Children of the Taliban

1. Children join the Taliban for several reasons. The first is that from a young age, in their homes and schools or madrassas, they are indoctrinated to support the Taliban. Because Pakistan's public education system has fallen apart, madrassas have filled the void. However these schools only teach religion and the only "textbook" is the Koran. Also, children join the Taliban because they blame the US for the deaths of family members (like the boy whose cousin died in an airstrike) and the Taliban offers an effective means to execute their revenge.

2.The war in Pakistan has caused many children, especially girls, not to be able to attend schools and gain an education. Many children have been displaced due to fighting near their homes and many have also been separated from their parents or orphaned. Most of the children of this generation will enter their adulthood with an education that was limited at best and non-existant in many cases.

3. The offensive by the Pakistani army and US drones has resulted in the deaths of many Taliban, but it has also created much resentment among the general population and therefore increased support for the Taliban in some cases. For example, the video showed a village that had been completely destroyed by the Pakistani army in an attempt to eliminate the Taliban from the area. Currently there is no Taliban there, but families lost their homes, children cannot attend school and many civilians are angry at the army for having destroyed their village. In another part of the video, a teenage boy described how he planned to join the Taliban as a result of his cousins death. His cousin died as a result of a US drone airstrike which succeeded in it's goal of killing a Taliban official, but has also resulted in the Taliban being able to recruit more fighters.

4.The Taliban continues to grow by recruiting and indoctrinating children at a very young age (5, 6, 7 years old) to support the Taliban at any cost and to sacrifice themselves for the cause. The Taliban also use US air strikes as an opportunity to recruit new fighters and fear to keep those who have not joined them under control. Older people join the Taliban because it seems like their best option, and it is an opportunity to die as a martyr. Due to the clash of Islam and western civilizations, the Taliban has become an outlet for people who feel mistreated by the policies of other countries, especially the US.