Many years ago I read a book by Mercedes Lackey that got me thinking. Being young and immortal at the time (at least in my own mind) I had never really given it any thought. In any case it was one of those “fantasy / reality” stories featuring elves in modern settings and it was explaining a myth that holds about elves that they would kidnap children and leave a changeling in their place. It went on to explain the elves held children precious above all else, and they did indeed remove children from abusive environments where ever they found them, and raised them in safer environments.
Since becoming a father, and working with kids both mine and others I fully agree with the sentiment that there is nothing so precious as a child.
Well someone has been compiling stats recently and pulled this one together.
From AKI
Baghdad, 1 Oct. (AKI) – Al-Qaeda has over the past two years used 24 children to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq, the director of military operations for the Interior Ministry, Abdelaziz Mohammed Jasim, told pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat.
“Of the 24 children, five had a mental disability. From analysing the others’ remains, we established that they were homeless,” said Jasim.
American soldiers stationed in Iraq have reported that the insurgency has armed children as young as 11 to fight against them.
Al-Qaeda is targeting orphans, street children and mentally disabled children as suicide bomber recruits as well as women, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
There have been at least 16 suicide attacks carried out by women in recent months in the volatile Al-Qaeda stronghold of Diyala province, north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Iraqi children (photo) in general make up 20 percent of the civilian victims of bomb attacks in the country.
Evil. Pure evil.