U.S. soldiers have been instructed to ignore the sexual abuse of boys perpetrated by their Afghan allies, a new report has found.

The policy of looking past the sexual abuse is intended to maintain good relations between the U.S.-trained Afghan police and the militia in a nation where the practice of bacha bazi (boy play) is a common occurrence with historical significance, according to a new report by the New York Times.

Despite the policy, soldiers and Marines have been increasingly troubled because they have to ignore the pedophilia they encounter. A former Special Forces captain named Dan Quinn had enough and beat up an American-backed militia commander for keeping a boy as a sex slave. Explaining his outrage and the violent actions that ensued, Quinn said, “The reason we were here is because we heard the terrible things the Taliban were doing to people, how they were taking away human rights.

“But we were putting people into power who would do things that were worse than the Taliban did -- that was something village elders voiced to me,” he added.

Captain Quinn was disciplined for disobeying his orders. The Army relieved him of his duties and pulled him out of Afghanistan.

Gregory Buckley Jr., a lance corporal who was shot to death in 2012, explained to his father the troubling noises he heard at night, which he was not allowed to do anything about. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture,” said the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr.

Bacha bazi, a long held Islamic custom, has has a big resurgence since the Taliban’s defeat. A 2010 article in the San Francisco Chronicle explains the custom as a perverted interpretation of Islamic law. Since women are unapproachable, young boys become the object of erotic affection.

"Women are for children, boys are for pleasure," goes an Afghan expression.