R2OK! Forum Index R2OK!
Contact R2OK! admin

Click here for R2OK! Website


 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Under 18 Year Old Soldiers Were Sent To Iraq

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    R2OK! Forum Index -> News and Current Affairs
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
mark occomore



Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 9955
Location: UK

PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:47 pm    Post subject: Under 18 Year Old Soldiers Were Sent To Iraq Reply with quote

Fifteen children have been deployed to fight in Iraq since June 2003, it has emerged.

The figure, given by Defence Minister Adam Ingram, was described as "shocking" by the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Ingram said the "vast majority" were deployed within a week of their 18th birthdays or were removed from theatre less than a week after arriving.

All were 17 years old, and as many as four were girls.

He said estimates showed fifteen 17-year-old personnel but no 16-year-olds were deployed to Iraq since a convention on children's rights was ratified in 2003.

Mr Ingram said: "None have been deployed since July 2005. Fewer than five of the 17-year-old personnel deployed were female.

"The vast majority of those that were deployed were within one week of their 18th birthdays or were removed from theatre within a week of their arrival."

In a written answer to the House of Commons, Mr Ingram said that new procedures had been introduced to ensure that under-18s were not deployed to warzones.

He added: "Unfortunately, these processes are not infallible ... there have been a small number of instances where soldiers have been inadvertently deployed to Iraq before their 18th birthday."

But Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Sarah Teather, who requested the information, called on Prime Minister Tony Blair to apologise.

She said: "This is an inexcusable blunder by the Government that reveals a shocking level of incompetence.

"There is no way people so young are mentally or emotionally prepared to face bloodshed on the scale seen in Iraq."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
iwarburton



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 2133
Location: Northumberland

PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Line from Barry McGuire's 1965 hit, Eve of Destruction:

You're old enough to kill but not for votin'.

Ian.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Cherskiy



Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 3701
Location: near Amble, Northumberland

PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

11 and 12-year old boys were blowing up Russian IS-2 and T-34 tanks with single-shot hollow charge rocket projectiles just under 62 years ago.

There are plenty of documented instances of 14 and 15 year old 'boy' soldiers and sailors in WW1 and WW2.

Lots of African armies and 'irregular' forces still draft kids wholesale today.

If you join up, you can be expect to be sent anywhere at any time - as the forces' saying goes: "if you can't take a joke, you shouldn't have joined".

If the politicos don't want our under-18s to serve abroad, they should block under-18s joining up in the first place.
_________________
Author: “To the Ends of the Earth: A Snapshot of Aviation in North-Eastern Siberia, Summer 1992”
(Free to read via Kindle Unlimited)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    R2OK! Forum Index -> News and Current Affairs All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group. Hosted by phpBB.BizHat.com