In Thrall to Barbarity

Published by

Clarissa

September 21, 2015

NYTimes reports that the US military personnel operates under harshly enforced orders to tolerate the Afghanis raping children, often right on the American military bases.

American soldiers are forced to listen to the screams of raped children on their bases and are severely punished when they can’t take it any longer and try to intervene.

The rapists of kids are given free reign to rape at American military bases (paid for by my and your money, by the way) because of “a reluctance to impose cultural values.”

Question: what’s so wrong with imposing cultural values that are obviously vastly superior?

American taxpayers end up paying for rape pads as a result of “the American policy of treating child sexual abuse as a cultural issue.”

Question: why are we so in thrall to the largely meaningless word “culture” that we are ready to stand by and stare impotently as barbarity proliferates?

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10 responses to “In Thrall to Barbarity”

Bob Basil

September 21, 2015

“In one of Major Brezler’s hearings, Marine Corps lawyers warned that information about the police commander’s penchant for abusing boys might be classified.” Totally, totally fucked up.

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1. Clarissa
  
  September 21, 2015
  
  And now this honest, good fellow is prosecuted for speaking out against the abuse. This is insanity of massive proportions.
  
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Shakti

September 21, 2015

No, the whole “we are reluctant to impose cultural values” is just the surface reason given for “we don’t want to antagonize the Afghani warlords who are our allies in controlling the region instead of the Taliban”. It has fuck-all to do with “values”. They probably said “we are reluctant to impose cultural values” about the Taliban during the Afghan-Russian war, and then raised the issue of their terrible human rights as an additional reason to invade Afghanistan after 9/11.

What about all of the Afghanis who are upset at these warlords’ practices?

But the American policy of treating child sexual abuse as a cultural issue has often alienated the villages whose children are being preyed upon. The pitfalls of the policy emerged clearly as American Special Forces soldiers began to form Afghan Local Police militias to hold villages that American forces had retaken from the Taliban in 2010 and 2011.…

In September 2011, an Afghan woman, visibly bruised, showed up at an American base with her son, who was limping. One of the Afghan police commanders in the area, Abdul Rahman, had abducted the boy and forced him to become a sex slave, chained to his bed, the woman explained. When she sought her son’s return, she herself was beaten. Her son had eventually been released, but she was afraid it would happen again, she told the Americans on the base.

She explained that because “her son was such a good-looking kid, he was a status symbol” coveted by local commanders, recalled Mr. Quinn, who did not speak to the woman directly but was told about her visit when he returned to the base from a mission later that day.

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1. Clarissa
  
  September 21, 2015
  
  We all know that Americans can be easily rendered all limp and impotent with a self-righteous “But it’s my culture!” I have a good quote on why that is but I need to get home to post it.
  
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2. Stringer Bell
  
  September 21, 2015
  
  Great point.
  
  Armed forces not doing their job because of they’re concerned with political correctness and cultural relativism? I find that hard to believe. Seems like they looked the other way because they wanted to protect their allies in the region.
  
  I’m sure it happens at all levels. Like, the FBI has informants that are criminals themselves, who get immunity for all their crimes because they’re strategic assets who, one hopes, will help bring down bigger players.
  
  Looking at this issue from the lens of cultural relativism is mistaken, I believe.
  
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  1. Clarissa
    
    September 21, 2015
    
    What, you also have never tried to cow Americans with an “It’s my culture, how dare you?”
    
    I’m starting to feel really evil here.
    
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    1. Stringer Bell
      
      September 21, 2015
      
      Oh, definitely. Especially when something went wrong in the kitchen.
      
      ‘It’s my grandmother’s recipe’.
      
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      1. Clarissa
        
        September 21, 2015
        
        You see? 🙂
        
        Of course, the ‘it’s a cultural thing’ discourse is being used to achieve obvious and different purposes but the problem is that the discourse exists. It is used because those who use it know it will be effective. Among all of the things they could have said to justify this, they chose this one. And that can’t be insignificant.
        
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        Stringer Bell
        
        September 21, 2015
        
        I see it now. Usually this type of argument is only proffered by liberals to justify some unjustifiable act.
        
        I’m only upset that it’s been thrown back in my face by the other team, haha.
        
        Consider this as one of the things I changed my mind about in 2015. Thank you!
        
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        Stringer Bell
        
        September 21, 2015
        
        ‘..justify some unjustifiable act…’
        
        I’d change it to ‘…silence criticism..’. I think it’s more accurate.
        
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