Teaching Anti-Americanism to Young Afghan Boys
KAYE: This story just in. Former NBA player Robert Traylor, nicknamed Tractor Traylor reportedly has been found dead in Puerto Rico. According to the website of the</s>SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), FOREIGN RELATIONS CHAIRMAN: : It's fundamentally unsustainable to continue spending $10 billion a month on a massive military operation with no end in sight.</s>KAYE: Kerry, who is expected to travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan soon says Afghanistan must never again become a terrorist sanctuary. If that depends in part on the U.S. winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, there still may be a long way to go. CNN's Stan Grant discovered one very troubling example at a mosque in Kabul. He joins us from the Afghan capital. Stan, tell us about what the imam you met and what he's teaching young Afghan boys?</s>STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Randi. This is a very, very small mosque. It's a madrassa, a religious school. It was in a very typical, a very poor neighborhood in the middle of Kabul. Now, to even reach this mosque, you have to wind down dusty lanes, it really is a very typical and very poor part of the city. Going in there, this was early morning, it was dawn. The boys that arrived for their prayer. It just absolutely startling images. You know, you see the boys sitting there and they are reciting the Koran over and over, rocking themselves back and forth in this very rhythmic, trance-like motion. And they are there to sort of chant the Koran ever louder. And you find the imam there, the mullah, the teacher, exhorting these boys to chant ever more loudly as a way of memorizing the Koran. But they're not learning about the Koran, they're not just learning about Islam, this come was a heavy dose of ante-Americanism, as well. I spoke to the imam and he said, look, the westerners, the Americans do not share our faith. They are infidels, they can never, ever be our friends. When I spoke to the boys it can be more chilling. The boys are actually blaming America for the fight here saying America wants the Taliban and Afghans to fight each other and then Americans sit back and laugh at it. They are accusing Americans of actually drugging imams and carrying them away, kidnapping them and taking them far away. These are the messages that these boys are getting over and over and really hardening their hearts to Americans, to the west in general, Randi.</s>KAYE: And Stan, is there any indication if this imam is an isolated case?</s>GRANT: No. You know, the people I spoke to here, it's a fairly general attitude that I find, particularly since the death of Osama bin Laden. People are saying, well bin Laden's been killed. He wasn't in Afghanistan, he was in Pakistan. Why don't foreign forces leave here and go to Pakistan, fight your war there. They simply want American forces gone. So, it's a very typical message. But what makes it all of the more chilling here is you have young boys, young boys, another generation after 10 years of U.S. and foreign troops being here, yet another generation being bred with this sort of hatred. And just only a couple months ago they found explosive devices, they found weapons and they found suicide bomber vests in this very mosque. The previous imam is now in jail. He's been linked to a Taliban network in Pakistan. The current imam and boys all plead his innocence. They say he should be released from prison and they say it's all an American conspiracy -- Randi.</s>KAYE: All right. Stan Grant for us in Kabul. Stan, thank you. In another setback in Iran, we have two Americans held for nearly two year on spying charges. Well, their long delayed trial was postponed again today after they were not brought from prison to a courthouse. A Swiss diplomat in Tehran said no reason is given for their absence. You'll recall, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer and their friend, Sarah Shourd were arrested while hiking along an unmarked portion of the Iranian/Iraqi border. Shourd who is Bauer's fiancee returned to the U.S. after playing $500,000 bail. Bauer and Fattal's parents say the latest is extremely troubling. Their mothers will speak with CNN's Brooke Baldwin on NEWSROOM later today. Seniors and STDs, typically not something you would think go hand in hand, right? Well, times are apparently changing. We'll have that in 60 seconds.