JBeukema
Rookie
- Banned
- #1
Obama’s Child Soldiers by Matthew Ehrlich -- Antiwar.comIn places like the Congo, where war has been waged for so long that many of the men of military age are dead, government forces and local militias will force children into these wars. These children often serve as cooks, porters, sex slaves, and even infantry. The U.S. Congress, wanting to not be a party to the use of child soldiers, passed the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008. Although it makes me sick to my stomach to think about it, the United States used to give money to militaries that conscripted children to stop bullets and have sex with militiamen. Im unhappy that my tax dollars used to go to these militaries, but at least now its over. Actually not quite.
Last year, on Oct. 25, Barack Obama made use of a loophole in that law that allowed for funding to continue if the president issued a waiver saying it was in the national interest for the funding to continue to four of the five countries that use child soldiers and receive U.S. aid. (By the way, does that mean we sometimes give money out when its not in the national interest?) The four countries are Chad, Sudan, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The fifth country is Somalia, which we also still fund, but since our military aid falls under the rubric of peacekeeping operations, it doesnt count as military aid, apparently.