Kiddie Cannon Fodder/Mini-Entrepreneurs

Here's a USA Today report about an immensely sick society:

MUSA QALA, Afghanistan — From 3- and 4-year-olds used as human shields or to gather spent cartridges, to teenagers offered motorcycles for planting roadside bombs, children are being used more and more to fight Americans here, U.S. Marines say.

"We've seen children actually dropping mortar rounds in the (firing) tubes against us," says Lt. Col. Michael Manning, commander of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment that is rotating home after seven months in this hilly northern district of Helmand Province.

"I've never seen a culture that cares so little for human life. They (the Taliban) truly don't care unless it impacts their own personal family," says Manning, who has lost 13 Marines and seen 127 wounded since March.

The use of children on the battlefield has been spreading across Helmand, where Marines began an offensive to drive out the Taliban early this year, says Brig. Gen. Joseph Osterman, commander of all Marine ground combat forces here.

Marines have witnessed youngsters dragging away wounded Taliban, planting roadside bombs and collecting dropped weapons.

At a remote firebase east of here, a squad leader, Sgt. John Ellis, says he found children selling heroin dosages wrapped in torn pages of the Koran it the village streets.

"We found children with pockets of heroin and wads of cash," Ellis says...

As long as they only tore the Koran and didn't burn it I guess it's okay (since no one seems to be rioting because of it).