By Jack Minor
12/15/2012
World Net Daily

Manual warns soldiers in Afghanistan not to talk about certain subjects

A new Army manual that warns American soldiers in Afghanistan to avoid talking about certain topics has unwittingly acknowledged that Western taboos such as pedophilia are an inherent part of Islamic culture.

"By mentioning that pedophilia and women's rights and saying that soldiers should not mention such things they are tacitly admitting that those things are indeed part of Islam," said Robert Spencer, founder of Jihad Watch.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a new 75-page Army manual suggests U.S. soldiers are to blame for the large number of deadly attacks on them by Afghan security forces. The manual reportedly says the soldiers may have brought the attacks on themselves because of insensitivity towards Islamic culture.

"Many of the confrontations occur because of [coalition] ignorance of, or lack of empathy for, Muslim and/or Afghan cultural norms, resulting in a violent reaction from the [Afghan security force] member," the draft report prepared by Army researchers and obtained by the Journal said.

Clare Lopez, a senior fellow with the Center for Security Policy, said the suggestion that U.S. soldiers are to blame for the attacks on them by Afghan security forces is outrageous.

"To suggest that our troops are somehow being murdered because of our insensitivity to their culture is essentially saying it's our own fault that the troops are being killed because we weren't nice enough to them," Lopez said. "The fundamental refusal to acknowledge that the enemy fights because of what he says he fight for, which is Islam, is a failure by our professional leadership from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on down. Because of this, we have no strategy."

This year alone, more than three dozen attacks have killed 63 coalition forces. In an attempt to quell the attacks the Army report has issued a list of "taboo conversational topics."

The topics include "making derogatory comments about the Taliban," "advocating women's rights" and "directing any criticism towards Afghans" or "anything related to Islam."

WND contacted the Army to request a copy of the manual. Army spokesman Ray Harp responded by saying it would not release a copy, for security reasons. He explained the Army wished to avoid detailing specific tactics, techniques and procedures outlined in the handbook.

Regarding the WSJ copy, Harp said whoever released it was not authorized to do so.

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