We may never know what caused Rahmanullah Lakanwal to drive across country with a loaded gun, whether the National Guard were the primary target or one of opportunity or panic. But he was part of a death-squad America created and there are always consequences.

In 2009, over 40 members of the KSF wound up in prison on charges of theft, rape, and extortion after one unit member publicly shot and killed the provincial police chief of Kandahar and several other cops.

While the KSF did launch raids on Taliban targets, they mostly killed inconvenient civilians, activists, and political opponents of the government who were looting the country.

These paramilitary units were a way to continue the American occupation while withdrawing American troops. Hamad Karzai's drug-dealing brother Ahmed helped direct the unit and settle personal scores until he got a long-overdue bullet in the head in 2011.

Mind, this guy was E-5 with the Kandahar Strike Force (KSF) stationed at Camp Gecko, supposedly controlled by the National Directorate of Security but in reality funded and answered only to the CIA. The force consisted of Afghan Army members trained by US Special Operations.

May you continue to make cool art and resist learning.

I'd add that the rightward myth in Appalachia is not only inaccurate but also fails to understand local politics where Ds are almost indistinguishable from Rs, patronage jobs and contracts are primary, and that more people /didn't vote/ than turned out for Trump.

I remember that speech; it was George H.W. Bush. The dealer was a 19-year-old named Keith Jackson, whom the DEA had to lure to Lafayette Park because no one bought crack cocaine in that code.

Also, unless you're already a public figure do not use your real name online. Don't post pictures of your face no matter how perfect you got your eye shadow. In this age of surveillance capitalism, anonymity is priceless.