THE SYSTEMATIC AND SOCIALLY TOLERATED PRACTICE OF
CHILD SEX SLAVERY AND ABUSE IN AFGHANISTAN CONTINUES TO THIS
DAY, EVEN AMONG OUR MILITARY ALLIES THERE IN
AFGHANISTAN.
OUR SOLDIERS WHO ARE WORKING THERE IN AFGHANISTAN
ARE FINDING THERE IS PRECIOUS LITTLE SUPPORT FOR ENDING
ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS
PRACTICE.
I WANT TO TALK ABOUT A SOLDIER WHO
SPOKE WITH HIS
FATHER ABOUT WHAT HE SAW AT THIS BASE.
"AT NIGHT WE CAN HEAR
THEM SCREAMING, BUT WE'RE NOT
ALLOWED TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.î ìMY SON SAID THAT HIS OFFICERS
TOLD HIM TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY BECAUSE IT IS THEIR CULTURE."
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE PRACTICE OF BACHA BAZI, LITERALLY PLAYING
WITH BOYS.
THIS IS WHERE
WELL-CONNECTED, RICH, POLITICAL FIGURES, ROYAL FIGURES, WILL HAVE
DANCING BOYS AS THEIR SEX SLAVES.
A HAREM OF THESE IS
CONSIDERED A SIGN OF PRESTIGE IN AFGHANISTAN.
WHILE IT IS
TECHNICALLY STILL ILLEGAL TO THIS DAY, AND WAS PUNISHABLE BY
DEATH UNDER THE TALIBAN, IT CONTINUES.
DESPITE THE FACT
THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD LIKE TO ENFORCE THE LAW, THESE MEN ARE WELL
ARMED AND HAVE A LOT OF SUPPORT.
YOU COULD UNDERSTAND THEIR
WEAKNESS AND INABILITY TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
BUT WHEN OUR
SOLDIERS ARE FORCED TO LAY AT NIGHT AND HEAR ALL THE
ABUSES GOING ON, AND WHEN THEY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT THEY
ARE KICKED OUT OF THOSE BASES, THAT'S HARD TO UNDERSTAND.
>> ONE OF THE REASONS I WANT TO COVER THIS STORY IS THE POWER OF
PROPAGANDA.
WE ARE TOLD OF ALL THE DIFFERENT ABUSES THAT THE
TALIBAN DOES, WHICH IS TRUE, AND IT MAKES YOU SICK TO YOUR
STOMACH TO HEAR ABOUT WHAT THEY DO TO WOMEN, WHAT THEY DO TO
PEOPLE WHO THEY PERCEIVE AS NOT
BEING MUSLIM ENOUGH, AND ALL THE THINGS.
THEN YOU ABOUT ISIS,
ETC.
WHAT YOU NEVER HERE IS
WHAT OUR ALLIES TO.
THESE ARE AFGHAN COMMANDERS WHO ARE ON OUR
SIDE.
WE HAVE HEARD THAT THE
TALIBAN DOES THIS, I COVERED IT ON THE SHOW.
IN FACT, ONE OF
THE SENIOR TALIBAN LEADERS HAD TO SEND A MEMO TO HIS FIGHTERS,
SAYING PLEASE STOP HAVING SEX WITH YOUNG BOYS.
IT IS SUPPOSED
TO BE AGAINST ISLAM, BUT THAT IS
THE THING WITH FUNDAMENTALISTS, THEY NEVER CARE.
WHETHER IT IS
KIM DAVIS.
SHE SAYS, I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU A MARRIAGE
LICENSE BECAUSE YOU ARE GAY, BUT I GOT MARRIED FOUR TIMES.
THERE
IS NO CARE IN THE WORLD ABOUT BEING A GIANT HYPOCRITE.
THESE
GUYS, THE TALIBAN AND OUR ALLIES ARE TRYING TO OUT MUSLIM EACH
OTHER, MEANWHILE THEY ARE DOING THEORETICALLY ONE OF THE LEAST
MUSLIM THING.
THEN YOU ARE GOING TO GET INTO A HUGE DEBATE ABOUT WHAT IS
MUSLIM OR NOT ñ
>> IT'S WRONG, IT DOESN'T MATTER.
>> IT IS CLEARLY A LOCAL CULTURE THING, BUT WHAT IS INTERESTING
ABOUT IT IS, WHEN IS THE PEOPLE WE WANT TO FIGHT, LOOK AT THAT
CAN YOU BELIEVE THEY ARE DOING THAT?
THOSE ANIMALS.
OUR GUYS,
AS JOHN IS ABOUT TO SHOW YOU,
THE COMMANDERS GO, SHH, DON'T TALK ABOUT IT, THOSE ARE OUR
ALLIES.
A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THAT ON A MACRO SCALE IS SAUDI
ARABIA.
ISIS DOES BEHEADINGS, SAUDI ARABIA ALSO DOES BEHEADINGS.
>> THIS IS FROM FORMER MARINE LANCE CORPORAL.
"THE REASON WE
WERE HERE IS BECAUSE WE HEARD THE TERRIBLE THINGS THAT CALIBAN
WERE DOING TO PEOPLE,
HOW THEY WERE TAKING AWAY HUMAN RIGHTS,"
SORRY, THIS IS DAN QUINN.
HE IS A FORMER SPECIAL FORCES CAPTAIN.
"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 ARMY RELIEVED CAPTAIN QUINN OF HIS COMMAND, AND PULLED
HIM FROM AFGHANISTAN."
>> THERE ARE SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE BEING DEMOTED AND
PUNISHED FOR REPORTING ON THE ABUSES GOING ON.
REMEMBER, THIS
IS CHILD RAPE.
THEY ARE RAPING
YOUNG BOYS.
SOMETIMES YOUNG GIRLS AS WELL.
THERE IS A STORY
OF A COMMANDER WHO RAPES A FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL THAT HE
SEES, BECAUSE HE LIKES HER, SO HE
RAPED HER.
ONE OF THE AMERICANS TURNED HIM INTO THE LOCAL
AUTHORITIES, AS HE WAS SUPPOSED
TO DO.
OUR AMERICAN COMMANDERS WERE LIKE, WE JUST FOLLOWED
LOCAL LAWS, WE DON'T WANT TO INTERFERE WITH THEIR CULTURE.
THAT IS BECAUSE THEY NEED THEM
AS ALLIES, SO THEY'RE GOING TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY AS THEY RAPED
CHILDREN.
THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES GO, YOU ARE RIGHT, HE DID
RAPE THAT FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD, ONE
DAY IN JAIL IS HIS PUNISHMENT.
HER PUNISHMENT IS, SHE HAS TO MARRY HIM.
THOSE ARE OUR ALLIES.
TAKE ANY POSITION YOU LIKE, LIBERAL, LIBERTARIAN,
ANYTHING YOU LIKE.
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
I WAS IN FAVOR OF THE
AFGHANISTAN WAR WHEN WE FIRST WENT IN, BECAUSE AL QAEDA DID HAVE A
BASE THERE, THEY ORGANIZED AGAINST US FROM AFGHANISTAN.
THE TALIBAN DID NOT TURN THEM
OVER.
KICK AL QAEDA OUT OF THE COUNTRY, OR CAPTURE THEM, TEACH
THE TALIBAN A LESSON FOR NOT TURNING THEM OVER.
I WAS WITH YOU ON
ALL OF THAT.
BUT THEN WE GOT TO A POINT, AS ONE OF OUR DIPLOMATS
SAID, HE SAID, I KEPT GOING TO DIFFERENT PARTS OF AFGHANISTAN
AND ASKING THEM WHY THEY WERE
FIGHTING US.
THERE WAS AN AMAZING POLL WHERE OVER NINETY
PERCENT OF THE AFGHANS DID NOT KNOW WHAT 9/11 WAS.
THEY HAD NO
IDEA WHO WE WERE OR WHY WE WERE
THERE.
WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING US?
BECAUSE YOU ARE IN OUR VALLEY.
NOW WE HAVE SET UP THIS INSANE SITUATION, WHERE BOTH SIDES, THE
TALIBAN AND THEIR ENEMIES ARE HORRIBLY, MORALLY CULPABLE,
CERTAINLY BY OUR STANDARDS, AND WE'RE SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF
THEIR FIGHT, PICKING ONE RANDOM
SIDE, AND WASTING OUR SOLDIERS LIVES.
WASTING OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS.
WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF THERE.
IT'S ENORMOUSLY COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.
>> EVERY DAY THAT OUR SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN THERE, THEY HAVE BEEN
DEALING WITH THIS.
SOME OF THE CHILD SEX SLAVES WEREN'T EVEN BORN
WHEN WE INVADED, THEIR ENTIRE LIFE WE HAVE BEEN THERE, AND AS
A RESULT, OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AMERICAN OPPOSITION, THEY CAN
STILL BE TAKEN BY A WARLORD AND BECOME A SEX SLAVE.
IT IS SICK.
SOME OF THESE EXPERIENCES ARE ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS.
"THE
BIGGEST PICTURE WAS TO FIGHT THE TALIBAN.
IT WASN'T TO STOP
MOLESTATION."
"HE ENTERED A ROOM ON A BASE AND SAW THREE OR
FOUR MEN LYING ON A FLOOR WITH CHILDREN BETWEEN THEM."
"I'M
NOT 100 PERCENT SURE WHAT WAS GOING ON, BUT I HAVE A PRETTY
GOOD IDEA."
THIS IS THE RESPONSE.
"GENERALLY,
ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE BY AFGHAN MILITARY OR
POLICE PERSONNEL WILL BE A MATTER OF DOMESTIC AFGHAN
CRIMINAL LAW."
>> THERE WILL BE SOME, AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE ON THE
POLITICAL SPECTRUM, MORAL RELATIVE TO SAY, THAT IS NOT OUR
BUSINESS.
YOU ARE IMPOSING YOUR OWN CULTURAL BELIEFS ON ANOTHER
CULTURE.
I AM DEFINITELY NOT IN THAT CAMP.
I AM ALSO NOT IN THE
CAMP THAT OUR CULTURE IS RIGHT
ABOUT EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING, AND SO IF SOME OTHER CULTURES
HAVE MARRIED AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN AND WE THINK THE ADULT
AGE SHOULD BE EIGHTEEN AND THE DRINKING AGE TO BE TWENTY-ONE,
WE ARE RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING.
I'M NOT IN THAT CAMP EITHER.
BUT FOR THE MORAL RELATIVISM, I ASK YOU, ARE THERE NO BOUNDS?
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION, YES IT IS PART OF THEIR CULTURE IN
SOME PARTS OF AFRICA AND OTHER PLACES, BUT IT IS DONE TO
SPECIFICALLY TAKE AWAY SEXUAL PLEASURE FROM A WOMAN.
IT HAS
NO BENEFITS WHATSOEVER, CAN WE
NOT DRAW THE LINE ANYWHERE?
THEN YOU TURN TO, IN THE CENTRAL
ASIAN REPUBLICS, THERE ARE KIDNAPPINGS, BRIDE KIDNAPPINGS.
I LIKE A WOMAN, I KIDNAP HER, I RAPE HER, AND THEN HER
FAMILY COMES OVER AND CONVINCES HER TO MARRY ME.
YES, THERE ARE
DIFFERENT THINGS IN THE U.S., THERE WAS A CULTURE CALLED
SLAVERY.
WE REALIZED IT WAS WRONG SO WE CHANGED IT.
WE CAN
SAY THE THINGS AROUND THE WORLD
ARE HORRIFIC.
IT'S ONE THING TO SAY, I'M NOT GOING TO GO INTO
THE MIDDLE OF AFGHANISTAN WITH MILITARY FORCE
TO TRY TO CHANGE THE CULTURE, THERE'S AN ARGUMENT TO BE MADE THERE.
BUT IT'S ANOTHER THING WHEN YOU ARE ALREADY THERE, AND YOU
ARE PICKING THE SIDE SAYING, DON'T TALK ABOUT IT, LET'S
MAKE SURE THESE GUYS WIN.
>> I WANT TO READ THIS LAST PART.
THIS IS A QUOTE FROM A
VICE DOCUMENTARY CALLED ëWHAT WINNING LOOKS LIKE.í IT IS FROM
2013.
IT SHOWED FOOTAGE OF AN AMERICAN MILITARY ADVISOR
CONFRONTING A THEN ACTING POLICE CHIEF ON THE ABUSE AFTER A YOUNG
BOY IS SHOT IN THE LEG AS HEíS TRYING TO ESCAPE A POLICE
BARRACKS.
WHEN THE MARINE
SUGGESTS THAT THE BARRACKS IS TO BE SEARCHED, THE HIGH RANKING
OFFICER INSISTS THE WORK BETWEEN THE SECURITY FORCES AND
THE SLAVES IS CONSENSUAL.
SAYING, THE YOUNG
BOYS LIKE BEING THERE AND GIVING
THEIR ASSES AT NIGHT.
HE SAID, IF MY COMMANDERS DON'T FUCK THE
ASS OF THESE YOUNG BOYS, WHAT SHOULD THEY FUCK,
THEIR GRANDMOTHERíS PUSSIES?
>> THIS IS THE RESULT OF A BOTTLED UP CULTURE.
PART OF
THAT IS ISLAM, PART OF IS THE LOCAL CULTURE IN THAT AREA.
THE
IDEA IS, YOU CAN'T HAVE SEX WITH WOMEN OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE, UNLESS
YOU ARE RAPING THEM, AND LET THEIR CHILDREN.
IF I'M NOT
RAPING YOUNG BOYS, I OBVIOUSLY CAN'T HAVE SEX WITH ADULT
FEMALES, THAT MAKES SENSE, RIGHT?
WELL, THEN MY ONLY CHOICES ARE
MY GRANDMOTHER, OR THAT BOY.
THOSE ARE NOT YOUR ONLY CHOICES.
IF YOU ARE GAY, YOUR CHOICE IS AN ADULT MALE.
IF YOU ARE STRAIGHT YOUR CHOICE IS AN ADULT FEMALE.
BUT IF YOUR CULTURE DOES NOT ALLOW EITHER OF THOSE CHOICES,
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
>> GO INSANE.
>> AND YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE IT OUT ON THE LEAST POWERFUL.
FOR THE PEOPLE WHO SAY THIS IS CULTURE, THE VILLAGERS WHOSE KIDS ARE
BEING KIDNAPPED AND RAPED ARE BEGGING US TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
IT'S NOT LIKE THEY'RE SAYING, IT'S PART OF OUR
CULTURE, TAKE MY SON AND MY
DAUGHTER AND RAPE THEM.
THEY ARE SAYING NOT MY SON, NOT MY
DAUGHTER.
WE FILE IT UNDER ìNOT MY PROBLEM.î
AND WE KEEP FIGHTING WITH THOSE GUYS.
NEITHER SIDE,
THE TALIBAN OR THESE GUYS ARE RIGHT.
I JUST KEEP WONDERING,
WHAT ARE WE DOING THERE?