Child Rape in Afghanistan — American Troops Shouldn’t Be Ordered to Ignore It
Yesterday, the New York Times violated one of the cardinal rules of cultural sensitivity, especially as applied to the Muslim cultures of the Middle East and Southwest Asia. It told the truth. In a searing story, it related how American soldiers are instructed to turn a blind eye to one of the most abhorrent practices in Afghan society — the systematic rape of young boys. The story begins: 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.”
While shocking to most Americans, the Times story isn’t a surprise to anyone who’s spent significant time in Afghanistan, particularly in the tribal regions. It’s not an open secret, because no one makes any effort to hide it. Men drape themselves around preteen boys, brag about the beauty of their young sex slaves, and abuse them so systematically and thoroughly that these boys often grow up without even realizing there is an alternative to their homosexual experience. And that is but one cultural practice that has shocked the conscience of American soldiers. When I first arrived in Iraq, I’ll never forget attending a briefing for young soldiers who’d not yet been outside the wire. “You’ll see things out there,” they were told. “Things that just aren’t right. Men will beat women half to death right in front of your face. Don’t stop them. Don’t dare try. You’ll insult their honor, and we’ll have a tribal war on our hands.”
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