Wisconsin towns await influx of Afghans — and wonder what it will mean

WaPo ^ | Aug 28 | By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.

[RandFan]

SPARTA, Wis. — Fort McCoy's Facebook page lit up in the hours after officials there announced that thousands of Afghan refugees would be coming to the Army base. In an instant, the website turned into an impromptu public forum as news spread that the largest airlift in U.S. history would affect a pair of blue-collar communities in western Wisconsin.

Some people wanted to know how they could donate blankets, warm clothes or canned goods to desperate strangers. Others worried that their community would face problems rooted in a chaotic withdrawal that, until a few days ago, was 7,000 miles away.

“The scenes — you know, the videos and stuff — that’s just not stuff that we see here,” said a man from nearby Sparta who did not want his name used for fear of being ostracized by his neighbors. “It’s sad to see, you know, the people so desperately trying to get out of there. I mean, it’s, you relate to that. But we absolutely have to consider our own safety. I just want to know what the plan is.”

Pat Hayes, 69, who also lives in Sparta, was far less apprehensive. “You know the negative people are going to think that it will turn out bad — you can’t change that,” she said. “But I would hope that we’ve grown to be better than that. I’m hoping that Sparta will be more welcoming.”

[RandFan]

I'll tell you what it means...

Matt Bracken: The Afghans are the WORST refugees hands down

[SgtHooper]

What it will mean, is the Mighty Muzzie hockey team is in town!!

[napscoordinator]

I’m sure the German, Italians, Irish etc felt unsettled coming to a new country. They were not exactly welcomed either. The Japanese were even worse in treatment.

[blackdog]

I lived near Green Bay for 11 years. I was relocated there for a job. If you don't mind a two month summer, a freeze to death winter, and frozen mud for spring, they'll be ok.

Awful place.

[tennmountainman]

More RAT votes.

[MtnClimber]

Dearborn’s future twin city.

[moovova]

"Rape rape?"

[Bonemaker]

“I’m hoping that Sparta will be more welcoming.”

I don’t know what to tell you cheese head democrat punters except be prepared for cultural shock.

[cgbg]

Probably 98% of the Afghanis will be fine.

But—in a few years there may be one or two that decides it is time to exact a little revenge for that bomb that killed their family.

They will smile very sweetly in the meantime while the Infidel feeds and clothes them.

[Tennessee Nana]

Tucker just said a deported rapist is among them...

[bigbob]

Madison is nice place, lots of rapable college girls, not far away

[READINABLUESTATE]

Minnesota towns are thinking the same thing.

[Tennessee Nana]

None of them have translator visas...

None of them did anything for the US...

[ealgeone]

There should be a meeting between the foreigners and local law enforcement clearly and concisely explaining how things are one and how they're not done.

[bankwalker]

look no further than minnesota ...

[americas.best.days...]

Sparta should make sure their local hospital has a SANE nurse. That’s a nurse who is specially trained in handling rapes.

Then they should be fine! Go Sparta!

[Kipp]

Ask Sweden, Austria, and Germany what large numbers of Afghans means. One answer is a massive increase in sexual assaults of women and children.

[dforest]

Mother hide the kids.

[Noumenon]

Prepare to be culturally enriched.

[Drew68]

"A twenty-one-year-old Slovak tourist was mobbed and groped by a group of men. She managed to get away, but was pursued by one of them, an Afghan asylum seeker who caught her and dragged her into the bushes. Nearby plainclothes policemen noticed the struggle and intervened to prevent the rape at the last moment.” Page ten: “A twenty-five-year-old Afghan attempted to rape a young woman who was sitting in the sun in the park. Four courageous passersby dragged the man off the victim and held him until the police arrived.” Page twelve: “Two Afghans have been sentenced for attempting to rape a woman on a train in Graz. The men, who live in an asylum seekers’ residence, first insulted the young woman with obscene verbal remarks before attacking her. When she screamed for help, passengers from other parts of the train rushed to her aid.”

Let’s leave aside the reprehensibility of this conduct for the moment and focus instead on its logic or lack thereof. Can these men possibly expect that their attempts will be successful? Do they actually think they will be able to rape a woman on the main street of a town in the middle of the day? On a train filled with other passengers? In a frequented public park in the early afternoon? Are they incapable of logical thought—or is that not even their aim?"

I've Worked with Refugees for Decades. Europe's Afghan Crime Wave Is Mind-Boggling