© Kristen Luce for The New York Times
Dan Quinn was relieved of his Special Forces command after a fight with a U.S.-backed militia leader who had a boy as a sex slave chained to his bed.
Dan Quinn was relieved of his Special Forces command after a fight with a U.S.-backed militia leader who had a boy as a sex slave chained to his bed.
"At night we can hear them screaming, but we're not allowed to do anything about it," the Marine's father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012. He urged his son to tell his superiors. "My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it's their culture."
Rampant sexual abuse of children has long been a problem in Afghanistan,particularly among armed commanders who dominate much of the rural landscape and can bully the population. The practice is called bacha bazi, literally "boy play," and American soldiers and Marines have been instructed not to intervene — in some cases, not even when their Afghan allies have abused boys on military bases, according to interviews and court records.
The policy has endured as American forces have recruited and organized Afghan militias to help hold territory against the Taliban. But soldiers and Marines have been increasingly troubled that instead of weeding out pedophiles, the American military was arming them in some cases and placing them as the commanders of villages — and doing little when they began abusing children.
Comment: Just like with Ukraine, the West is searching in vain for "Russian troops" in Syria. Of course, Russia does have some military in Syria: advisers, trainers, etc. They have for years, and it's all entirely legal. But no, Russia does not have actual troops engaged in fighting on the ground (or in the air). Rather, it appears as if Russia is simply expanding its existing support - more equipment, more training, more intelligence, upgraded facilities - in order to show the West that it will support and defend the sovereignty of Syria against any foreign-backed subversion.
So even the prospect of Russian military support to the Assad government seems to be enough to make Washington nervous that their plans for regime change may not be effective. As the Stratfor analysis said: "Even this level of the Russian logistical and operational support could crush the insurgents' resistance." And they're trying to smear and discredit this Russian support by fabricating news of direct Russian involvement in the fighting.
As the article above suggests, we can't yet know for certain what is going on around the Latakia base. The West would like us all to think Russia is constructing a major airbase, shipping tons of weapons, and planning to join the fighting in full. In line with this, Stratfor has released more images, showing what they say are Su-25 and Su-30 fighter jets, and Mi-24 helicopters, newly delivered to the base. At the very least, it appears as if Russia is supporting the renovations of the airfield, and continuing to supply weapons to the Syrian military, in addition to humanitarian aid. But such an airfield can always be put to new and different uses in the future, depending on if Assad asks for more direct help from Russia, and how Russia responds.
Whatever the case, the Americans should remember that Russians don't bluff.