Obama rejects ban on military aid to countries using child soldiers

Obama has already faced international censure in some quarters for ignoring child soldier covenants in his administration's treatment of Guantanamo detainee Omar KhadrOmar Khadr who was fifteen when apprehended in Afghanistan. However Obama has now gone further by taking advantage of his power to issue special waivers.

Obama has sent to the State Dept. waivers covering four countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Chad, and Sudan. All of these countries aside from any other human rights failings all are known to use child soldiers. The Child Soldiers Prevention Act would bar the U.S. from providing military aid to these nations without these waivers.

Obama claims that it is in the national interest to provide military aid to all four countries especially Yemen and Chad who are regarded as key allies in the war on terror. You would think that Obama could instead use the threat of withdrawing military aid as a means to stop these countries from using child soldiers. Instead he gives these waivers. This shows how serious he is about stopping the practice.

Ironically it was that hawk and warmongering president GeorgeGeorge W BushBush who signed the ban on providing military aid to countries that used child soldiers. Fortunately Bush was thoughtful enough to include the waiver provisions that allowed a Nobel Peace Prize winning liberal president to continue to provide aid to nations that use child soldiers. The waivers are supposed to be special cases but the four nations are the only ones using child soldiers which are provided military aid by the U.S. apparently!