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Civil Rights Groups Outraged Over Child Abuse in War

No, they’re not outraged at al Qaeda, the Taliban or Iraqi insurgents for using children as terrorists. Don’t be ridiculous. They’re outraged at the United States for holding them. AP: UN reports US holding +500 kids as unlawful enemy combatants. Here’s the ACLU on the issue: 

“It is shocking to know that the U.S. is holding hundreds of juveniles in Iraq and Afghanistan, and even more disturbing that there is no comprehensive policy in place that will protect their rights as children,” said Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU Human Rights Program. “Juveniles and former child soldiers should be treated first and foremost as candidates for rehabilitation and reintegration into society, not subjected to further victimization.”

What is less shocking is that the ACLU release fails to document any actual abuses, or indicate whether any of the juveniles are held separately, and goes on to slam the United States for its own lawful recruiting activities without blinking an eye at the unlawful recruiting activities of the abovementioned terrorist groups.  Also not shocking that according to the ACLU’s own report, but contrary to its denunciation, the children are being educated to “contribute positively to the future of Iraq.”

The AP article also lacks details on any actual abuse and notes the vast majority of the juveniles are 16 and 17. Old enough to do adult time for adult crimes in some cases in the United States, and old enough in many cases to serve. But that’s not the issue. Sodomy might be an issue if they are not separated, though given the reported cultural proclivities of the Taliban, maybe no more so than if they were at liberty.

Re separation, the AP article and the ACLU also fail to note that the juveniles held at Guantanamo were not only separated from the adults but reportedly treated very well prior to their release.

If you go into the ACLU’s report, you’ll find references to a lack of separate facilities for children, though it doesn’t indicate whether children are actually held separately or not. There is also an interesting mention of an FBI investigation into the rape of a juvenile at Abu Ghraib, which suggests there is more official concern about the issue than the groups’ reactions would suggest. In fact, the ACLU report is mainly about U.S. military recruitment in schools, which raises the question of how much the ACLU actually gives a damn about actual child abuse by actual child abusers in the first place.

I can’t get the UN report as linked at the bottom of the AP article to open. If you can, please let me know if it is any more responsible in its reporting and its conclusions than any of the above.

Topics: GWOT, kids

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:26 am on Tuesday, May 20, 2008

3 Responses to “Civil Rights Groups Outraged Over Child Abuse in War”

1. Vanguard of the Commentariat Says:
   May 20th, 2008 at 6:53 pm

   So let individual ACLU enthusiasts adopt and raise some of the poor terrorist trained moppets.

2. Dave Surls Says:
   May 20th, 2008 at 7:34 pm

   The ACLU isn’t a civil rights group, they’re a communist front group, who’s goal is to destroy the government of the United States, and replace it with a communist government, and everything they do is aimed at serving that end.

   The ACLU couldn’t care less that terrorists and guerrillas employ kids, but they care very much that we detain those kids when we catch them working for the enemy.

   What they hope to do is to cripple the ability of the United States to fight our enemies by setting things up so that guerrillas can use kids, and we won’t be able to capture or kill them.

   Anything that hurts America furthers the communist cause, and that’s what they’re trying to do here. Same as they’ve always done.

   As Roger Baldwin, the principal founder of the ACLU put it: “I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the State itself as an instrument of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.”

   Securing the rights of individuals isn’t the goal of the ACLU, and never has been. Establishing communism is the goal.

3. ACLU Defends Youthful Terrorists : Stop The ACLU Says:
   May 20th, 2008 at 10:31 pm

   [...] Jules Crittenden weighs in. [...]

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