BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military said disturbing video that shows masked boys brandishing guns was an al Qaeda in Iraq training and recruiting tool.

"Al Qaeda in Iraq wants to poison the next generation of Iraqis," said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith during a Baghdad news conference about the release of the tape.

The video, he said, showed boys, "many below age 11" being used "to produce the next generation of al Qaeda."

Masked boys are seen in the tape armed with grenade launchers, AK-47s and pistols. They're standing in front of a black banner hung on a wall, shouting slogans. Another video shows a boy, surrounded by automatic weapons and wearing a suicide vest, according to The Associated Press.

Also in the video, armed boys in black hoods, with weapons pointed, shout and force a man off his bicycle, search a car, and clear a building while a male voice off camera instructs them.

"Al Qaeda often refers to the children as the new generation of the mujahedeen," Smith said, using the Arabic term for holy warriors. "We've also seen evidence of al Qaeda entering schools, disseminating propaganda and no doubt terrorizing the children and their teachers."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/06/iraq.main/index.html