The Warlord's Tune: Afghanistan's war on children

[laststeamtrain]

Source: ABC (Au)

The Warlord's Tune: Afghanistan's war on children

By Mark Bannerman for Four Corners

Sexual slavery involving boys as young as 10 is being condoned and in many cases protected by authorities in northern Afghanistan.

In a story to be broadcast on Four Corners tonight, the practice of bacha bazi or "boy play", as well as other allegations of child abuse, are explored.

Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi has filmed police attending a party where a young boy is the "entertainment". The police shown on the video include one officer from the youth crime squad.

Such parties are illegal under the law in Afghanistan and with good reason. The "dancing boys" are in effect sex slaves. They are lured off the streets by pimps. They are taught to dance and sing, to wear make-up and to dress like girls. Then they are made to perform before large groups of men. All of them are sexually abused.

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/22/2826024.htm?section=world

[Political_Junkie]

1. Sad.

This was mentioned in Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner". It's a work of fiction, but the details in the story made it obvious that it really is happening.

[laststeamtrain]

2. More than sad. Maybe it makes it so hard to pick allies we should just come home. n/t.

[midnight]

3. Come home is right.... Just say no to stupid wars...

[Political_Junkie]

4. Absolutely,

we have no business being there.

[krkaufman]

5. PBS Frontline was supposed to be doing a program on this ...

... but they've apparently postponed it.

Please note that the January 19 broadcast of FRONTLINE’s The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan has been postponed. A new airdate and time will be posted here as soon as that information becomes available. In its place, FRONTLINE has now scheduled a repeat broadcast of A Death in Tehran on January 19.

Press Contact: Diane Buxton, Senior Publicist, FRONTLINE, 300-5375, [e-mail]

The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan

In Afghanistan today, in the midst of war and endemic poverty, an ancient tradition -- banned when the Taliban were in power -- has re-emerged across the country: Many hundreds of boys, often as young as 11, are being lured off the streets on the promise of a new life, many unaware that their real fate is to be used for entertainment and sex. They're the "Bacha Bereesh," literally "beardless boys," chosen for their height, size and beauty, trained to sing and dance for male audiences, and then traded for sexual favors among former warlords and powerful businessmen. With remarkable access inside a sexual exploitation ring operating in Afghanistan, an Afghan journalist investigates this illegal practice, talking with the boys and their masters, and documenting how the Afghan authorities responsible for stopping these crimes are sometimes themselves complicit in the practice.

[elias49]

10. A shame it's being 'rescheduled', but little surprise...

the war drums are beating and Iran will be demonized at all costs. Is the American viewing public really well-served by a rerun of the November 2009 'expose' "A Death in Tehran"?
I don't think so.
I think it might be more instructive to get a glimpse of what Afghanistan might look like if the US and its NATO 'allies' achieve their goals there and solidify Karzai's miserably (and ultimately toothless) grip on the reins of power.
The only result I see from our 'war' in Afghanistan is anarchy.

[Bigmack]

6. But...but...but...

that's why we're there!

We'll defeat the Taliban, and then the population will all become Christians, become Republicans, and live in the Suburbs.

God knows the suburban, Christian Republicans don't do that kind of stuff.

Deep, dark, tribal :sarcasm: intended.

[ensho]

7. kick

nt

[Robb]

8. Just to confuse the moral relativists on DU, the Taliban banned bacha bazi.

They also banned dog fighting, both of which have seen a resurgence.

Of course, they also banned women outside the home without a chaperone. And the execution of anyone carrying literature they don't approve of.

So.

[laststeamtrain]

9. So, it's impossible to pick allies so we should pull out. Be absolutist about it. n/t.

[Oregone]

11. Or stop pretending to have allies, and occupy like a real empire would

Though, I prefer your alternative :)

[Oregone]

12. Those moral questions only matter if you naively still believe the US is there for the Afghan people

You know, the view that they are bodies to be saved, rather than just bodies in the way

[Robb]

13. I think I can safely oppose dogfighting and pedophilia.

[hayu_lol]

14. A noted traveler made mention of these practices...

when he wrote his famous book on traveling the Silk Route between Venice and Cathay.

Who? Marco Polo

[laststeamtrain]

15. Everyone should read Marco Polo.

I recommend the Modern Library Classics edition:
ISBN-10: 0375758186
ISBN-13: 978-0375758188

*
Product Description
Marco Polo’s account of his journey throughout the East in the thirteenth century was one of the earliest European travel narratives, and it remains the most important. The merchant-traveler from Venice, the first to cross the entire continent of Asia, provided us with accurate descriptions of life in China, Tibet, India, and a hundred other lands, and recorded customs, natural history, strange sights, historical legends, and much more. From the dazzling courts of Kublai Khan to the perilous deserts of Persia, no book contains a richer magazine of marvels than the Travels.

This edition, selected and edited by the great scholar Manuel Komroff, also features the classic and stylistically brilliant Marsden translation, revised and corrected, as well as Komroff’s Introduction to the 1926 edition.

*

I see people are selling it for as little as $1.75. That's kind of sad.

[mikehiggins]

16. Is this worse because it involves boys?

What about the millions of little girls and young women exploited in just the same way all over the globe on a daily, if not hourly basis? Child prostitution and child sexual abuse is never "victimless" and must be opposed whether the victim is female or male.

It is possibly a reflection on us that many Americans seem to view sexual abuse of boys as being somehow worse than sexual abuse of girls. It isn't.