Child-selling in Afghanistan must be condemned and stopped

I can hardly bear to read the stories that seem to be proliferating about poverty-stricken couples in Afghanistan selling off their young daughters as "brides" to old men, and in some cases babies, in order to provide food for the rest of their family. There can be nothing more monstrously wicked than selling a child. But in Afghanistan where so many families have no money, no food and no future, it has become an act of desperation, a last resort to save their other children. Has the world now turned its attention away from Afghanistan to such a degree that governments are turning a blind eye to this child-selling scandal? Afghanistan needs help. These families need help. Children have suffered during years of war. Now with relative peace because the Taliban are no longer fighting the US and coalition troops, they are facing even graver danger. They are being traded to men for a future that will be devoid of parental love and care. It's yet another horrific consequence of the rushed departure of international troops whose governments had got fed up with the whole Afghanistan saga.