he wasn't sure why he had the vest on.

(picture from zombietime.com)
in afghanistan, the taliban haven't been shy about employing suicide bombers. now they've been discovered using children as young as six years old to carry out attacks on targets. according to the story i've linked to, NATO officials report of a an attack that was thwarted.

"They placed explosives on a six-year-old boy and told him to walk up to the Afghan police or army and push the button," said Captain Michael Cormier, the company commander who intercepted the child, in a statement. "Fortunately, the boy did not understand and asked patrolling officers why he had this vest on."

Lt Col (David) Accetta (ISAF eastern regional command spokesman) said the procedure for dealing with an armed minor had so far been untested in Afghanistan.

"It would have been difficult to know what to do considering it was a six-year-old boy and he was presumably going to push the button himself or someone was going to detonate it for him remotely," Lt Col Accetta said.

The rules of military engagement are easily muddied when a child poses a direct threat, he explained. "What we do if we identify the fact that an adult is wearing a suicide vest is we use whatever force we deem necessary to protect the lives of our soldiers and any civilians. Of course it makes it more difficult - it's a six year-old child."

in other words, does our military now have to worry about the children...the hope for the future? the ones that they've made so many efforts (giving them toys, candy, etc...) to connect with? yes, it does.

do these children understand what they are doing? "inspirational" videos produced by the jihadists which feature more "adult" suicide bombers extolling the virtues of their murderous actions at least show how these individuals understand what they're doing and believe they're going to "paradise" after their martyrdom has been achieved...but, a six year old??? are THEY sold on the "72 virgins" deal? do they understand what a virgin is? i was in middle school before i figured that one out (after somebody called me one..).

these people are a real piece of work. check out this story/video which shows an afghani 12-year old, who, at the behest of the taliban, cuts off a guy's head who they claim is a spy. i've been hearing this commercial on the radio lately, where parents are reminded that every single moment is a "teaching" moment..."don't eat off the floor", "lefty loosy, righty tighty", "here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors and see all the people", then the commercial switches gears and shows the parents being, for example, cut off in traffic and losing their temper "YOU S.O.B.!!! that was MY LANE", which of course the young'un will eventually copy later in life...you know, it might be helpful if we could encourage al-jazeera or something to start running something similar in the muslim world. it's just a thought....

meanwhile, over at the huffington post....a new post titled "The Real Roots of Suicide Bombing", which you can click on and read in full, but here is the summation: suicide bombing should not be considered to be associated only with muslim terrorists. it's a technique used by people in countries that are occupied to get rid of the occupiers. when the occupying force leaves, the suicide bombings end...

this is so retarded. for one thing, we americans have "occupied" the land of the native americans for centuries, and i don't know of a single suicide bombing carried out by an "indian". france was "occupied" by the Nazis, and bent over backwards to welcome them. as a matter of fact, it can be argued that nearly every inch of this entire planet is "occupied" by an invader of some sorts. yet, suicide bombing is a fairly recent phenomenon, which, as far as i can tell, has only been used as a tactic by muslim jihadists. how can this be?

and how does the guy explain this suicide bombing attack in jordan, carried out by four iraqis (including a husband & wife team...the wife's bomb failed to detonate, and she confessed...video at link). first of all, these iraqis were not in iraq. jordan is NOT occupying iraq. question: how credible is this guy's thesis? answer: not credible at all. but, it makes him feel better, and he pulled his head out of the sand for a few minutes and grabbed a breath of fresh air.

...special thanks to LGF for the heads-up...