US backing war kids

By Joanna Carter

“One of the things I learned is how to kill with a knife.”

This is a statement from Ahmed, a 15-year-old Somali boy who received military training from his government starting at the age of 12. A Somali official also told a New York Times reporter, “I’ll be honest, we were trying to find anyone who could carry a gun.” Sadly, this is not isolated to one area, much less one boy.

There are conflicts and wars all over the world in which children fight in, whether it is decided by them or for them. Some children are simply messengers or cooks, but many are used for combative and sexual reasons. As a woman who has a deep love for children of all ages and strong protective and maternal instincts, it breaks my heart knowing children are used in such capacities.

However, there is even more than what you see on the surface concerning this boy. Not only is it quite chilling when coming from someone so young, it’s even more disturbing coupled with the fact that Ahmed’s, and much of Somalia’s other soldiers’, training comes from American military advisers. This means some of YOUR taxes that YOU pay to the American government are being used to train people to fight and kill that, if living in this country, wouldn’t even be old enough to drive a car by themselves. This is not only sickening, it’s infuriating.

Somali government officials admit that it cannot be guaranteed that American money is not helping fund this, and it has definitely caused a stir both on Capitol Hill and in the United Nations. It seems integral to note that two countries that have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a list of 54 articles, one of which expressly deals with prohibiting children under the age of 15 serving as soldiers, are the United States and Somalia.

According to Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, there are three laws that the good ol’ US may be breaking: the Durbin-Coburn Human Rights Enforcement Act, the Durbin-Coburn Child Soldiers Accountability Act, and the Child Soldier Prevention provision of Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. Senator Durbin wrote to Hillary Clinton saying “I recognize that the Somali Transitional Federal Government is trying to bring some measure of stability to that war-torn country. . . However, it should not do so on the backs of its precious children, and certainly not with the help of the American taxpayer.” I couldn’t agree with him more.

Although the United Nations’ Security Council has not really addressed the issue recently, a report was released by them in May accusing the rebel group known as al-Shabab and Somalia’s government of killing and maiming children. They show a willingness to sanction countries that use children in any military exploits. I hope they stick by this statement.