Brutality with a message; cooperate with us or your family dies.

CNN:

An 8 year-old boy was hanged by militants in Afghanistan's Helmand province after the boy's father -- a police officer in the southern city of Gereshk -- refused to comply with militants' demands to provide them with a police vehicle, officials said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the hanging, saying "this action is not permitted in any culture or any religions," according to a statement Sunday, which provided details of the incident.

Karzai said he has ordered local authorities to root out the militants and arrest them "as soon as possible."

The boy was kidnapped Friday. It was unclear when he was killed.

The incident comes amid a recent wave of attacks on local officials who are considered anti-Taliban. Less than two weeks ago, Ahmed Wali Karzai, Karzai's half-brother and a provincial council chief in neighboring Kandahar, was killed in his home by a longtime bodyguard.

These were the same tactics employed by the Viet Cong in the 1960's. Attack government officials and especially their families. Not only do other officials quit, but recruiting someone to take their place becomes even more difficult. Plus, it delegitimizes the government in the eyes of the people. If they can't protect their own people, how are they supposed to protect us?

Needless to say they are barbarians. And they are winning.