U.S. Waiving Penalties for Use of Child Soldiers

Politics International Politics
1

Imagine the outrage if this had been ordered under the previous administration. (You know, the one who signed the law against things like this)

[quote]U.S. Waiving Penalties for Use of Child Soldiers
Published October 29, 2010 - Associated Press
i[/i]
WASHINGTON – In a move criticized by human rights organizations, the Obama administration has decided to exempt Yemen and three other countries that use child soldiers from U.S. penalties under the 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act.

In a memorandum to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, President Barack Obama said he had determined that “it is in the national interest of the United States” to waive application of the law to Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Yemen. He instructed Clinton to submit the decision to the Congress with a written justification for the move…more at link[/quote]
As a junior Senator from Illinois, Obama supported the legislation banning the use of child soldiers.
At least he pretended to support that position.

2

Nice bit of selective editing there. From your link:

[quote]State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the countries who received the waiver deserve more time to correct their practices.

“In each of these countries we are working with the governments to stop the recruitment of child soldiers or demobilize those who may already be in the ranks,” Crowley said. “These countries have put the right policies in place but are struggling to effectively implement them. These waivers allow the United States to continue to conduct valuable training programs.”[/quote]

It’s a temporary waiver to allow these countries time to implement new policies they’ve put in place to stop child soldiering. Non-story.

3

GBH -
No “selective editing” at all - but nice try.
I posted the first 2 paragraphs of the AP article. It is what it is.

And, oddly enough, I am UNABLE to find the word “TEMPORARY” anywhere in the article.
Imagine that.

4

[quote=“TainanCowboy”]And, oddly enough, I am UNABLE to find the word “TEMPORARY” anywhere in the article.
Imagine that.[/quote]

Maybe you should take a few courses in reading comprehension. The article that you linked stated the purpose of the waiver is to give those countries time to implement policies they’ve put in place. Do you know what the word “temporary” means?

5

[quote=“Gao Bohan”][quote=“TainanCowboy”]And, oddly enough, I am UNABLE to find the word “TEMPORARY” anywhere in the article.
Imagine that.[/quote]Maybe you should take a few courses in reading comprehension. The article that you linked stated the purpose of the waiver is to give those countries time to implement policies they’ve put in place. Do you know what the word “temporary” means?[/quote]You’re quoting a Obama staff person.
Obama has decided to allow these countries to continue to impress child “soldiers” into their rape/murder squads.
Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with what these Gov’t sponsored “soldiers” are doing and think again about trying to justify any effort to allow this to continue.
(key word here -> think…look it up)

6

Actually, I quoted the article you linked, which was quoting an authorized representative of the United States Department of State. I relied on Bush’s staff during his term as POTUS. I have no party affiliation and I don’t see the relevance of the party in power.

You’re just looking for any excuse to demonize President Obama. Your own source clearly indicates that the waiver is temporary, and only granted to allow these countries time to implement policies. Sure, the president took a hard line when he was in the Senate and yes, he voted for the bill. But now he’s POTUS and he’s faced with all sorts of political realities that legislators never deal with, and he’s got to make tough decisions to protect national interests. And in some cases that means tolerating behavior we don’t like. All presidents face these realities, and it doesn’t really matter which political machine brought them to office. It takes a special kind of deluded partisan hack to believe his party of choice is exempt from the muddy waters of governing.

7

Maybe cognitive dissonance is the underlying problem here:

The Child Soldier on Trial at Guantanamo

[quote]As I sat watching the sentencing hearing at Guantanamo Bay of Omar Khadr, a former child soldier, I wondered how his being detained here for eight years without trial could actually be used against him But that was the thrust of the testimony on Tuesday before the military commission of the prosecution’s expert witness on Khadr’s future dangerousness. There Khadr sat, silently, hair and beard trimmed, in a dark suit, while over and over again, Dr. Michael Welner, a board certified forensic psychiatrist and creator of the “depravity scale,” talked about how Khadr had been “marinating” in the radical jihadi views of elder statesmen of terrorist groups while at Guantanamo.

Khadr, only 15 at the time of his apprehension but 24 now, has pleaded guilty in a military commission to five charges, including murder in violation of the laws of war for the killing of US Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer. Speer was fatally wounded on July 27, 2002, after U.S. forces entered a compound in Afghanistan where Khadr and others were located. After a firefight ensued, prosecutors alleged Khadr threw a grenade that killed Speer and wounded others.

Khadr was also seriously wounded in the firefight, half-blinded in one eye and with two bullet wounds to his chest. In bringing the murder in violation of the laws of war charge before a military commission, the U.S. government is saying that the killing of a combatant openly on the battlefield is a war crime when committed by an irregular combatant. It’s a novel legal argument: Merely engaging in battle as an insurgent rather than as a member of a regular army has never made such battlefield conduct a war crime. And Khadr’s plea deal makes the U.S. the first Western nation since World War II to convict someone for acts committed as a child in a war crimes tribunal.[/quote]

8

pssssst!..Hey Spook! - read the OP again…we’re talking about the Obama regime violating a law against aiding nations that use child soldiers.
You know…groups like this…DR Congo: Lord’s Resistance Army Rampage Kills 321…operating in the DRCongo, Yemen, Sudan…the countries referred to in the original post article.
Nasty group - The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
from the article"

[quote]The LRA continued to kill, torture, maim, rape, and abduct large numbers of civilians, virtually enslaving numerous children. Although its levels of activity diminished somewhat compared with 1997, the area that the LRA targeted grew. The LRA sought to overthrow the Ugandan Government and inflicted brutal violence on the population in northern Uganda. LRA forces also targeted local government officials and employees. The LRA also targeted international humanitarian convoys and local NGO workers.

The LRA abducted large numbers of civilians for training as guerrillas. Most victims were children and young adults. The LRA abducted young girls as sex and labor slaves. Other children, mainly girls, were reported to have been sold, traded, or given as gifts by the LRA to arms dealers in Sudan. While some later escaped or were rescued, the whereabouts of many children remain unknown.

In particular, the LRA abducted numerous children and, at clandestine bases, terrorized them into virtual slavery as guards, concubines, and soldiers. In addition to being beaten, raped, and forced to march until exhausted, abducted children were forced to participate in the killing of other children who had attempted to escape. Amnesty International reported that without child abductions, the LRA would have few combatants. More than 6,000 children were abducted during 1998, although many of those abducted later escaped or were released. Most human rights NGOs placed the number of abducted children held captive by the LRA at around 3,000, although estimates varied substantially.[/quote]

Obama just signed off on giving US tax dollar monies to countries that support this group.

9

Earf to Tainan Cowboy. Come back, Cowboy. The Obama administration is prosecuting Omar Khadr. I don’t blame Bush anymore.

10

Actually, I quoted the article you linked, which was quoting an authorized representative of the United States Department of State. I relied on Bush’s staff during his term as POTUS. I have no party affiliation and I don’t see the relevance of the party in power.

You’re just looking for any excuse to demonize President Obama. Your own source clearly indicates that the waiver is temporary, and only granted to allow these countries time to implement policies. Sure, the president took a hard line when he was in the Senate and yes, he voted for the bill. But now he’s POTUS and he’s faced with all sorts of political realities that legislators never deal with, and he’s got to make tough decisions to protect national interests. And in some cases that means tolerating behavior we don’t like. All presidents face these realities, and it doesn’t really matter which political machine brought them to office. It takes a special kind of deluded partisan hack to believe his party of choice is exempt from the muddy waters of governing.[/quote]
:bravo:

11

Actually, I quoted the article you linked, which was quoting an authorized representative of the United States Department of State. I relied on Bush’s staff during his term as POTUS. I have no party affiliation and I don’t see the relevance of the party in power.

You’re just looking for any excuse to demonize President Obama. Your own source clearly indicates that the waiver is temporary, and only granted to allow these countries time to implement policies. Sure, the president took a hard line when he was in the Senate and yes, he voted for the bill. But now he’s POTUS and he’s faced with all sorts of political realities that legislators never deal with, and he’s got to make tough decisions to protect national interests. And in some cases that means tolerating behavior we don’t like. All presidents face these realities, and it doesn’t really matter which political machine brought them to office. It takes a special kind of deluded partisan hack to believe his party of choice is exempt from the muddy waters of governing.[/quote]
:bravo:[/quote]

Backing off on enforcement of the 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act while prosecuting a former child soldier at Guantanamo as a “war criminal” makes sense but I don’t know if it’s something to clap about.

12

[quote=“Gao Bohan”]Nice bit of selective editing there. From your link:

[quote]State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the countries who received the waiver deserve more time to correct their practices.

“In each of these countries we are working with the governments to stop the recruitment of child soldiers or demobilize those who may already be in the ranks,” Crowley said. “These countries have put the right policies in place but are struggling to effectively implement them. These waivers allow the United States to continue to conduct valuable training programs.”[/quote]

It’s a temporary waiver to allow these countries time to implement new policies they’ve put in place to stop child soldiering. Non-story.[/quote]

LOL, busted again. looks like the Faux News reporting style has plagued the entire RWBH nation.

13

Yes, that is truly disgraceful.

14

The other shoe drops:

Gitmo former ‘child soldier’ sentenced to 8 years

[quote]a former teenage al-qaida fighter was sentenced sunday to eight more years in custody under the terms of a plea agreement unsealed after a military sentencing jury said he should serve 40 years for war crimes. . . .

“Fifteen-year-olds in my opinion should not be held to the same standards of accountability as adults,” (Navy Capt. Patrick McCarthy, the former top military legal adviser at the detention center) said. [/quote]

15

Spook -
OK…lets play along with your thread hijack.

[quote]Coddled Khadr -He’s an admitted murderer but he’s treated with kid gloves here
Last Updated: October 26, 2010 2:00am

It’s all true. Omar Khadr admits to being a murderer, a terrorist, a spy and an al-Qaida member.

Monday, he confessed this to a U.S. war crimes court, also confessing he was motivated to kill Americans and Jews.

Khadr murdered U.S. army medic Christopher Speer. Speer’s widow, Tabitha, sat in court Monday weeping, comforted by her sister.

Her name almost never appears in the love letters to Khadr published in Canada as “news reports.”

Khadr tried to kill Sgt. Layne Morris, too. He was blinded in one eye. Morris was also in court. I bet you haven’t heard his name before. I bet you won’t read it again.

Because Tabitha Speer and Layne Morris interfere with the mainstream media’s project of turning Khadr into a Muslim saint.

The twin headquarters of Khadr’s fanclub are the Canadian Bar Association and the CBC. According to its website, the CBC has produced 1,700 stories about Khadr. The Dalai Lama only gets 1,550 and Nelson Mandela, 1,070. Unlike Khadr, they’re not useful in undermining the legitimacy of the war on terror, including the Canadian Forces and CSIS.

And lobbying for Khadr has been the Canadian Bar Association’s highest political priority. The CBA remained only secret admirers of Khadr for the first four years of his incarceration, because that’s when the prime minister and justice minister were Liberals.

The CBA could only gaze at the picture of Khadr in their locker, doodling his name in their diaries. What a relief when the Conservatives took office, and their love for Khadr could be sung from the mountaintops, in over 100 public statements.

Khadr will return the favour to the profession. The Jew-hating murderer has filed a $10-million lawsuit against the Canadian government. That’s a lot of fees for a lot of lawyers.

There are too many Khadr fans to list. But Judy Rebick’s blog entry from this summer is outstanding. Change the name “Omar Khadr” to “Justin Bieber,” and it could have been ripped from an issue of Teen Beat. “My heart aches for Omar Khadr,” wrote Rebick, comparing him to Mandela, and lauding his “courage and dignity.”

A CBC commentator and former NDP candidate, Rebick once led Canada’s state-funded women’s lobby. How a Jewish feminist could have a crush on an anti-Semitic, misogynist murderer is baffling. When hostages sympathize with their captors, psychologists call it Stockholm Syndrome. What’s Rebick’s excuse?

Reportedly, Khadr has struck a plea bargain with the Obama administration for an eight-year prison term — one year in U.S. jails; the rest in Canada. But anyone who knows Canada’s liberal parole laws knows he’ll get out immediately. Our “statutory release” policy requires offenders serve the final third of their sentence “in the community.” But Khadr won’t stay in even that long.

Canada gives criminals credit for time in custody before trial. The eight years he has been in Guantanamo Bay means he’ll be out by next Christmas.

He’ll be busy: Hitting the campus lecture circuit; strategizing against CSIS with his lawyers; maybe driving slowly by Jewish synagogues and schools.

He’ll become a CBC pundit. Maybe a star candidate for the NDP.

It’s certain he’ll be the first murderer nominated for the Order of Canada. It’s less certain that nomination will be denied.[/quote]
Everybody knew this guy was a Canadian…didn’t they?

Everybody knows that he admitted that he did it for the money - he was being paid per dead US/Canadian/Coalition Soldier. He admitted this in court. Everybody knows that the guy he killed was a Special Forces medic that was making rounds to all the wounded (friendly and foe) in the middle of a fierce battle at risk to his own safety. He had treated Khadr and was returning to check on him when the ‘kid’ pulled a weapon killed the sergeant. After his grenades had killed others and blinded Sgt. Morris. But you knew this…right?

But hey…he was only 15. So he gets a free pass from the leftist/progressives…right?

So thats my response to your thread hijack Spook. Now about the OT…got anything?

16

Meanwhile another admitted mass murderer and Muslim former child soldier gets the star treatment: alongwaygone.com/

17

[ul]
It’s all true. Omar Khadr admits to being a murderer, a terrorist, a spy and an al-Qaida member.

Monday, he confessed this to a U.S. war crimes court, also confessing he was motivated to kill Americans and Jews.

Khadr murdered U.S. army medic Christopher Speer. Speer’s widow, Tabitha, sat in court Monday weeping, comforted by her sister.

Her name almost never appears in the love letters to Khadr published in Canada as “news reports.”

Khadr tried to kill Sgt. Layne Morris, too. He was blinded in one eye. Morris was also in court. I bet you haven’t heard his name before. I bet you won’t read it again.

Because Tabitha Speer and Layne Morris interfere with the mainstream media’s project of turning Khadr into a Muslim saint.

The twin headquarters of Khadr’s fanclub are the Canadian Bar Association and the CBC. According to its website, the CBC has produced 1,700 stories about Khadr. The Dalai Lama only gets 1,550 and Nelson Mandela, 1,070. Unlike Khadr, they’re not useful in undermining the legitimacy of the war on terror, including the Canadian Forces and CSIS.[/ul]

TC, be serious. Here’s the reality of torture and abuse:

salon.com/news/opinion/glenn … 8/11/khadr
It boggles the mind that the military judge could find that Khadr was not coerced and gave these statements to interrogators voluntarily. Khadr, then 15 years old, was taken to Bagram near death, after being shot twice in the back, blinded by shrapnel, and buried in rubble from a bomb blast. He was interrogated within hours, while sedated and handcuffed to a stretcher. He was threatened with gang rape and death if he didn’t cooperate with interrogators. He was hooded and chained with his arms suspended in a cage-like cell, and his primary interrogator was later court-martialed for detainee abuse leading to the death of a detainee. During his subsequent eight-year (so far) detention at Guantánamo, Khadr was subjected to the “frequent flyer” sleep deprivation program and he says he was used as a human mop after he was forced to urinate on himself.

Oh, and btw, there is nothing wrong with resisting a foreign invasion. It is perfectly legal to throw a grenade at an enemy soldier who is invading your country and kill him. And Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen the US sent to Syria to be tortured, writes:

huffingtonpost.com/maher-ara … 77748.html
The final question is: Why is Omar Khadr being tried by a military court if the government is certain he was the one who threw the grenade? Don’t they have trust in civilian courts? I think we all know the answer: these military courts are made to convict. After all, the government, as is usually the case, is throwing multiple charges at him in the hope that one of them sticks.

So the lad you’re quoting there, TC, is actually a mendacious loon who owes it to his readers to inform them that the “confession” of Khadr was was obtained under torture and abuse of a badly wounded 15 year old boy who had committed no illegal act, being tried in a kangaroo court whose verdict is inevitable.

Torture discussions in khadr case: ottawacitizen.com/news/Tortu … story.html

Vorkosigan

18

Vorkosigan -
You’re quoting speculations…I’m quoting the facts.

It makes all the difference.