Obama Regime Now Waiving Penalties For The Use Of Child Soldiers

From Floyd Reports:

U.S. Waiving Penalties for Use of Child Soldiers




Published October 29, 2010


Associated Press

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.



Obama's memo, released by the White House on Monday, did not include the justification. Administration officials have said, however, that cutting off military aid to those four countries as required by the law would do more harm than good. And they have said that continuing close cooperation with them can be a more effective way of changing their practices.



Jo Becker, children's rights director at Human Rights Watch, said Obama had supported the legislation when he was in the Senate.



"This is a groundbreaking law," she said. "This is the first year it has taken effect and he's undercutting it."



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Becker said the U.S. has legitimate national interests in the countries given the waiver, but that the administration could have made use of a provision in the law that permits targeted cuts in military assistance, while continuing aid aimed at professionalizing armies.



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."


Also, related, from Common dreams.org and Al-Jazeera--English:

Published on Friday, October 29, 2010 by Al-Jazeera-English


Child Soldiers 'No Bar' for US Aid

Obama administration decides to continue funding to Chad, Yemen, Sudan and DRC though they use children in armed forces.



In a decision critics say has undermined a powerful new law, the United States has decided to turn a blind eye to four countries that use child soldiers in their armed forces.



Rebel groups like Sudan's Justice and Equality Movement, shown in this video frame, use child soldiers. The United States will exempt four governments from penalties for doing so. (Al-Jazeera)In a brief and little-noticed announcement on Monday, the White House said Barack Obama, the president, had decided to exempt Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and Yemen from the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, which prohibits funding for foreign governments' militaries if they recruit or use child soldiers.



On Thursday, Foreign Policy magazine posted online a nine-page memo from Obama to Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, that linked the continuation of funding to US counterterrorism efforts in some of those countries.



"Everyone's gotten a pass, and Obama has really completely undercut the law and its intent," Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, told the New York Times newspaper.



Of the six countries identified by the state department as having used child soldiers in 2009, only Somalia and Myanmar were not granted an exemption. Myanmar receives no military aid from the United States, but the vulnerable Transitional Federal Government of Somalia receives significant assistance. In May 2009, the United States applied for exemption from an United Nations arms embargo in order to provide Somalia with assault rifle, mortar and machine gun ammunition, and rocket-propelled grenades.



Al-Qaeda as justification



In the memo, signed by Obama, the White House called Yemen a "key partner" in the fight against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and said that imposing the funding prohibition against Yemen "would seriously jeaopardise the Yemeni government's capability to conduct special operations and counterterrorism missions, and create a dangerous level of instability in the country and the region".



US assistance to Yemen has grown over the past year, and the US has reportedly fired cruise missiles at suspected AQAP locations in the country and helped Yemeni security forces carry out raids against the group.



The apparently growing influence of American Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, identified by the United States as an AQAP leader, and the attempted December airliner bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian who allegedly spent time with AQAP, have driven the assistance.



Though Yemeni law requires military recruits to be at least 18 years old, "credible reports" indicate children as young as 15 have entered the country's armed forces, while tribal militias mobilised by the government to fight Shia Houthi rebels in the north have recruited 14-year-olds, the White House memo says.



The memo goes into detail about the ways that Yemen has used US financial assistance: to buy spare parts for a C-130 transport plane and UH-1 helicopters, weapons and equipment for special forces charged with "hunting down" al-Qaeda, and fast patrol boats and floating piers for Yemen's navy and coast guard.



'Working to eliminate child soldiers"



For each exempted country, the White House memo states that the US government "is working ... to reduce and eliminate" the use of child soldiers. The document makes the argument that cutting off funding to the affected governments' militaries will make it harder to ultimately turn them away from recruiting youths.



In the case of Chad, the memo says that applying the 2008 law "would hinder the United States government's effort to reinforce positive trends," such as an effort to work with the United Nations to demobilise children in the army.



The memo also cites Chad's counterterrorism role. It says Chad "plays a critical role" hosting some 280,000 Sudanese refugees and is a US "partner" in the Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership and "strongly supports" counterterrorism objectives.



In Sudan, where citizens will vote on possible secession between north and south in 2011, the US government funds military education for the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) - the southern Sudanese armed forces - and prohibiting funding would "preclude the ability to deliver critical training necessary to professionalize the SPLA".



As of December, the memo says, the SPLA included around 1,200 children - both boys and girls aged between 12 and 17 years old.



"Some of these children serve as combatants, and others, including those under 15 years old, serve a variety of functions, including as guards, porters, and cooks," the memo states.



The decision by Obama to waive penalties for the four countries has exposed him to criticism from both human rights groups and Republicans.



The Republican National Committee (RNC) posted a critique of the exemption on its website on Wednesday under the headline "Indefensible".



© 2010 Al-Jazeera-English