U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Boys by Afghan Allies

[DKW 86 6,548]

http://www.nytimes.c...-boys.html?_r=1

U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Boys by Afghan Allies

By JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN SEPT. 20, 2015

Photo

Dan Quinn was relieved of his Special Forces command after a fight with a U.S.-backed militia leader who had a boy as a sex slave chained to his bed. CreditKirsten Luce for The New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — In his last phone call home, Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father what was troubling him: From his bunk in southern

Afghanistan

, he could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought to the base.

“At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012. He urged his son to tell his superiors. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.”

Continue reading the main story

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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.

MORE....

• 
  

[TitanTiger 17,612]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

[DKW 86 6,548]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

[AUUSN 823]

Sunday through Thursday is the workweek in the Middle East. Friday is the Islam holy day.

[TitanTiger 17,612]

I've known this was a problem in that culture for a few years. What I didn't know until recently is that our official policy was to permit it (even on our own bases!) and not intervene AND to go so far as to punish soldiers for having a properly formed conscience. I get that we don't have the manpower to go around rooting out pederasty all over the country. But when it's happening right in front of you, we should act. And to hell with them if they don't like it.

[AUUSN 823]

I've known this was a problem in that culture for a few years. What I didn't know until recently is that our official policy was to permit it (even on our own bases!) and not intervene AND to go so far as to punish soldiers for having a properly formed conscience. I get that we don't have the manpower to go around rooting out pederasty all over the country. But when it's happening right in front of you, we should act. And to hell with them if they don't like it.

Our own bases is a very loose term. Many of those 'bases' we were just visitors.

[aujeff11 6,243]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

You don't know what the f*** you are talking about.

[aujeff11 6,243]

I've known this was a problem in that culture for a few years. What I didn't know until recently is that our official policy was to permit it (even on our own bases!) and not intervene AND to go so far as to punish soldiers for having a properly formed conscience. I get that we don't have the manpower to go around rooting out pederasty all over the country. But when it's happening right in front of you, we should act. And to hell with them if they don't like it.

Our own bases is a very loose term. Many of those 'bases' we were just visitors.

Indeed. There was an Afghan school right outside of our compound, along with shops for the local Afghans and all of this was still technically within our base. The first gate at the intersection was monitored by Afghan security forces and the second, by NATO forces.

[cptau 140]

these cultures not worth helping. They are too foreign.

We keep trying to recreate our success after WWII reconstructing Germany and Japan into modern nations.

[DKW 86 6,548]

I've known this was a problem in that culture for a few years. What I didn't know until recently is that our official policy was to permit it (even on our own bases!) and not intervene AND to go so far as to punish soldiers for having a properly formed conscience. I get that we don't have the manpower to go around rooting out pederasty all over the country. But when it's happening right in front of you, we should act. And to hell with them if they don't like it.

Our own bases is a very loose term. Many of those 'bases' we were just visitors.

USN, i know you arent defending this. What would you recommend? I want to be very clear here. IMHO, you either smash this crap, take over Afghanistan or...you freakin get out of there and stay out. We either adopt the policy of world policeman, or we go back to the sane realization that we cannot do it all on our own, either financially nor with manpower.

And for those of you thinking we could do this as a UN project, the freak-nick world would stop the UN from ever doing this. Remember folks, some UN Soldiers were not that long ago raping young women themselves.

[DKW 86 6,548]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

You don't know what the f*** you are talking about.

Just questioning the timing of all this. Why wait until now to make a big splash with this?

[TitanTiger 17,612]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

You don't know what the f*** you are talking about.

It would be helpful when responding to a post that makes several points to say what it is you think he doesn't know what he's talking about.

[aujeff11 6,243]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

You don't know what the f*** you are talking about.

It would be helpful when responding to a post that makes several points to say what it is you think he doesn't know what he's talking about.

I already have. Less than a month ago. That Thursday night BS is new though and is just as equally false.

[aujeff11 6,243]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

You don't know what the f*** you are talking about.

Just questioning the timing of all this. Why wait until now to make a big splash with this?

To be fair, you haven't been exactly handing out petitions the past 14 years so why do you just now care?

[DKW 86 6,548]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

You don't know what the f*** you are talking about.

It would be helpful when responding to a post that makes several points to say what it is you think he doesn't know what he's talking about.

I already have. Less than a month ago. That Thursday night BS is new though and is just as equally false.

I just repeated what an LCol in the Army has said. I did not claim that I was there in anyway. What else are you talking about?

A month ago?

[DKW 86 6,548]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

You don't know what the f*** you are talking about.

Just questioning the timing of all this. Why wait until now to make a big splash with this?

To be fair, you haven't been exactly handing out petitions the past 14 years so why do you just now care?

I cared before, but to be honest didnt think anyone would take this seriously. I guess i may have been worried about how loud the screaming would be about this not having a solid source to back all this up. When the NYT finally broke the story there was an opportunity to finally start talking about it. You dont accuse military folks of turning a blind eye to this caliber of stuff lightly.

[aujeff11 6,243]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

You don't know what the f*** you are talking about.

It would be helpful when responding to a post that makes several points to say what it is you think he doesn't know what he's talking about.

I already have. Less than a month ago. That Thursday night BS is new though and is just as equally false.

I just repeated what an LCol in the Army has said. I did not claim that I was there in anyway. What else are you talking about?

A month ago?

The story about the SF hero punching the guy that raped the Afghan kid. Same subject different event. I provided links and gave my 2 cents then. As far as Thursday night, at one point we got rocket attacked every day for over 2 months straight. I remember my thanksgiving dinner was 4 rocket attacks in about six hours. there were even attacks during Ramadan, small arms fire and IED attacks escalated actually. And I was in RC south, one of the more resistant parts of Afghanistan to western culture, so that population was very traditionalist.

[DKW 86 6,548]

Pure evil.

This is an utter disgrace on our nation and our military and we will rightly be judged for it. May God have mercy on our souls.

Titan, i have been aware of this for at least 2 years. My accountant had her husband in Afghanistan (Army LCol) and he was beyond clear about the MAGNITUDE of this. It is rampant and it is culturally the norm in the area. The men over there service their women essentially only for procreation. He said that the boys were by far the preferred sex toys of the Afghani men. The soldiers know that they will always have Thursday nights free from attack. They reinvented their recreation around that fact. The Afghanis were so busy with their boy-toys on Thursday nite that the US Soldiers knew they were safe that one nite. You see the men there treat Thursday nite like we do Saturday nite, the day before the weekly Holy Day.

KUDOS for the NYT talking about this, although why they waited until 14 years later to bring it out in the open is beyond me.

Lets get the hell out of there NOW.

You don't know what the f*** you are talking about.

It would be helpful when responding to a post that makes several points to say what it is you think he doesn't know what he's talking about.

I already have. Less than a month ago. That Thursday night BS is new though and is just as equally false.

I just repeated what an LCol in the Army has said. I did not claim that I was there in anyway. What else are you talking about?

A month ago?

The story about the SF hero punching the guy that raped the Afghan kid. Same subject different event. I provided links and gave my 2 cents then. As far as Thursday night, at one point we got rocket attacked every day for over 2 months straight. I remember my thanksgiving dinner was 4 rocket attacks in about six hours. there were even attacks during Ramadan, attacks escalated actually. And I was in RC south, one of the more resistant parts of Afghanistan to western culture, so that population was very traditionalist.

Never thought the good LCol inferred that it was everywhere all the time. Can you point to the thread?

[AUDub 10,148]

I believe this is the thread in question, DKW. I do recall there being more than one though.

[DKW 86 6,548]

This must have been when i was on hiatus.

I absolutely do not recall reading the thread before today.

Jeff, I can see why you are upset.

We are ordering people to get a connection made with the ALPs etc. And to do that our guys are literally following orders and throwing up.

I understand the GI side of all this. I really do.

I guess I have to think that we, at least in my mind, are disengaging from the Afghanis. We are wasting our time there now, IMHO. Our presence there has done little but destabilize the area even more if you take the long view of it. IMHO, our national mindset is that we tried, and that further resources there is a waste of time and money.

[AURaptor 1,113]

these cultures not worth helping. They are too foreign.

We keep trying to recreate our success after WWII reconstructing Germany and Japan into modern nations.

A case might even be made that such cultures need to be overrun and abolished.

[channonc 466]

This article by NYT in 2001 describes this culture in Afghanistan.

[autigeremt 5,833]

Evil is evil, but we are no longer in the position to combat it. Our politics and our resolve no longer support our presence in that part of the world.

[AUDub 10,148]

Evil is evil, but we are no longer in the position to combat it. Our politics and our resolve no longer support our presence in that part of the world.

p

Has it ever?

[autigeremt 5,833]

Evil is evil, but we are no longer in the position to combat it. Our politics and our resolve no longer support our presence in that part of the world.

p

Has it ever?

I'd say it did months after 9/11.....but as soon as the politics jumped in the game was set up for failure.