A Queer Bunny

[JackLuis]

Afghanistan: Sex, Pedaphilia, and Security

A disturbing report in the Asia Times about Afghanistan. It speaks to the severe challenges we face in attempting to reform Afghanistan, an Islamist society. Keep in mind, these are our allies. Caution: Reader discretion is advised.

Considering the AH readership the caution is unnecessary.

“Social scientists attached to the Second Marine Battalion in Afghanistan last year circulated a startling report on Pashtun sociology, in the form of a human terrain report on male sexuality among America’s Afghan allies. The document, made available by military sources, is not classified, just disturbing. Don’t ask, don’t tell doesn’t begin to qualify the problem. These are things you didn’t want to know, and regret having heard. The marines got their money’s worth from their Human Terrain adjuncts, but the report might have considered whether male pedophilia in Afghanistan has a religious dimension as well as a cultural one. I will explain why below.

Most Pashtun men, Human Terrain Team AF-6 reports, engage in sex with men – boys – in fact, the vast majority of their sexual contacts are with males. “A culturally-contrived homosexuality [significantly not termed as such by its practitioners] appears to affect a far greater population base then some researchers would argue is attributable to natural inclination. Some of its root causes lie in the severe segregation of women, the prohibitive cost of marriage within Pashtun tribal codes, and the depressed economic situation into which young Pashtun men are placed.”

No wonder they are such fierce fighters, when dieing may be the way into the arms of a virgin?

The human terrain team responded to scandalous interactions between Pashtun fighters and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops, some reported with hilarity by the media. An article in the Scotsman of May 24, 2002, reported, for example: “In Bagram, British marines returning from an operation deep in the Afghan mountains spoke last night of an alarming new threat – being propositioned by swarms of gay local farmers. An Arbroath marine, James Fletcher, said: ‘They were more terrifying than the al-Qaeda. One bloke who had painted toenails was offering to paint ours. They go about hand in hand, mincing around the village.’ While the marines failed to find any al-Qaeda during the seven-day Operation Condor, they were propositioned by dozens of men in villages the troops were ordered to search.”

Another interviewee in the article, a marine in his 20s, stated, “It was hell. Every village we went into we got a group of men wearing makeup coming up, stroking our hair and cheeks and making kissing noises.”

The trouble, the researchers surmise, is “Pashtun society’s extremely limited access to women,” citing a Los Angeles Times interview with a young Pashtun identified as Daud. He only has sex with men, explaining: “I like boys, but I like girls better. It’s just that we can’t see the women to see if they are beautiful. But we can see the boys, and so we can tell which of them is beautiful.”

 

[Bebeslut]

I've heard this about Arab men, too, but I have no idea if it's true.
Course, I have been known to approach men while I'm wearing make-up, too, and even kiss them!

 

[3113]

"While the marines failed to find any al-Qaeda during the seven-day Operation Condor, they were propositioned by dozens of men in villages the troops were ordered to search.”

No surprise there. Everyone likes a man in uniform

 

[amicus]

Sick, sick, sick, the sooner Islam is dust, the better.

Amicus

 

[SweetMerry]

Hmmm, didn't Sparta have a form institutionalized homosexuality built into their military? And the Romans? I would think that any society that separates the genders so sharply would have a high population of people that turn to others of their same sex for...well, sex.

 

[oggbashan]

Sick, sick, sick, the sooner Islam is dust, the better.

Amicus

What has it got to do with Islam?

It is about the social code in part of Afghanistan, not about Islam.

Og

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Now I know why Obama is in no hurry to leave, and why he likes to pop-in so much.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Well, let's see. Alexander, a product of the Classical Age where there was no homo-sexuality or bi-sexuality or hetero-sexuality, merely sexuality, invaded the Persian Empire and defeated it. The Persian Empire included the area now called Afghanistan. Alex did have sex with women but preferred men, as far as we know, and left an astonishing impact on the local area. After all, people, our common image of the Buddha is based on Classical sculpture. So given how conservative Pushtan society is, this is probably just another legacy of Alexander and his band of heros.


Hey, it's as good an explanation as any.

 

[3113]

So given how conservative Pushtan society is, this is probably just another legacy of Alexander and his band of heros.

I like it!

 

[Bebeslut]

What was the reference to Buddha all about?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

What was the reference to Buddha all about?

The image of the Buddha we are accustomed to, in a robe that hangs over one shoulder, can be traced in sculptural image directly back to the Classical sculpture that adorned all those cities named Alexandria that Al founded as he marched across the Persian Empire. If you really want to do the art historical research, PM me and I will go upstairs into my studio and get you the reference book. It's quite clear.


Or you can just take my artsy word for it, 'cause it's true.

 

[jomar]

I dunno... I suspect al-Qaeda was hiding in drag. Brilliant!

 

[SweetMerry]

I dunno... I suspect al-Qaeda was hiding in drag. Brilliant!

Heh, I had that thought, too. What better defense than to make your enemy run squealing away from you Monty Python style? "Oh, nooo! He's got toenail polish on! Run awaaay!!!"

 

[estragon]

In many impoverished societies, where food and resources are scarce, and birth control unknown, same-sex sex is very often the only way out. From Alexander's Macedonia to the steppes of Central Asia, the guys were getting it on with each other, because making babies was too expensive.