WASHINGTON (June 23, 2010)—Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, sent a letter to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Wednesday demanding some answers about the 17 members of the Afghan military who have disappeared from Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio over the last 18 months.

Cornyn wants to know why the administration hasn’t been able to find the Afghanis and he wants to know why he and his office weren’t notified they were missing.

On Friday in a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, Cornyn asked for reports on how the Afghan troops were able to disappear and what threat they may pose to U.S. citizens.

Officials have said none of the 17 is believed to be a threat to national security and an unnamed federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press last week than seven of the missing Afghanis have been accounted for.

The military checked the backgrounds of all 17 men and officials say they’re not believed to be connected to one another or to any terrorist group.

They were in Texas to study English before undergoing training sponsored by the U.S. and Afghan militaries.

The last of the 17 disappeared in January.

Officials revoked their visas, driver’s licenses and other travel documents, but the man have base access cards that they could use to drive on military bases.

In the letter to Napolitano, Cornyn said official statements do not assure him that none of the 17 poses a security threat.

I view this situation as a clear security failure that needs to be remedied immediately,” he said.