Putting 2&2 Together For Children Caught in War What Kind of Monster Have We Become

This country, The U.S.A. is at the top of the abuse of Children related to WAR. According to a recent ACLU report, "The United States is failing to protect its own youth from abusive military recruitment, and is simultaneously failing to protect the youth of other countries who have already been forcibly involved in armed conflict," said Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU Human Rights Program. "The United States should take immediate action to bring its policies and practices on military recruitment and treatment of former child soldiers in line with internationally accepted standards."

Another report from Human Rights Watch, has as its headline:

US: Respect Rights of Child Detainees in Iraq
Children in US Custody Held Without Due Process

This report includes the following information about U.S. treatment and detention of children.

On May 22, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child will meet in Geneva to review US compliance with the Optional Protocol on children in armed conflict, which the US ratified in 2002. The treaty bans the recruitment and use of persons under 18 in hostilities by any party to a conflict, and requires states to provide all appropriate assistance for the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of such children under their jurisdiction or control.

Since 2003, the US has detained some 2,400 children in Iraq, including children as young as 10. Detention rates rose drastically in 2007 to an average of 100 new children a month from 25 a month in 2006.

"The vast majority of children detained in Iraq languish for months in US military custody. The US should provide these children with immediate access to lawyers and an independent judicial review of their detention," said Clarisa Bencomo, Middle East children’s researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Democracy Now, comments on the report. "The American Civil Liberties Union has accused the Bush administration of holding the youths in violation of international standards. The US has joined Somalia as the only states to refuse to ratify the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. Around 2,500 youths have been jailed in US prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo since 2002."


There is an overwhelming link between the military's recruitment policies and it's treatment of children in detention. There is a huge problem that demands a revolution in thinking from the top down. Is there hope for change?

Another article on Common Dreams stated that Congress had invited Murat Kurnaz, an ex-Guantanamo prisoner to testify via satellite. Only about 6 members showed up.The first to speak after Kurnaz was finished was ranking member on the committee, Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who expressed doubts about the testimony and recalled that the United States was “at war” and needed to protect itself even at the price of making some errors. This comment brings me so much shame after causing 5 years of suffering to an innocent man. What kind of monsters have we become?