US troops have been ordered to ignore numerous occasions in which their Afghan allies raped and abused young boys, the New York Times has revealed.
Court records and interviews showed that the practice, known as bacha bazi ["boy play"] is a rampant issue in Afghanistan. Rather than try to stamp it out, the US military has trained and armed many heinous violators, then placed them in charge of villages.
The father of one Marine told reporters that his son was troubled by hearing local police officers abusing boys inside of the base, and being told by his officers "to look the other way because it's their culture."