As the junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama co-sponsored a bill to restrict the U.S. government's military support of countries that use children as soldiers. But President Obama has waived those very same sanctions in the name of "national interest," bypassing the findings of a State Department report and allowing millions of dollars in military aid to flow to countries where children as young as 11 have been conscripted to fight — many of whom have died in one bloody conflict after another.
The announcement of a Justice Department investigation into a flurry of high-level leaks that have compromised U.S. national security has done nothing to allay concerns in Congress. As the probe moves forward, one thing is clear: The White House needs to get its story straight.
The leader of the government regularly sits down with his senior generals, spies and advisers and reviews a list of the people they want him to authorize their agents to kill. They do this every Tuesday morning when the leader is in town.
NEW YORK — Two new studies into the problem of child soldiers turn their ire on the United States, charging that the Pentagon is so hungry for enlistments that it is allowing officials to violate U.S. and international laws prohibiting the recruitment of minors for military service.
NEW YORK — The Pentagon is so hungry for new enlistments that it is allowing officials to violate U.S. and international laws prohibiting the recruitment of minors for military service, according to two new reports on child soldiers.
