Maybe it would help if we put their faces on milk cartons.
In the case of two missing Afghan air force trainees who disappeared last Monday from Moody Air Force Base, we are being told by U.S. authorities, “All is well. Remain calm.”
After all, they were vetted last February by our world-famous, most thorough, most bestest vetting system. What could go wrong?
The Taliban has a nasty habit of infiltrating their operatives into the Afghanistan army or security services in order to carry out attacks on foreign military personnel.
But authorities are sure that these two lost puppies are probably out sightseeing or something.
Well…they’re almost sure.
However officials maintain there is no evidence that either of them pose a threat.
The Air Force said both men were screened before entering the U.S.
‘The students have trained alongside American counterparts for the entirety of 2015 and do not pose any apparent threat,’ the Moody Air Force Base told 11 Alive on Tuesday.
‘There is a well-coordinated process among federal agencies to locate the individuals as quickly as possible and return them accordingly to the proper authorities to manage their present situation.’
Moody reiterated Thursday that the men still did not pose a threat, even though efforts to find them had been ramped up.
Like I said…almost sure.
The missing Afghan nationals in Georgia are assigned to the 81st Fighter Squadron, which was re-activated in January and charged with training Afghan airmen.
In January, a soldier in the Afghanistan army, who went missing during a training exercise at a military base in Massachusetts, was granted asylum by the US, the AJC reported.
The soldier was one of three Afghans who turned themselves in at a Canadian border crossing in New York state in 2014 after disappearing from an exercise, provoking a search by military officials and state police.
More than 160,000 Afghans have left their country for Europe this year, most spurred by poor job prospects and worsening security as Taliban insurgents grow more powerful after the bulk of NATO troops withdrew at the end of 2014.
Is it irrational to disbelieve government authorities when it comes to keeping us informed of threats to the homeland? I would say it’s far more irrational to believe anything that comes out of their mouths when it comes to terrorism. And this is incredibly serious. The job of keeping America safe is dependent on both citizens and government working together. How can we accomplish that if the government is trying to constantly minimize threats because of a political agenda, or out of fear that there will be a “backlash” against Muslims?
I certainly hope the two young Afghan men are safe and out for a lark, or perhaps preparing to defect. The alternative is too terrible to contemplate.
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