RT News & Win Without War & Human Rights Watch – 2018-01-27 23:54:32
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/01/26/550238/us-military-Afghan-forces-sex-abuse-Mark-Dankof
ACTION ALERT: US Government Aiding
Child Sexual Abuses in Afghanistan
RT News
(January 26, 2018) — The US military has indirectly encouraged child sexual abuse by Afghan forces for years, similar to the US government’s support of terrorist groups throughout the world, a former US Senate candidate says.
“Sadly, this is not the first time that something like this has happened; you can go all the way back to the end of World War ll,” said Mark Dankof, who is also a broadcaster and pastor in San Antonio, Texas.
“This American government that has been aiding and abetting these child sexual abuses in Afghanistan is the same American government . . . that is supporting all of these Israeli atrocities in Palestine and Gaza, this is the same American government that has been working with ISIS (ISIL or Daesh) and al-Qaeda-affiliated organizations to attempt to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria,” Dankof told Press TV on Thursday.
“And this is the same American government that has been making overt threats to attack Iran because this is what [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and the Zionist ‘state’ of Israel want the American government to do,” he added.
A new US government report has found that US military troops stationed in Afghanistan have turned a blind eye on thousands of “gross human rights abuses” by the Afghan military forces over the past few years, including many instances of child sexual abuse.
The heavily-redacted report released this week by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, known as SIGAR, was commissioned by the administration of former President Barack Obama and was supposed to remain classified until June 2042.
According to the report, the US military has given a free pass to the Afghan accusers on no less than 5,735 cases between 2010 and 2016, breaching the Leahy Law which bars the US military from providing funds, training or other aid to foreign military units that are involved in serious human rights abuses.
The report does not specify how many times did the US soldiers ignored reports about the practice of bacha bazi, or “boy play,” where some Afghan commanders keep underage boys as their sex slaves.
The report sheds more light on the dark sides of the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan, which has been followed by an ongoing occupation.
Washington had pledged to eradicate the Taliban and other terror groups wreaking havoc in Afghanistan. After years of deadly clashes, however, the Taliban are seemingly stronger while the ISIL terror group has also gained a foothold in the country.
ACTION ALERT: Stop Pentagon Funds
For Child Sexual Assault in Afghanistan
Human Rights Watch & Win Without War
WASHINGTON (January 26, 2018) — Before you keep reading: This one is sickening. Okay. Ready for this?
The Pentagon funded forces engaged in child sexual assault and other “gross violations of human rights” in Afghanistan — to the tune of $71 billion.
Appalling doesn’t begin to describe it. But in the deafening chaos of the Trump era, even a story as awful as this might slip through the cracks if we don’t speak up. So it’s up to us make this story huge.
But wait — it gets worse. The Pentagon knew, this whole time. They also knew that a highly specific law prohibits exactly this situation: Congress has made it illegal for the Department of Defense to assist foreign security forces if they have credible evidence that human rights are being violated. But instead of stepping in, the Pentagon dug up a shady legal loophole to dodge accountability and claim they are in the clear.
Let that one sink in for a minute. The Pentagon’s response to clear evidence of human rights violations was: “How can we cover our behinds?”
The muck and mire of America’s failed war in Afghanistan just keep getting deeper. And it’s clear that the Pentagon isn’t about to solve their own fiasco. But Congress created the watchdog agency that dug up this story, and Congress passed the laws that should make this behavior 100% illegal. Now, we need to make Congress shut the loophole and shut down American support for these human rights abuses.
Stop Pentagon Funds for Human Rights Violations
A Congressional watchdog agency just released a report proving “gross violations of human rights,” including child sexual assault, among Afghan security forces under American supervision. Since 2002, the United States has slipped these same Afghan security forces more than $71 billion. Worse, the Pentagon knew about these human rights violations — but they are using a shady legal loophole to claim they were in the clear.
ACTION: Sign now: Congress must not send another penny to Afghan security forces while these gross human rights violations continue.
Demand that Congress refuse to send another penny to Afghan security forces while these gross human rights violations continue.
THE LETTER
To: The United States Congress
I am appalled that my tax dollars have funded child sexual assault and other gross human rights violations among Afghan security forces. Since 2002, the Pentagon has provided $71.2 billion in assistance to Afghan security forces, despite overwhelming evidence of human rights violations, in direct opposition to the Leahy laws.
I demand that you immediately halt appropriations to Afghan security forces until the Pentagon proves that no tax dollars will fund human rights violations.
Thank you for working for peace,
Cassandra, Stephen, Amy, and the Win Without War team
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
