School Military Recruiting Could Violate International Protocol

[Echo In Light]

School Military Recruiting Could Violate International Protocol
by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - Pressed by the demands of the “global war on terrorism”, the United States is violating an international protocol that forbids the recruitment of children under the age of 18 for military service, according to a new report released Tuesday by a major civil rights group that charged that recruitment practices target children as young as 11 years old.

The 46-page report, “Soldiers of Misfortune“, http://www.aclu.org/intlhumanrights/gen/35245pub20080513.html which was prepared by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for submission to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, also found that the U.S. military disproportionately targets poor and minority public school students.

Military recruiters, according to the report, use “exaggerated promises of financial rewards for enlistment, undermines the voluntariness of their enlistment.” In some cases documented by the report, recruiters used coercion, deception, and even sexual abuse in order to gain recruits. Perpetrators of such practices are only very rarely punished, the report found.

“The United States military’s procedures for recruiting students plainly violate internationally accepted standards and fail to protect youth from abusive and aggressive recruitment tactics,” said Jennifer Turner of the ACLU Human Rights Project.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/14/8935/

[wmbrew0206]

1. This is a VERY BIG strech

First off, the US military is bound by US law, not international law. (The Genvea Conventions have been written into US Law, that is why US military members are bound by them).

Secondly, the interpretation of international treaties is largely left up to the Executive branch of government. The USSC has a history of deferring to the Executive branch went it rules on the interpretation of treaties. So if the Executive Branch says any treaty we signed does not prevent the military from recruiting in public schools, then the USSC will back them up.

Finally, the US Military cannot enlist anyone who is under 18 without parental consent. If there is parental consent, then the earliest someone can enlist is 17. Also, saying "exaggerated promises of financial rewards for enlistment, undermines the voluntariness of their enlistment.” is essentially saying "I was forced to enlist because of the benefits." Come, on.

I think the ACLU does a lot of great work, but they way off on this one.