U.S. commander: Taliban recruiting children

[Kadie]

U.S. commander: Taliban recruiting children

Saturday, July 23, 2005; Posted: 4:01 p.m. EDT (20:01 GMT)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Taliban-led rebels have been hit so hard recently they are being forced to recruit children and their command structure has been fractured, a U.S. commander said Saturday despite a recent surge in violence.

Despite the setback -- more than 500 rebels have been killed since March -- militants are likely to step up attacks in the lead-up to crucial September 18 legislative elections, Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya told The Associated Press in an interview.

"The Taliban and al Qaeda feel that this is their final chance to impede Afghanistan's progress to ... becoming a nation," said Kamiya, the U.S. military operational commander in Afghanistan. "They will challenge us all the way through September 18."

But he said the ranks of Taliban in some areas have been so devastated by heavy fighting that the rebels are forcing families "to give up one son to fight."

more...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/07/23/afghan.taliban.ap/

[Rex]

But I thought Afghanistan was already a nation.

Does the USA get to rubber stamp approval on nations now?

[swag]

1. So at least the US Military isn't alone in this respect.

[liveoaktx]

9. Their mistake is they're not marketing it to high school students

[Cocoa]

2. preparing for the release of the child torture photos?

:shrug:

[silverweb]

3. Preparing "justification."

After all, if children can be forced to fight, isn't torturing them justified?

:sarcasm:

[Union Thug]

8. EXACTLY what I was thinking! n/t

[bemildred]

4. Yep, the elections in Iraq fixed everything.

The other stuff sounds kind of like a draft, like legitimate governments do when defending their country.

[Solly Mack]

5. It's that their excuse for torturing children?

[daleo]

6. Pride goeth before the fall

By the standards of Afghanistan this conflict with western forces is quite recent. They seem to have a lot of patience in these matters.

[liberaliraqvet26]

7. There shouldn't be any "Taliban" left...

it has been almost 4 goddamn years since 9-11 and a bunch of unsophisticated religious zealots are still hanging around causing trouble and brutalizing their people. All Shrub was concerned about was appointiong good ol' Unocal Karzai and building an air base. If we would have used 1/3rd of the manpower we used in Iraq and took this so called "war" seriously, Afghanistan could have been a success story.

Thanks Halliburton and the Neocons for the quagmire you got us in and our dead sons and daughters.

[pfitz59]

10. 17 year old "kids" can join US military.

In Britain one needs only be 16! I know folks who joined Army at 15. (My dad entered Navy in WW II at 14 - was 6' 4" and 200 pounds, but only 14!) Taliban is not unique in using youngsters as cannon-fodder!

[DeepModem Mom]

11. LAT/AP: General: Hard-Hit Taliban Recruiting Kids

General: Hard-Hit Taliban Recruiting Kids
By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer


KABUL, Afghanistan -- Fierce fighting in recent months has devastated the ranks of the Taliban, prompting the rebels to recruit children and force some families to provide one son to fight with them, a U.S. commander said Saturday.

The fighting has fractured the Taliban's command structure, preventing the militants from regrouping, even though there has been an upsurge in violence, Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, the U.S. military operational commander in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press in an interview....

***

"They have been hit so hard they now have to recruit more fighters. They are recruiting younger and younger fighters: 14, 15 and 16 years-old," Kamiya said. "The enemy is having a hard time keeping its recruit rates up."...

***

Kamiya's comments come two days after the United Nations said that the majority of an estimated 8,000 child soldiers in Afghanistan -- mostly in the ranks of private militias now allied to the government -- would have been demobilized and enrolled in education programs by the end of this year....

***

His comments came despite U.S. forces last month suffering their deadliest loss since ousting the Taliban in 2001, when militants ambushed a U.S. Navy SEAL team killing three commandos, and hours later shooting down a special forces helicopter with 16 troops on board....Hundreds of Afghans also have been slain in recent months in near-daily ambushes, bombings and execution-style killings. The increase in violence has prompted local politicians and international observers to caution that three years of progress toward peace was threatened....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top13jul23,0,1230575.story

[okieinpain]

12. so one shinook, and 3 navy seals were killed by a bunch of kids.

[frylock]

13. the enemy is having a hard time keeping its recruit rates up..

the iron-o-meter is pegged on that remark. The enemy is having a hard time keeping its recruit rates up. Ain't that rich. Meanwhile, our armed services aren't having ANY difficulty getting folks to sign up, so much so that they continue to relax standards just to get anyone in. Last throes, indeed.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

14. Oh, I see ....this will be the excuse for sodomizing Iraq kids n/t

[shraby]

15. That was my thought since they are trying

to suppress photos reputed to be of abuse and torture of children.

[jody]

16. And the U.S. is recruiting those 42 year's old ! n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

18. Not to mention two doctors ages 65 and 70 from northern Alabama.

[FloridaPat]

21. Now here's a bumper stick. Pictures of the elderly defending our

commitment to get all that oil in Iraq. How about "My Grandmother is serving proudly in Iraq".

[NJCher]

25. do tell

Any details on this? I've been on vacation and haven't been able to read DU as much as I'd like.

Doctors in that age range are being asked to serve?

Cher

[Media_Lies_Daily]

17. Let's see, where have I heard this line of reasoning before....

...oh, yeah, that's right....Vietnam.

Substitute North Vietnamese or Viet Cong for Taliban and it'll be a carbon copy.

[POAS]

19. Another echo of Viet Nam

[FloridaPat]

20. Sure. And they're making a comback by forcing children into

becoming soldiers. Sure. Hey, aren't we recruiting children too? 18 is sorta child age isnt' it? Can't drink, can't vote, can't do a lot.

So are they making a comeback and disrpupting the entire country or are they on their last legs and drafting children? And what fighting? I thought we were done over there. Just a little pipeline patrol.

[leesa]

22. One of the lovely provisions of the "no Child Left Behind" BS is the

provision of private info for recruiters....in elementary even! How is this different?

Besides, since we conned them into fighting the Russians for us, and then bombed them to allegedly catch alleged terrorists, they HAVE nothing but young kids.

[PurityOfEssence]

23. So are you.

Recruiters haunt the malls and high schools of our economically downtrodden.

By the way, I thought we didn't do body counts...

[VegasWolf]

24. Well, shades of Vietnam!!! nt