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04/26/2003 Entry: "Boy soldiers"
Even more unbelievable than the story below is the news that there are three children being held at Guantanamo Bay. The boys, aged between 13 and 15 are being held as enemy combatants after being captured in Afghanistan. On the radio today the General in charge of Camp Delta was quoted as saying that they had been coerced into fighting. It is hardly surprising that there has been a certain amount of disapproval at the imprisonment.Can it really be right to hold children this way?
Replies:
I'm sorry but this is starting to look like Hitler. I don't think it's just Bush but a bunch of folks, many of whom back Israel with a vengence. They don't value human life, period.
This is a racist war in which they literally want to wipe out anybody who wants justice for Arab people. There is no justice for the Arab people.
I've even heard an Israeli say that Rachel Corrie deserved to die because she sympathised with the Arab people, who are all terrorists, by the way! (he thinks)
This evil has to be seen for what it is. It's already out of hand.
I don't view myself as an activist but I don't think we can stand idly by. If you don't already read Znet, you might want to check it out. They are in the process of uniting much of the peace movement and even the Zapatista Army of National Liberation from Mexico has signed on.
I don't think we can ignore the voices of people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and of course Jesus. What if we studied the principles they taught and put them into practice on a big scale. (not as a means to an end but because they call us to truth.) It all comes down to individuals.
If the driving force of all this violence is $$, we can band together and vow to reduce consumption, and use our dollars for local business verses the big corporations. People are starting to refuse to pay federal taxes. What else can we do to stop this?
Posted by Laura @ 04/27/2003 05:13 PM CST
Nothing really surprises me anymore, especially with respect to American foreign policy. Did anyone else hear the bit by Clare Rainer on Radio 4 about this subject?For those who missed it, here it is (not completely accurate as taken down from the radio, but you hopefully will get the gist, the original can be found on the Radio 4 site under the latest Broadcasting house):
‘Hello, I’m Clare Rainer, you may have heard in the news this week that a small number of children are being held at the US Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay. There is thought to be at least three of them, they are aged between the ages of 13 and 16. They were picked up as enemy commandants in Afghanistan but the US military admit these children have been physically and mentally abused and forced to act as child soldiers. However they have been held for three months in the Annexe at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, where the US has been holding detainees indefinitely and with out charge since the end of the Afghanistany war.
As far as we can judge the children have not been charged with anything, not received legal representation, there is no sign to the end of there captivity and there families have no idea where they are. They have to al intense and purposes disappeared and that is why I am appealing to you today at the end of a long Easter break, where we’ve all been in the company of youngsters for hours at a stretch, why not give yourself a break send your own an your neighbours children to Guantanamo Bay.
Even the most loving parent’s tire of little ones through their screaming, arguing and constant demands. Now we can send them off to US Naval Base and never have to think about them again. Even if they’ve been naughty only once they clearly pose a threat to America so they will be accepted to Guantanamo Bay.
If you have ever physically or mentally abused your child don’t worry, their sure to look after them no questions asked and of course there’s no need to worry about the British government meddling.
So don’t delay wrap up your kids in any old scraps of paper, even the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which America signed up to, or the UN Protocol on Child Soldiers which the American government ratified, then pop your child in the post to this address; US Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And you’ll never see your little darlings again. Thank you.’
Posted by Ruth @ 04/27/2003 03:47 PM CST
It's not right, but here in the US, in certain cases 13 year olds (I don't remember whether this has happened only once or more often) have been tried as adults for murder!So, sadly, it doesn't really surprise me that the US holds these boys in a war or afterwar situation.
Posted by Swan @ 04/27/2003 03:08 AM CST
