As if U.S. troops and diplomats didn't have enough to worry about in trying to understand Afghan culture, a new report suggests an entire region in the country is coping with a sexual identity crisis.
An unclassified study from a military research unit in southern Afghanistan details how homosexual behavior is unusually common among men in the large ethnic group known as Pashtuns -- though they seem to be in complete denial about it.
The study, obtained by Fox News, found that Pashtun men commonly have sex with other men, admire other men physically, have sexual relationships with boys and shun women both socially and sexually -- yet they completely reject the label of "homosexual." The research was conducted as part of a longstanding effort to better understand Afghan culture and improve Western interaction with the local people.
No wonder the Taliban have to import suicide bombers to kill inside Afghanistan. The Taliban have to go abroad to find anyone who considers 72 virgin females an inducement.
Seriously, it is amazing how much we have to be prepared to adapt to local conditions in order to work with a local culture to exploit factors for victory over our enemies in a counter-insurgency.
