Soldier frisks a schoolgirl in Iraq.	Soldier frisks a four-year-old in Afghanistan.

Major Mitchell, a US marine and spokesman for US Central Command, added: "The troops on the ground in Afghanistan will respond accordingly to whatever threat in that environment exists.

"Maybe they received intelligence that children were carrying explosives and that the children could be used against coalition forces.

"Coalition forces will do whatever it is they need to do to protect themselves. In times of conflict their personal security comes before hearts and minds.

"If someone is offended because a four-year-old is being searched they should know that the security of forces will always come first."
-- aljazeera.

Which of course is pure BS. If the security of forces came first, they would bring them home--NOW. And if they're going to stay, continually offending the population is no way to provide for their security. Here's what one father had to say about the frisking of his daughter:

This humiliation has got to end now. I refuse to live like this. I’d rather die and I’ll take a few soldiers with me – and that’s a promise, not a threat.

Pretty much a microcosm of the whole situation in both countries, I'd say.