Well, this is disconcerting.
Three Afghan soldiers who have been undergoing training at Camp Edwards in Massachusetts went missing on Saturday night following a trip to the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis.
Officials from U.S. Central Command insist there’s nothing to be alarmed about and that the three men have broken no laws and pose no threat to the public.
But how can we be so sure?
There have been numerous instances of Afghan military members turning on U.S. soldiers in recent years. If there are Afghan soldiers prepared to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan then is it really a stretch of the imagination to think that, if the opportunity presented itself, they would come to the United States and plot attacks either against our military bases or against civilian targets?
Of course, there could be a more innocent explanation. They might have wanted American wine, women and song and went on a weekend bender. Or it could just be that these men don’t want to return to Afghanistan. Earlier this month, two Afghan police officials who were receiving training from the DEA at Quantico also disappeared without explanation until they were located in Buffalo. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick made this speculation a short time ago.
So yes, it is entirely possible that the three Afghan soldiers simply want to stay in the U.S. But we also cannot discount the possibility these three Afghan soldiers wish to cause harm on U.S. soil.
Needless to say, it is imperative that these men be located. It might be a good idea if authoriites released their pictures to expedite this process.
UPDATE: The three Afghan soldiers were detained at the U.S.-Canadian border at Niagara Falls earlier this afternoon and are currently being questioned by federal authorities. Niagara Falls is, of course, near Buffalo where the two Afghan police officers who left Quantico were found. What is it about Buffalo that Afghan police and soldiers find so enticing? Remember the Lackawanna Six? O.K., they were from Yemen, not Afghanistan, but you see my point.
The media reports keeps emphasizing that the three Afghan soldiers posed no threat to the public. How do they know?
If Afghan soldiers didn’t have a history of killing American soldiers then I probably wouldn’t give this story a second thought. But if Afghan soldiers can harm our soldiers over in Afghanistan then why wouldn’t they try it over here?
