New York Times: U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Boys by Afghan Allies

September 21st, 2015 by MOTHAX

 

The less I say about this perhaps the better, but I'll say something afterwards anyway:

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.

This isn't so much an "expose" on what is happening as it is a retelling about what every soldier who ever served in Afghanistan already knew.  In fact, the Afghans had a weekly "man/boy love night" and the next day on Bagram Airbase the Egyptian hospital would open its doors to Afghan children who had been hurt by these monsters.

Go read the whole thing.  I'm not even going to discuss it because it disgusts me so much, and I don't honestly know what the proper way of handling it is.  But I know had I ever witnessed it myself, and been in a position to do something, I also would have been forced out.  Which would have been fine with me, because when you take the hard right over the easy wrong, no matter what the consequences are, they you are doing what you should be.  But the fact that career military are losing their commands over it sends my blood pressure sky rocketing.  

UPDATE: 9/24/2015

So I've had a day or so to calm down, and......well, I haven't calmed down one bit.  In fact, I'm angrier than I was before.   Two videos to give you an idea of what is happening to SFC Martland:

That is from about a month ago.  This is from yesterday:
I will mention a few things here.  The first is that I saw some Twitter chatter blaming this on the current White House and their policies.   I know my defense won't change a single mind, but I saw the exact same thing happening during the first Bush administration back in 2004.  So I don't put any stock in that argument.  I know everyone wants to make this partisan, but to be honest, that's truly not what this is.
The second is that apparently this decision at some point went across the desk of the Secretary of the Army, John McHugh.  Before he was SEC ARMY, McHugh was a Congressman from upstate New York (near Fort Drum) and I testified before him several times when I was a lobbyist.  I found him to be a great guy.  Which is why this baffles me.  I frankly can't come up with any scenario where this is a smart take.
Either way, we are about to have a new Secretary of the Army, as President Obama the other day nominated a new person:

President Barack Obama announced his intent Friday to nominate seven individuals to key administration posts, included among those is Eric K. Fanning, who will be nominated for the position of Army secretary.
In addition to his role as acting undersecretary of the Army, Fanning has served as special assistant to Defense Secretary Ash Carter since March 2015. He also served as chief of staff to the secretary from March to June 2015.

"Eric served as my first chief of staff at the Pentagon, and it has been a privilege over the course of my career to work alongside him and watch him develop into one of our country's most knowledgeable, dedicated, and experienced public servants," Carter said. "I know he will strengthen our Army, build on its best traditions, and prepare our ground forces to confront a new generation of challenges.

"President Obama has made an excellent choice, and I hope for a quick Senate confirmation," Carter said.

Most of the news reports seem to center on Fanning's sexual orientation, but seemingly lost in the shuffle here is the fact he never spent a day in the military.   I hope the new Secretary if confirmed can understand the plight of the men and women on the ground who don't have the luxury of 20/20 hindsight, but have to deal with the realities they face in real time.
I had a Sergeant in Bosnia, SSG Miller, who every day reminded us that to be a good soldier you only needed to remember one immutable fact: Always take the hard right over the easy wrong.
Well, SFC Martand did just that, and now he's being kicked out.  If I wrote what I truly think about this I'd have to box up my stuff and leave, because there would be a lot of swear words here.  But come on man.  How on Earth can we take this paragon of a man who strove his entire life to do the right thing, and when he takes the hard right over the easy wrong we put him out on the street.  It's positively infuriating.
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