GA GA - Two AWOL Afghan soldiers (one found), Moody AFB, Valdosta, 7 Dec 2015

[perfectingpink]

I wonder if the "sources" are correct that the missing men rented a car.

https://www.usa.gov/visitors-driving

The United States does not issue IDPs to foreign visitors. To get an IDP, contact the authorities of the country that issued your driver's license or its motoring association. If you want to rent a car, you may need both your license and an IDP; find out the rental company's policies in advance.

If the men rented a car, surely there would be a record unless maybe they had convincing fake ID's which would indicate this wasn't a spur of the minute decision not to return. I would think just about any rental would have GPS which would be traceable. If the rental was abandoned, why wouldn't that location be revealed now that the identities and photos of the missing men have been made public?

It looks like one or both could have obtained a Ga. driver's license. It seems the only requirement for applying is establishing residency for 30 days.

http://www.dds.ga.gov/drivers/dldata.aspx?con=1741471757&ty=dl

All MOO and conjecture

My daughter's finance (she just got engaged and this is the first time I have called him that...WEIRD!) worked at AVIS Rentals and tells me not all cars have GPS or any other tracking devices. I was floored because I assumed all of them would in case someone did not return a car. However, according to him, that is why the company has repo guys.

 

[DexterMorgan]

My daughter's finance (she just got engaged and this is the first time I have called him that...WEIRD!) worked at AVIS Rentals and tells me not all cars have GPS or any other tracking devices. I was floored because I assumed all of them would in case someone did not return a car. However, according to him, that is why the company has repo guys.

Agree. Plus a quick full covered insurance payout doesn't hurt as well. Lol. Maybe they want you to steal their rental cars. Lol. You never know. Especially since most businesses are hurting right now.

Btw. Anyone can rent a car for the most part. So I wouldn't be surprised if they knew someone to do it for them. If they did want a rental.

So you are right. All un-returned cars will be scrutinized. Jmo

 

[bluesneakers]

Now I want to know if they lived on the base, and if they did when was the last time they left? Were they in a car or on foot? I'm not sure how close the base is to the outside world, but whichever way they should have a record of it.

Wouldn't LE be able to go through all the rental car company's records for the day or two? Do most rental agency's have cameras? It seems to me the whole car thing would be a very simple thing to figure out. When someone goes missing we almost always hear about what car the person was in or might be in and in this case LE would know exactly the make, model, year, and even the license plate number. We've heard nothing, but maybe they gave that information to state police.

It's been a week. Where are they?

 

[DexterMorgan]

Now I want to know if they lived on the base, and if they did when was the last time they left? Were they in a car or on foot? I'm not sure how close the base is to the outside world, but whichever way they should have a record of it.

Wouldn't LE be able to go through all the rental car company's records for the day or two? Do most rental agency's have cameras? It seems to me the whole car thing would be a very simple thing to figure out. When someone goes missing we almost always hear about what car the person was in or might be in and in this case LE would know exactly the make, model, year, and even the license plate number. We've heard nothing, but maybe they gave that information to state police.

It's been a week. Where are they?

Don't worry. We vetted them carefully remember. Every terrorist is on the radar from day 1. So they can't be terrorist.

Only the ones who didn't pass the vetting and background checks are terrorist. Lol. Just kidding.

It seems like every mass shooting was done by people who went to reputable schools and from decent families.

So who knows. Maybe some posters were right that stated the soldiers just really didn't want to go back and do the war thing.

So idk.

 

[katydid23]

I could be totally wrong but I don't think they mean to do any harm to Americans or Canadians. I think they want to melt into our society and stay here, under the radar. Can't say I blame them.

 

[passionflower]

It is only 3 hours from Moody AF Base to Lebanon GA where all the cell phones (bought & stolen) and propane tanks were stolen..........HELL bombs they can be called............connection??? timing?? JMOO worried

 

[oceanblueeyes]

It is only 3 hours from Moody AF Base to Lebanon GA where all the cell phones (bought & stolen) and propane tanks were stolen..........HELL bombs they can be called............connection??? timing?? JMOO worried

Passion, that happened in Lebanon, MO, not Georgia. I also read that too about several convenience stores in MO have had propane tanks stolen lately. So it would take several hours to reach Lebanon, MO, from Valdosta which is hundreds of miles away from each other. Valdosta is 90 miles south of where I live in Georgia so it takes even us about an hour and a half more or less to go there.

 

[ninij9]

I could be totally wrong but I don't think they mean to do any harm to Americans or Canadians. I think they want to melt into our society and stay here, under the radar. Can't say I blame them.

I agree. These guys couldn't have picked a worse time to go awol, but I guess they took their opportunity.


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[JeannaT]

So back to the rental car question. There was an article where the title said source says rental car is suspected, but the body of the article only mentions interviewing the 2 rental car agencies, and they had no comment. So it's unclear that "sources" believe they rented a car.

And to the poster who said the San Bernadino terrorists had no evidence of being terrorists, that's untrue. There was PLENTY of evidence, known to the family, it just wasn't reported to authorities. On researching them, it was immediately obvious they had terroristic intent and evidence was plentiful My guess is, by this time, authorities have searched these guys homes, social media accounts, interviewed coworkers and friends, and appear to not have found anything. I guess.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

So we nor the government don't know why they left true.
I do wonder if they were Mexicans would the same thought of terrorism cross people's mind? What if they are Afghanistan born however they are Christians? Would people think "better" of them? This type of stereo type leads people to react instead of think.
I doubt we will ever be on the same side of the debate. So I'll agree to disagree.
I hope they are found and they are safe.

If our country was having problems with Mexicans doing terrorist acts in the name of their religious beliefs then of course if these two men had been Mexicans the subject would come up and rightly so. But that isn't the case. As far as I know Mexicans haven't plotted and planned to murder people using their religious beliefs as the reason.

In the climate we are facing now where the FBI says they have open investigations (over 900 iirc) including every state in the union concerning Islamic extremists I don't think it is wise to just assume without any supporting evidence that these men left because they want to live here.

The fact of the matter is none of us know now what their true motive was for going AWOL. I don't think there is any evidence either that these two men have been harmed by others. They had been at Moody for a long time and nothing ever happened to them before they left. Moody is not cutoff from the bustling town of Valdosta and they have always interacted with each other.

I don't know about any debate. All I know is they should be located in order to verify what their true motive was for leaving. Are you saying the military/government should just leave them alone because they may be offended? I have no clue what you mean by stereotyping. You don't think the FBI uses profiling when looking for potential Islamic terrorists?

I am not saying these men are guilty of anything other than going AWOL and deserting their post but until they are located the government should fully pursue them to find out their true motive for leaving. To not do so because of being worried about political correctness would be burying their heads in the sand.

Imo, behind the scene the law enforcement agencies aren't assuming anything. When anyone goes AWOL it should be determined the real reason why they chose to go AWOL right out of the blue. And now it does seem the military does want the public to be on the lookout for these two since they have released their photos in the media.

IMO

 

[Eileen730]

They could have new identity by now .

 

[bluesneakers]

So back to the rental car question. There was an article where the title said source says rental car is suspected, but the body of the article only mentions interviewing the 2 rental car agencies, and they had no comment. So it's unclear that "sources" believe they rented a car.

And to the poster who said the San Bernadino terrorists had no evidence of being terrorists, that's untrue. There was PLENTY of evidence, known to the family, it just wasn't reported to authorities. On researching them, it was immediately obvious they had terroristic intent and evidence was plentiful My guess is, by this time, authorities have searched these guys homes, social media accounts, interviewed coworkers and friends, and appear to not have found anything. I guess.

They probably kept tabs on them this whole time.

May have rented a car and likely rented a car... I don't know how sure anyone is if they did. One of the articles I read made it seem like authorities were more interested in what the cameras may have caught at the airport and that's why they were checking with the car places.

How much would we be told if they found them?

 

[Ray_of_hope]

Just checked news. No info on finding them yet. I also feel that they didn't want to go back to a dangerous and war torn country. I hope I'm right. MOO.
My grandmother was over in England and the bombing raids scarred her for life. Whenever there was a thunder storm, she gathered us all and had us go to a safe place that she had designated in her home. I imagine that these soldiers kind of liked living freely and in a country where they weren't having to duck and cover for their lives. Again, I pray I'm correct.

Morning, blue!

 

[Treelights]

They probably kept tabs on them this whole time.

May have rented a car and likely rented a car... I don't know how sure anyone is if they did. One of the articles I read made it seem like authorities were more interested in what the cameras may have caught at the airport and that's why they were checking with the car places.

How much would we be told if they found them?

"Base officials met with local law enforcement several months ago to plan for the possibility that some of the Afghanistan trainees could go absent without leave, Childress said."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/12/1...rom-us-air-force-base-were-about-to-graduate/

 

[bluesneakers]

Just checked news. No info on finding them yet. I also feel that they didn't want to go back to a dangerous and war torn country. I hope I'm right. MOO.
My grandmother was over in England and the bombing raids scarred her for life. Whenever there was a thunder storm, she gathered us all and had us go to a safe place that she had designated in her home. I imagine that these soldiers kind of liked living freely and in a country where they weren't having to duck and cover for their lives. Again, I pray I'm correct.

Morning, blue!

After reading about the other soldiers who tried to get into Canada I think you're correct about what happened and they wanted to avoid going back to a war-torn and potentially dangerous place. It's the most likely case IMO.

Afghan soldier who took a cab (1600 USD!) to Canadian border to get asylum in U.S.

The panel found credible his fear of being tortured or killed by the Taliban, and possibly suffering repercussions from the Afghan government, and decided it warranted him being granted asylum, immigration lawyer Matthew Borowski told Global News.

The men were turned over to U.S. authorities under a post-9/11 Safe Third Country agreement, which says, “persons seeking refugee protection must make a claim in the first country they arrive in (United States or Canada), unless they qualify for an exception to the agreement.”

If that is what happened I wish they had gone about it in a different way.

Morning yourself.

 

[Sweetgrits]

Wouldn't LE know if they'd taken money out of their accounts or used their credit cards? You can't rent a car without a credit card (did either one have a driver's license valid in the US?) so if they rented a car LE and the rental agency would know. I think they would have needed a hotel by now too, and again they would need a credit card and ID.

So either they haven't needed any money or LE knows more than they're telling us.
JMO

Just a thought and I apologize if it's already been mentioned. If the two are planning something here wouldn't they already have contacts here? Possibly with the money, a place to stay and transportation. Maybe also weapons. I hope I'm wrong but considering that the 9/11 terrorists were never suspected before the attack it still worries me. As for the ones in SB, FBI knew that the male was contacting a known terrorist online and they never did anything.

JMO

 

[bluesneakers]

Just a thought and I apologize if it's already been mentioned. If the two are planning something here wouldn't they already have contacts here? Possibly with the money, a place to stay and transportation. Maybe also weapons. I hope I'm wrong but considering that the 9/11 terrorists were never suspected before the attack it still worries me. As for the ones in SB, FBI knew that the male was contacting a known terrorist online and they never did anything.

JMO

Honestly I think if they'd been in contact with anyone the military would know about it. Especially considering they knew this was a possibility and it happened before.

I'm not saying there's no way they're up to something, but I don't think the two of them pose more of a threat than anyone already here does.

JMO

 

[katydid23]

If these two wanted to pull off a terroristic attack they could have done so on the base. They had the perfect opportunity because they were already on the inside. They could have pulled off a Ft. Hood type of assault if they had wanted to be Jihadi's.

I don't think that is their intent. I think they want asylum.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

If these two wanted to pull off a terroristic attack they could have done so on the base. They had the perfect opportunity because they were already on the inside. They could have pulled off a Ft. Hood type of assault if they had wanted to be Jihadi's.

I don't think that is their intent. I think they want asylum.

That's a great point, katy!

 

[oceanblueeyes]

If these two wanted to pull off a terroristic attack they could have done so on the base. They had the perfect opportunity because they were already on the inside. They could have pulled off a Ft. Hood type of assault if they had wanted to be Jihadi's.

I don't think that is their intent. I think they want asylum.

I'm not so sure that could happen now. After the Ft. Hood mass shooting security has become tighter than ever on military bases. So getting weapons on to the base (sight unseen) which would be able to shoot massive amount of victims in short order is very unlikely now. IMO