IRAQ: Mentally handicapped children used in attacks

Call me an Islamophobe, please. Seriously.

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Muslim extremists recruiting Australian Somalis

Please, come to our lands, take our benefits, our hospitality, our good will, our money—and our lives.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/extremists-recruiting-australian-somalis/2007/04/13/1175971295162.html

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Children have sometimes been used by insurgents as decoys in attacks on US forces

BAGHDAD, 10 April 2007 (IRIN)

The dreams 13-year-old Barak Muhammad (not his real name) had of leading a normal teenage life were dashed when his father sold him to al-Qaeda militants. Being mentally handicapped, he said he was considered a burden by his family and was told he would be better off sacrificing his life for his country.

“I don’t have a mother and never went to school. I was dreaming of a day that I would go to school like my other brothers, but I was considered different. My father was always telling me that I was a mistake in his life, a boy that was just bringing expenses and problems,” Barak said. Barak's father sold him to al-Qaeda in Iraq for US $10,000 to support his remaining five children. Now, Barak is in training to fight US and Iraqi troops. “Today, I help some men who say they are from al-Qaeda group. They fight people who are occupying Iraq and they said that if I do my work well, God will protect me and make me be a healthy boy,” Barak said, adding that fighters promised him that he would soon join his mother in heaven. Carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle, Barak said he accompanies insurgents during night time raids and when needed acts as a decoy to divert the attention of US or Iraqi forces in the run-up to an attack.
My father was always telling me that I was a mistake in his life, a boy that was just bringing expenses and problems. Abu Ahmed, who claims to be a spokesman for al-Qaeda in Iraq and Barak's trainer, said they were giving him a better life...

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71257

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