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NYT story about abuse of Afghani children

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by YankeeFan, Sep 21, 2015.

  1. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Joe Paterno would be embarrassed by how we turn a blind eye to this abuse in the quest for a greater goal.

    The case of Dan Quinn has been a big deal on conservative talk radio for a while now. The Times takes a look at his case, and the wider problem of the sexual abuse of children by our Afghan allies.

    It's brutal. Every one of these guys needs a bullet between their eyes. If we won't defend these children, what are we fighting for:

    Rampant sexual abuse of children has long been a problem in Afghanistan, particularly among armed commanders who dominate much of the rural landscape and can bully the population. The practice is called bacha bazi, literally “boy play,” and American soldiers and Marines have been instructed not to intervene — in some cases, not even when their Afghan allies have abused boys on military bases, according to interviews and court records.

    The policy has endured as American forces have recruited and organized Afghan militias to help hold territory against the Taliban. But soldiers and Marines have been increasingly troubled that instead of weeding out pedophiles, the American military was arming them in some cases and placing them as the commanders of villages — and doing little when they began abusing children.

    “The reason we were here is because we heard the terrible things the Taliban were doing to people, how they were taking away human rights,” said Dan Quinn, a former Special Forces captain who beat up an American-backed militia commander for keeping a boy chained to his bed as a sex slave. “But we were putting people into power who would do things that were worse than the Taliban did — that was something village elders voiced to me.”

    The policy of instructing soldiers to ignore child sexual abuse by their Afghan allies is coming under new scrutiny, particularly as it emerges that service members like Captain Quinn have faced discipline, even career ruin, for disobeying it.

    After the beating, the Army relieved Captain Quinn of his command and pulled him from Afghanistan. He has since left the military.


    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/w...-allies-abuse-of-boys.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2015
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Please make the thread titles about whatever it is you're posting or linking to.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2015
  3. Mr. Sunshine

    Mr. Sunshine Well-Known Member

    Horrifying.
     
  4. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Our heroes! As long as they still get the Applebee's discount.
     
  5. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Frontline had an episode on this several years ago. The cultural ban on non-marital access to women there has resulted in the rampant use of boys essentially as their substitute. It is indeed very sick shit.

    I think this ties somewhat into the same lesson we've learned the hard way in Iraq--before you remove a regime you first better make damn sure something better will replace it. We removed Saddam only to see something much worse--anarchy and then ISIS--come in his place. And toppling the Taliban in Afghanistan has resulted in us finding ourselves funding and supporting the army of pedophiles. Seems there are no good outcomes when we invade these countries.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2015
  6. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    "Our heroes" did not institute the policy of turning a blind eye to this, and (generally) oppose it.

    You might want to address your criticism to the folks at the top of the food chain, both military and civilian, who enforce it to the point of punishing our soldiers when they do take action to stop it.
     
  7. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    When asked about American military policy, the spokesman for the American command in Afghanistan, Col. Brian Tribus, wrote in an email: “Generally, allegations of child sexual abuse by Afghan military or police personnel would be a matter of domestic Afghan criminal law.” He added that “there would be no express requirement that U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan report it.” An exception, he said, is when rape is being used as a weapon of war.

    The American policy of nonintervention is intended to maintain good relations with the Afghan police and militia units the United States has trained to fight the Taliban. It also reflects a reluctance to impose cultural values in a country where pederasty is rife, particularly among powerful men, for whom being surrounded by young teenagers can be a mark of social status.
     
  8. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Our military heroes at the top of the food chain.
     
  9. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Our military is under civilian control.
     
  10. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    So who ordered the Code Red?
     
  11. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    Lance Cpl. Buckley and his family have been pretty prominent in demanding answers to his death for a few years now. They have a current and ongoing lawsuit with the Marine Corps over what they see as stonewalling. This, from the "official" report of the attack that killed Buckley:

    Sarwar Jan, who had previously been fired in another district for beating locals who didn't pay illegal taxes he imposed, has been described in media reports, correspondence and a book by military author Bing West as a suspected child molester who operated illegal checkpoints and sold weapons to the enemy. The report, however, contained a much milder assessment.

    The report said Jan had a "previous reputation for accepting and or receiving money in exchange for personal favors" that was known to Marine leaders at the FOB, but the Marine police adviser team had never found any evidence of human trafficking or child sexual abuse, despite close monitoring of the Afghan compound.


    Report: Lax security ahead of insider attack

    The report then states it was a security mishap. But, I can't see how "close monitoring" was actually happening because no one seemed to know who the kid who pulled the trigger was or how he got there. And, this Sarwar Jan person should never have been allowed within a mile of an American military base, much less with a sizable entourage.
     
    YankeeFan likes this.
  12. Riptide

    Riptide Well-Known Member

    What do you suggest we do, overall?
    How much will it cost? Who will fund it?

    It's easy to bitch about stuff in distant lands. How easy is it to fix?
     
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