Al-Qaeda propaganda videos surfaced today, apparently telling the story of a desperate terrorist organization. Following in the vein of Monday’s statement that Iraq’s most recent suicide bombers had Down Syndrome, bombastic little boys are shown shrouded in masks, training to be terrorists in Diyalah, Iraq.

They are smaller than the rocket launchers and AK-47s they drag with them. But they are not slowed by their heavy machinery. Their nine and ten and eleven year old legs serve them well. Naturally, they strap on suicide vests, halt cars, apprehend and interrogate passengers, press pistols against their heads, yip war cries and finish off the day’s work with a prayer.

There you have it — a day in the life of an Iraqi kid. American authorities suggest that al-Qaeda recorded the footage so that it could be circulated amongst other Iraqi children who might be easily influenced. You know, make it viral…

But, since US forces intercepted the video on December 4th during a successful hit mission, our generals have decided to spread the message elsewhere. Earlier today, it was screened for the American press. Coincidentally (or perhaps because of its very viral nature), it was also was broadcast around the very same time today on Saudi TV network Al Arabiya.

At the US press conference, Rear Admiral Gregory Smith gave his commentary alongside the video. Something he said tripped me up. In purporting an understanding of the root of this youth problem, he made a big leap in stating that these children’s fathers were probably al-Qaeda members, and, in a move of desperation, they were breeding “the next generation of mujahideen.”

I ask you, Mr. Smith, are you so sure that these Iraqi kids are any different from our own gang bangers? Because, in America, we know better than to think violence starts in our homes. We know well enough that daddy not being around means a lot more than anything he might have said when he was.

Mr. Smith, maybe the Iraqi kids, too, share the problems of troubled kids here. Maybe they, too, are aimless… they, too, are lying to their parents… and they, too, just want to feel like they belong…

Maybe, just maybe, because America’s Few, the Brave, and the Proud have been in and out of there for the last decade and half, senseless violence kind of starts makes sense. Because, without a PS3 console and Grand Theft Auto III, its the only cents you can make of it.

He conceded: “It was just an assessment –we don’t have custody of these children.”

• Gulf News: Children Trained as Terrorists
• AFP: Al-Qaeda Training Children