KANDAHAR JOURNAL; SHH, IT'S AN OPEN SECRET: WARLORDS AND PEDOPHILIA

ANON   Wednesday, 28 February 2018

The acquaintance of one of my friends served in the U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan a few years ago. The soldier's letters home told of officers admonishing their men to be wary of Afghani boys who'd approach them for relationships, of the accepted tradition of boys vying with each other for relationships with masculine authority figures—from tribal chieftains to Americans in uniform. He reported the astonishment on the faces of his buddies who, merely walking around a city's center or marketplace, would feel a small hand not reaching into his pocket but taking his hand with a beaming smile and wanting to be seen holding hands with a soldier. One of his platoon's gay confidants was outed as the result of a single tryst—because the boy bragged to his friends about "his" soldier's prowess, with the result that when he went out those boys mobbed him, seeking his favors.