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Thread: 46 Afghan's gone AWOL in US

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    Default 46 Afghan's gone AWOL in US

    EXCLUSIVE: Number of Afghans Gone AWOL in U.S. Reaches 46
    By Jana Winter

    Published July 07, 2010

    LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- A be-on-the-lookout alert issued last month for 17 Afghan military men who walked away from an Air Force base in Texas has turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. No fewer than 46 members of the Afghan military have gone absent without leave from the Defense Language Institute’s English Language Center at Lackland Air Force Base in recent years, FoxNews.com has learned.

    The rest here.

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    Just fricking wow.
    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
    - -- Aristotle

    Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Damocles View Post
    Just fricking wow.
    And yet the news of the day is Lohan's long over-due day in court~~~

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ice Dancer View Post
    And yet the news of the day is Lohan's long over-due day in court~~~
    And how she cried. I posted about that sarcastically earlier.
    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
    - -- Aristotle

    Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
    - -- The Buddha

    It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
    - -- Aristotle

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    Quote Originally Posted by Threedee View Post
    I didn't realize how many Afghan soldiers wanted to become Americans...
    Do they want to become Americans, or do they want to become guided missiles? Seriously, if this doesn't make you uncomfortable I can't imagine what would.
    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
    - -- Aristotle

    Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
    - -- The Buddha

    It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
    - -- Aristotle

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    Quote Originally Posted by Damocles View Post
    Do they want to become Americans, or do they want to become guided missiles? Seriously, if this doesn't make you uncomfortable I can't imagine what would.


    "Another report stated that since 2000, about 40,000 troops from all branches of the military have deserted, also according to the Pentagon. More than half of these served in the US Army [5]. Almost all of these soldiers deserted within the USA..."


    Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, ever think of that?


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    Quote Originally Posted by christiefan915 View Post


    "Another report stated that since 2000, about 40,000 troops from all branches of the military have deserted, also according to the Pentagon. More than half of these served in the US Army [5]. Almost all of these soldiers deserted within the USA..."


    Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, ever think of that?
    Sometimes it is, but your story isn't about people who are part of other nations' military. The 40,000 troops that deserted in this story were US military personnel and deserted at home.

    Sometimes 46 members of the Afghanistan military deserting in the US might be part of something else, and we should take it very seriously.
    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
    - -- Aristotle

    Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
    - -- The Buddha

    It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
    - -- Aristotle

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    Quote Originally Posted by Damocles View Post
    Sometimes it is, but your story isn't about people who are part of other nations' military. The 40,000 troops that deserted in this story were US military personnel and deserted at home.

    Sometimes 46 members of the Afghanistan military deserting in the US might be part of something else, and we should take it very seriously.
    Yeah, and maybe they got a taste of the sweet life here and decided to take their chances rather than get shipped back to the primitive places they came from.

    I don't get the RW penchant to see nefarious motives just because the deserters were Afghan. Maybe that's because liberals aren't ruled by fear.


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    Liberals are ruled by stupidity. But regarding Damo's comment about whether or not much worries me, I admit to not being a model representative of the Air Force when it comes to security. I don't have much sense for it, and mostly all I ever do is laugh at our latest measures and poke fun at the latest briefings I've attended...

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    Quote Originally Posted by christiefan915 View Post
    Yeah, and maybe they got a taste of the sweet life here and decided to take their chances rather than get shipped back to the primitive places they came from.

    I don't get the RW penchant to see nefarious motives just because the deserters were Afghan. Maybe that's because liberals aren't ruled by fear.
    I would bet the majority of them are that, but that it is necessary to find these people because it only takes one that has different purpose. We're not very good at knowing who it would be, as proven by the CIA recruited Afghan who walked in and killed 4 CIA Agents one day...

    I don't particularly care if they are forced to go home, in fact if they really just want to be Americans we should have a way to make that happen. Yet we need to be very reticent to ignore them.
    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
    - -- Aristotle

    Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
    - -- The Buddha

    It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
    - -- Aristotle

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    Quote Originally Posted by Damocles View Post
    I would bet the majority of them are that, but that it is necessary to find these people because it only takes one that has different purpose. We're not very good at knowing who it would be, as proven by the CIA recruited Afghan who walked in and killed 4 CIA Agents one day...

    I don't particularly care if they are forced to go home, in fact if they really just want to be Americans we should have a way to make that happen. Yet we need to be very reticent to ignore them.
    This!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Damocles View Post
    I would bet the majority of them are that, but that it is necessary to find these people because it only takes one that has different purpose. We're not very good at knowing who it would be, as proven by the CIA recruited Afghan who walked in and killed 4 CIA Agents one day...

    I don't particularly care if they are forced to go home, in fact if they really just want to be Americans we should have a way to make that happen. Yet we need to be very reticent to ignore them.
    AF officials weren't worried but *somehow* this got to the media and went viral. You'll have to excuse my cynicism that this was just a ploy to somehow make Obama look soft on terror.

    Air Force spokesman Gary Emery said Friday the Afghanis disappeared from Lackland Air Force Base one-by-one. The men were vetted by the military and aren't believed to be connected to one another or to any terrorist group, Emery said.

    "I don't think that anybody's really concerned that this is any sort of a plot or that they're looking to do anybody any harm," he said.

    The disappearances were reported to immigration and federal law enforcement when they occurred, but a nationwide alert was issued Wednesday. It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the alert.

    According to NBC News, nearly half of the AWOL Afghans have already been picked up or turned themselves in to authorities since they went missing.

    "We have no reason to believe they had any malicious intent at all," when they disappeared from the base, an Air Force official told NBC.

    These aren't the first students to go AWOL from the Defense Language Institute at Lackland. An Iraqi man went AWOL last year and later showed up in Dallas, requesting asylum in the U.S. Others from Tunisia and Guinea Bissau have also gone AWOL from the institute, according to NBC.


    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37788900/


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    Quote Originally Posted by christiefan915 View Post
    AF officials weren't worried but *somehow* this got to the media and went viral. You'll have to excuse my cynicism that this was just a ploy to somehow make Obama look soft on terror.

    Air Force spokesman Gary Emery said Friday the Afghanis disappeared from Lackland Air Force Base one-by-one. The men were vetted by the military and aren't believed to be connected to one another or to any terrorist group, Emery said.

    "I don't think that anybody's really concerned that this is any sort of a plot or that they're looking to do anybody any harm," he said.

    The disappearances were reported to immigration and federal law enforcement when they occurred, but a nationwide alert was issued Wednesday. It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the alert.

    According to NBC News, nearly half of the AWOL Afghans have already been picked up or turned themselves in to authorities since they went missing.

    "We have no reason to believe they had any malicious intent at all," when they disappeared from the base, an Air Force official told NBC.

    These aren't the first students to go AWOL from the Defense Language Institute at Lackland. An Iraqi man went AWOL last year and later showed up in Dallas, requesting asylum in the U.S. Others from Tunisia and Guinea Bissau have also gone AWOL from the institute, according to NBC.


    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37788900/
    I think it is brutally stupid to ignore this, even if you think they could never possibly be a threat because an Iraqi guy went AWOL last year and turned up in Dallas.
    Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
    - -- Aristotle

    Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
    - -- The Buddha

    It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
    - -- Aristotle

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    Quote Originally Posted by Damocles View Post
    I think it is brutally stupid to ignore this, even if you think they could never possibly be a threat because an Iraqi guy went AWOL last year and turned up in Dallas.
    Nobody ignored it. The military checked in with law enforcement. Immigration was notified. Almost half of the AWOLs were already picked up or turned themselves in. The only difference here is that this got out to the media and and grandstanding Cornyn went public calling it a "potential national security threat".

    Cornyn considers this incident a threat because one middle Easterner went on a rampage last year, so now any middle Easterners going AWOL are automatically suspect. Sweeping generalization.


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