Bacha bazi means "boy play" in one of the languages of Afghanistan. It's part of the culture we're fighting to preserve, along with democracy of course. I wouldn't have known this but for a heads-up from John Doyle in the TV review column of the Globe & Mail.
In a piece headlined "The taboo topic our mission in Afghanistan ignores", Mr. Doyle recommends watching an investigative report on this disgusting (his word) facet of Afghan culture, which will air on PBS today (Tuesday). Check your local listings for time and channel.
Tune in and you will see how preteen and young teenage boys are sold to powerful businessmen and former warlords. Sold for sex.
Walt wonders why pedophilia and sexual abuse gets so much media coverage when it's a problem in the Church, but almost none when it's part of the Afghan/Muslim tradition. It says something that this documentary got its first and only mention in the entertainment section. If a slave auction of underage boys was held in the Vatican it would be front-page news!
It seems the topic – like the alleged abuse of Afghan detainees – is taboo, something government and senior military officials would prefer to ignore.
To quote Mr. Doyle: "The mission in Afghanistan is sold to us as protecting civilians and training an Afghan army and police to eventually take over that mission. Nobody wants us talking about the possibility that the mission includes deliberately ignoring what we consider evil committed by allies in Afghanistan.
"That would mean debating a moral quandary. And the morality of the mission in Afghanistan is supposed to be crystal clear. Essentially, what everybody is ignoring is the possibility that 'getting the job done' in Afghanistan (as the military usually describes it) might mean turning a blind eye to pedophilia."
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