Taliban buying children for suicide bombers

I'm kind of at a loss for words on this.
I don't care that it is a different religion or ideology etc, I can't fathom anyone
justifying using innocent children in this way.

But, I'm sure someone will.


washingtontimes.com...

Pakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is buying children as young as 7 to serve as suicide bombers in the growing spate of attacks against Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. targets, U.S. Defense Department and Pakistani officials say. A Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said the going price for child bombers was $7,000 to $14,000 - huge sums in Pakistan, where per-capita income is about $2,600 a year.

geesh. this seems like an awful waste. just use people with terminal diseases.

how about a remote controlled car? or a goat or something...

I wonder if they're blowing themselves up faster than they're procreating? Seems like the pickin's are getting slim if they have to purchase and import them.

Before long their end of the war will run out of fighters.

It's like challenging somebody to a "smash your head into the wall" contest and on the count of three you decide to concede defeat while your opponent slams his head into the wall. Survival aside, can he rally be called the "winner"?

Well, I wonder what the ATS posters that think the Taliban are "freedom fighters" think of this little wrinkle?

wow...ive got a young sister and a few grand doesnt sound bad

but anyways...this makes me think of the kamikaze pilots of WWII.

eventually japan started running out of skilled pilots and had to get guys that barely knew how to fly.

maybe this is a sign that either the taliban is running low "soldiers" that are skilled, or that they soon will be.

These days, it appears human life, especially children doesn't seem to
be worth anything. It seems it's only fodder for bad jokes.

Where are the outrages from all the so called "Human Rights" organizations?

Are they afraid to speak out against the 'religion of peace"?

Originally posted by Zaydie
These days, it appears human life, especially children doesn't seem to
be worth anything. It seems it's only fodder for bad jokes.

Where are the outrages from all the so called "Human Rights" organizations?

Are they afraid to speak out against the 'religion of peace"?

A lot of cultures don't put the same stock in children as the West does. It's just how they are. Special Forces troops had problems with the Kurds not feeding their kids and letting them starve so that the old folks could eat.

SF had baby food airdropped, but they still only gave that food to the old people.

When they asked why, the Kurds said that the death of an old person was the same as the burning of a library. That's how their culture is passed on, from old to young. No old people = nothing to pass on = death of their way of life.

Now, the Taliban probably just doesn't give a flying frak about the kids, and you know it would be great press for them to show a kid wearing a bomb vest get shot by US troops.

reply to post by jerico65


Exactly.

It just shows me how far down they are on the scale of human evolution.

reply to post by jerico65

A lot of cultures don't put the same stock in children as the West does.

Can you substantiate that comment or should we just write it off as xenophobia?

reply to post by Zaydie


This news article strikes as black propaganda for consumption. My understanding is that the Taliban engage in lethal battles with the US and UK. They also seem to use road side bombs.

Using kids as suicide bombers suggests that the kids are willing even though they have apparently been forced into it. Further still, how likely is a child to saunter up to an entrenched unit even if it wasn't a suicide bomber? Most kids are scared of the dark, so how are they to approach a target in a blasé manner and then pull the ripcord?

It really doesn't add up.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
I wonder if they're blowing themselves up faster than they're procreating?

Outbreeding the enemy, does it work?

All things considered ... the rate of child birth and how they view women over there ... I'm sure they have plenty of fodder still left to blow up. :shk:

I know children have been used before for suicide missions, but a lot of reports about such occurrences have been found to be misleading or incorrect. Why....just look at the responses here so far. Instant support for action against the nasties.

Yet another report that no-one wants to put there name to.

I'm not saying it's untrue, i'm just very dubious about some of the things the media says these days, especially in light of the ever growing dislike for the war there.

Here in the UK, the media has been awash with the news that more British soldiers have died this week, with eight of our lads killed in 24 hours.

Afghanistan: Eight Britons Killed In 24 Hours

This morning on Sky News, they were debating this, and one woman asked why on earth we are over there and was it worth it?

The best anyone could come up with was that because the troops were driving the Taliban out, there are now 80 something schools instead of 30 something.

Yes thats great, but is that worth 8 years and many lives?

I'm sure theres more to the troops being there than just getting more schools, but the reason for being there changes so damn often to suit whoever is making money from it.

Any news article about children being used as suicide bombers will get instant support for the war from most members of the public.

I'm just can't see why any official would not want to put be identified over this report? If it's happening, and the government are against it, whats the problem?

Also, why would the Taliban spend money on buying these kids? If they are as terrible as they are supposed to be, why don't they do what the others have done before and force kids to do it?

CX.



[edit on 11/7/09 by CX]

reply to post by CX


CX the Afghanistan adventure is really about geostrategic control of the areas around the Caucus to protect Western interest from the rising economies of the East and Russia, pacification of the Middle East on behalf of Israel and a massive resource grab.

The wishy washy matter of schools and women's rights is just sop for the taxpayer. If it was true thousands of civilians, wedding parties and family homes would not get bombed.

Originally posted by masonwatcher
Can you substantiate that comment or should we just write it off as xenophobia?

Oh, shucks, I don't know. How about being in the debriefing of the ODAs when this was mentioned?

And, doing a little bit of reading and studying of the culture also backs this up.

If you actually read my entire thread (and understood it), you'd see it's not a slam against the Kurds.

You can take my word for it or not; doesn't matter to me. I'll not be losing any sleep over it.

Qari Hussain (Baitullah's Mehsud's deputy) has long been known to train children for suicide missions.

ISI HQ Main Target

Al-Qaeda-linked Qari Hussain, who is also known as “Ustad-e-Fidayeen” or the teacher of suicide bombers, is considered to be a specialist in indoctrinating teenagers to carry out suicide attacks in the name of Islam. He is believed to have become the main ideologue of the Taliban working under Baitullah Mehsud’s command. Qari Hussain is well-known in the TTP ranks for his strong anti-Shia views and his close ties with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). The agencies are trying to hunt him down since long given his status as the one who may have recruited and indoctrinated the largest number of people to carry out suicide attacks in the country.

Authorities pointed out on Jan 17, 2009, Qari Hussain had released an unusual video of statements from purported suicide bombers and footage of deadly attacks they claimed to have perpetrated in Pakistan.

The 40-minute tape had shown youths, some apparently in their teens, addressing the camera about their intention to carry out suicide attacks to background music of Urdu militant anthems. The said video was reportedly handed over to journalists in Peshawar by none other than Qari Hussain. All those featured in the video spoke Pashto. The two major suicide attacks claimed on the TTP video were the March 11, 2008 suicide attack on the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) building in Lahore and the Nov 24, 2007 twin suicide attacks in Faizabad area of Rawalpindi in front of the ISI headquarters when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a bus carrying 35 ISI officers, killing 15 of them on the spot.

Originally posted by jerico65

Originally posted by masonwatcher
Can you substantiate that comment or should we just write it off as xenophobia?

Oh, shucks, I don't know. How about being in the debriefing of the ODAs when this was mentioned?

And, doing a little bit of reading and studying of the culture also backs this up.

If you actually read my entire thread (and understood it), you'd see it's not a slam against the Kurds.

You can take my word for it or not; doesn't matter to me. I'll not be losing any sleep over it.

Jerico65 you made the comment and it is for you to substantiate it. It is not my role to research your every utterances. So how about some links otherwise I figure you are making it up as you go along.

Originally posted by masonwatcher
So how about some links otherwise I figure you are making it up as you go along.

"A Modern History of the Kurds" David McDowall

"Fever & Thirst: A Missionary Doctor Amid the Christian Tribes of Kurdistan" Gordon Taylor

"Roughneck 91" Frank Antenori (also, briefings from Frank Antenori and his ODA).

And probably a few others I have forgotten about.

reply to post by jerico65


Oh dear! Still no links just some references I have to go to the trouble of searching for in my local library.

Originally posted by masonwatcher
Oh dear! Still no links just some references I have to go to the trouble of searching for in my local library.

Links? Oh, yeah, I forgot. Everything on the internet is true, right??

Looks like you're going to have to do some reading, huh? Wow, that's tough. Sorry to put you out like that. (Look on the bright side, the books are pretty good and you might learn something.)