here for training, then they went AWOL, and somehow subsequently gained legal status to stay here? WTF.

Dangerous bastids.

quote:

Originally posted by msfzoe:
Dangerous bastids.

I spent a lot of years working with and along side these guys on the ground in Afthanistan (2007 - 2011).

Some of the young officers that have disappeared in the USA may in fact be dangerous.

But most aren't. They just do NOT want to go back to the shithole in which they were born.

And remember this: Afghanistan is not a country in the sense that most Americans think of "country". Rather, it's a loose affiliation of tribes in a general geographic area. They don't have patriotism for their nation in the sense that you and I, as Americans, feel patriotism for the USA.

If you were born and raised in a shit hole, then found yourself in heaven, would you voluntarily return to the shit hole for the rest of your life? Or would you try to get lost in heaven and hope that you never get caught. That's exactly what is going on with the majority of these guys.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:

quote:

39 gained legal status in the U.S

How? They were Afghan officers who were our guests that were here for training, then they went AWOL, and somehow subsequently gained legal status to stay here? WTF.

Probably by knocking up a US citizen and having a baby! or Marrying a US citizen!

quote:

Originally posted by SapperSteel:

quote:

Originally posted by msfzoe:
Dangerous bastids.

I spent a lot of years working with and along side these guys on the ground in Afthanistan (2007 - 2011).

Some of the young officers that have disappeared in the USA may in fact be dangerous.

But most aren't. They just do NOT want to go back to the shithole in which they were born.

And remember this: Afghanistan is not a country in the sense that most Americans think of "country". Rather, it's a loose affiliation of tribes in a general geographic area. They don't have patriotism for their nation in the sense that you and I, as Americans, feel patriotism for the USA.

If you were born and raised in a shit hole, then found yourself in heaven, would you voluntarily return to the shit hole for the rest of your life? Or would you try to get lost in heaven and hope that you never get caught. That's exactly what is going on with the majority of these guys.

^this sounds to be a reasonable explanation of the motivations for the majority of these afghani soldiers.

Silent

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SapperSteel:


And remember this: Afghanistan is not a country in the sense that most Americans think of "country". Rather, it's a loose affiliation of tribes in a general geographic area. They don't have patriotism for their nation in the sense that you and I, as Americans, feel patriotism for the USA.

[/ QUOTE]


Yeah. Their loyalty is to Muhammed. Not Afghanistan. Not the USA.

This happened a lot with the Nigeragauns too (The Contras)

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:

Yeah. Their loyalty is to Muhammed. Not Afghanistan. Not the USA.

In my experience (a year embedded with the Afghans as an advisor) their primary loyalty is to their tribe first, followed by ethnic identity and religion then country.

quote:

Originally posted by SapperSteel:
But most aren't [dangerous].

To paraphrase an old (and equally inaccurate) statement about horse thieves and Democrats, all terrorists may be Muslims, but not all Muslims are terrorists.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Postulate 10.b: But ALL Muslims' faith instructs them to be terrorists.**



** For the record, I believe any religion that condones the killing of anyone and everyone who doesn't believe in that religion is terrorism.

One cannot be a devout Muslim and a peaceful Muslim. They are mutually exclusive. And the Koran is clear. There is no New Testament (less crazy) version of the Koran, not yet. And until such a time that there is, until they've had their own New Testament like revolution or reformation - as a worldwide movement - any devout Muslim should be considered potentially dangerous and avoided like the plague their religion absolutely is.

They can probably make more money running a 7-11 here in the US than they can as an officer at home.

Be on the look out. They all have similar features....

You'll find them at one of three places: the Mall, strip club or, McDonald's.

In all seriousness, these guys are AWOL because they don't want to go back. They've seen the possibilities and they know there's no way that 'back home' could ever come close. Many try to flee up to Canana, the others try to find Afghan communities here in the US: NYC, Fremont/Hayward, NOVA...

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
You'll find them at one of three places: the Mall, strip club or, McDonald's.

In all seriousness, these guys are AWOL because they don't want to go back. They've seen the possibilities and they know there's no way that 'back home' could ever come close. Many try to flee up to Canana, the others try to find Afghan communities here in the US: NYC, Fremont/Hayward, NOVA...

Spot on about Canada. Most of those who go AWOL are tying to make it to Canada because it is MUCH easier to claim asylum and get legal status there.

Loyalty to Mohammad? You're kidding, right? I'd say 10 to 15 percent are in that category, of the general population. It's kinda hard to dissent when they behead you. Now, take an 18 year old kid who's lived in a shithole, basic subsistance, send him to the States, and tell him he's gotta go back and fight for his country. ROTFLMAO, as they used to say.

Not to sound glib, but what else did you expect.

Why bring them here in the first place? Don't we have training facilities overseas?