Recently the New York Times published an article about U.S. soldiers, stationed in Afghanistan, are told to ignore Afghan allies' sexually abusing young children. The article goes on to say that any sort of retaliation to these actions are usually met with strong consequences and in two officers' cases they were forcibly retired from the army. This kind of sexual abuse has been a huge problem in Afghanistan for years and the practice of bacha bazi (literally meaning "boy play") has become increasingly popular amongst the military sanctioned militia leaders in Afghanistan. In many rural places in Afghanistan the populace, according to the marines stationed there, fear the militia leaders more than the Taliban themselves. Officers have been told to turn a blind eye to this abuse as it is part of Afghan culture and custom.
The New York Times had this to say;
"Over the 14 years since the start of the war, the criminality often tolerated inside the Afghan government and security force, both of which were paid for and nurtured by the United States, has run the gamut from opium smuggling and corruption by Afghan officials to allegations of murder and torture by Afghan soldiers and police officers."
From strictly a military standpoint it makes sense to let some things slide on to maintain good relations with the populace for the militia’s support of the U.S. troops. However from a moral standpoint one cannot help but question if the military is doing the right thing. Instead of gaining the population’s support, many of the villagers are said to have grown more upset as the Americans are promoting commanders and backing them up during these atrocities. Villages have had their daughters killed in the name of “honor killings” which is a practice of killing a girl who is perceived to have brought dishonor to her family, according to Merriam Webster. These killings happen without any form of repercussions, and, according to several articles, there are even some cases where commanders of the Afghan militia will pay money for dancing boys and will even go as far as forcing women to be sex slaves.
At one point the abuse has gone far as to one of the boys, who was enslaved by local Afghan police officer: Sarwan Jan, to shoot and kill a Corporal and some other Marines. When confronted with this kind of behavior is it America’s job to be the go between or is it right to turn a blind eye to these actions? All the military is doing currently is giving warning after warning to those who have these kinds of “tendencies” but is it doing enough, especially when it cost several Marines’ their lives. Prostitution as well as human trafficking in Afghanistan usually goes unpunished by the government according to the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report - Afghanistan, and even if the perpetrators are punished the government's does the bare minimum in prevention and there is no discernable anti-trafficking enforcement from the law.
Press reports from Afghanistan stated that Sarwan Jan has been promoted to police chief and reassigned to another base after denying all accusations of taking part in bacha bazi, although most sources would disagree. Most men with bachas are usually married and there are some who have never been attracted to women. Washington Post captured one man's comment, "You cannot take wives everywhere with you...you cannot take a wife with you to a party, but a boy you can take anywhere." On the other side of this spectrum, there are people who view this is a kind of abuse and are in agreements that most of the children who are forced into this lifestyle are usually doing it for money because their families are so poor that they need to provide whatever means possible. According to the Washington Post, in most cases, once the boys go beyond their "prime" age, they are tossed aside and so many go on to become prostitutes or even pimps.
The United States has done so much to try and protect this country, and have been supporting Afghanistan for the past decade and the interesting thing is that bachi bazi was once banned by the Taliban when they were in power. As the Taliban's power wanned with US Armed Forces this abuse of young boys started once again. A nine year old boy, beautiful and young, with no family to protect him, is being groomed to be a sexual partner and companion. The young boy's owner stated in an interview with the Washington Post, that 'He is not dancing yet, but he is willing' while the little boy replied 'I feel so happy...they are so beautiful'. This nine year old little boy does not know any better; imagine your children or younger siblings in this position. Is it possible to simply pass this off as a cultural difference or is there something fundamentally wrong with abuse of young children? With this kind of behavior and abuse not being punished nor even talked about, even in the army barracks, what kind of good can the United States say that they have been doing in Afghanistan after all these years? Marines being killed by abused young men, soldiers being forcibly retired for retaliation against this practice, little boys being taught how to please another, much older men. What kind of good is the United States presence doing the Afghanistan? What kind of good can we do to correct the wrong that is going on today?
