Obama Administration punishes soldiers who try to stop child rape

U.S. soldiers are told to ‘ignore’ Afghan allies’ raping of young boys (NY Times)

“The reason we were here is because we heard the terrible things the Taliban were doing to people, how they were taking away human rights,” said Dan Quinn, a former Special Forces captain who beat up an American-backed militia commander for keeping a boy chained to his bed as a sex slave. “But 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 policy of instructing soldiers to ignore child sexual abuse by their Afghan allies is coming under new scrutiny, particularly as it emerges that service members like Captain Quinn have faced discipline, even career ruin, for disobeying it.

This is Obama policy. And it’s been going on for years. Last month I reported that the U.S. Army is kicked out a decorated Green Beret after an 11-year Special Forces career, after he got in trouble for shoving an Afghan police commander accused of raping a boy and beating up his mother when she reported the incident.

Gregory Buckley Sr. believes the policy of looking the other way was a factor in his son’s killing. Credit Kirsten Luce for The New York Times

“Pentagon Admits U.S. Allied Afghans Are Raping Children,” Adam Kredo, September 21, 2015
Denies policy of ignoring abuses

A senior Pentagon official admitted to the Washington Free Beacon late Monday that Afghan forces allied with U.S. troops in the war-torn country have been caught sexually abusing children.

The admission comes on the heels of reports that the Obama administration has been punishing U.S. soldiers who blew the whistle on this sexual abuse.

U.S. lawmakers early Monday expressed shock and outrage over the report and called on Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff, to immediately address a policy of ordering U.S. troops to ignore such sexual abuse.

When asked about the practice, a Pentagon official admitted that such abuse was taking place but denied that there is an official policy that instructs U.S. troops to ignore it.

“This is an abhorrent practice, and we are deeply concerned about it,” the official told the Free Beacon. “This form of sexual exploitation of children is a violation of Afghanistan’s laws and international obligations.

“There is no policy in place that directs any U.S. military or government personnel overseas to ignore human rights abuses,” the official said. “On the contrary, we monitor such atrocities closely and have continually stood up for those who have suffered exploitation and denial of basic human freedoms.”

The official did not explicitly deny that U.S. troops who reported abuses had been punished.