This video is called Amnesty International “Child Soldiers”.
From ANI news agency:
UK sent ‘child soldiers‘ to battlefronts in Iraq and Afghanistan despite govt. ban
Wednesday 19th October, 2011
British military chiefs reportedly sent four child soldiers to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan despite a Government ban.
Military chiefs ‘inadvertently’ sent the youngsters, all under 18, to fight on the frontline. It is understood the teenagers were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan where they risked being shot or blown up by homemade bombs, the Daily Mail reports.
The revelation led to outrage in the country because according to a United Nations accord, Britain is not supposed to send children on to battlefields. The London-based charity Warchild said: “Using kids as soldiers constitutes one of the most horrendous breaches of those rights and it is simply and unequivocally wrong.”
However, junior Defence Minister Andrew Robathan blamed the mistake on commanders preparing to send troops overseas.
Robathan, who was heavily criticised for failing to enshrine the Military Covenant in law before David Cameron personally intervened, said: “The pressures on units prior to deployment have meant there have been a small number of instances where service personnel have been inadvertently deployed to an operational theatre before their 18th birthday.
British dead and wounded in Afghanistan, month by month: here.
Britain’s boy soldier: Teenager, 17, lies about his age to fight Taliban (even though he’s too young to play Call of Duty computer wargame): here.
Military shouldn’t be let near our children: here.
At least 30 civilians have been reported killed by British forces between 2005 and last March, a Guardian investigation reveals: here.
Kabul’s ‘unnoticed’ child workers: here.
Afghanistan: Ten years of aimless war: here.
Ten Years After the Afghan Invasion: Welcome to the Failed State of Americastan: here.
Some Afghan ministers have embezzled millions: anti-graft chief: here.
Antiwar Blog: Obama Supported Child Soldiers Before He Was Against Them: here.
US Troop Deaths in Afghan War Under Obama Now Twice That Under Bush: here.
USA: There’s a growing sense in the U.S. Capitol that the private sector will have to do much more to help Congress ease chronically high unemployment among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan: here.
This video is called UN: Evidence of torture in Afghan prisons.
$3 to 5 trillion. Total economic cost of the Iraq war, according to economist Joseph E. Stiglitz: here.
Iraq war: Mission failed: here.
US President Barack Obama announced Friday that the remaining US troops in Iraq would be withdrawn from the country before the end of December, following the collapse of talks with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on extending the US presence into 2012: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Reblogged this on Basil Wheel.
LikeLike
Pingback: US marine apologizes for Fallujah atrocities | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Administrator on October 19, 2011 at 6:46 pm said:
Letters from the Swindon Advertiser in Britain:
http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/yoursay/swindonletters/9312001.War_in_Afghanistan_is_taking_too_many_lives/
War in Afghanistan is taking too many lives
2:34pm Tuesday 18th October 2011
With Wootton Bassett becoming Royal tomorrow, and the tenth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan with us, have the politicians or the world learned anything from the last ten years?
At the last count, 382 British servicemen and women have lost their lives and many more seriously injured, with loss of limbs etc, and more than 10,000 Afghan men, women and children have died, with probably the same number injured and thousands displaced.
The so called “war on terror” has been a complete failure. The idea of Western governments trying to reshape Afghanistan or any Arab/Middle East countries on so called Western democracy was a false idea from the start.
The Taliban – despite the politicians continuing to tell us that they are a weakened force with the killing of some of their leaders – will not be defeated. It is a complete stalemate and certain politicians won’t admit (publicly, at least, that it is an unwinnable war.
How many millions of people in this country, like myself, have had enough of the Government sending us into war?
I, for one, will be glad when this country starts to use my tax money to help save lives, rather than ending them.
Mark Webb Old Town Swindon
—–
Sub standard
I and several other standard bearers from across the town have been invited to take part in the celebrations for the ceremony of Wootton Bassett on Sunday, in which the Pricess Royal will give the town the title of Royal Wooton Bassett.
To take part is an honour and not to be taken lightly.
However, last night I received an email from the Royal British Legion person in charge, who proceeded to tell us the dress code for the RBL etc.
We are not allowed to wear a jacket and trousers, it has to be a suit, we have to wear the RBL badge in our beret, we have to have a haircut, we have to polish our shoes and we are not allowed to wear our veterans badges etc.
After 25 years in the Army, to receive such an email is not only a wind up but a joke.
Is this a parade for the town, or a showcase for the RBL?
As it is, I am told there were going to be about 60 bearers on parade, but you can’t take your cars so you have to use the park and ride, so all those lads will be in the queues for the bus carrying their standards.
What a joke.
T Reynolds Wheeler Avenue Swindon
LikeLike
Administrator on October 22, 2011 at 11:51 am said:
Reconstruction boss to face fraud charge
US: The former president of a US company surrendered on Thursday to face charges of overcharging the government for overseas reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
Derish Wolff faces one count of conspiracy to defraud the government and five counts of making false statements.
Prosecutors alleged that Mr Wolff led a scheme to overbill the government in connection with hundreds of millions of dollars in overseas construction projects.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/110997
LikeLike
Administrator on October 22, 2011 at 11:54 am said:
Fifth cut off term of killer soldier
US: The army has cut 2.5 years off the 12.5 year prison sentence of a soldier who pleaded guilty to killing a Taliban captive in Afghanistan.
Pfc David Lawrence could be released after about eight years. One assessment of his mental state diagnosed schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder but another found no severe mental illness.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/110997
LikeLike
Administrator on October 24, 2011 at 6:29 pm said:
It’s really happening. Yesterday, President Obama announced that the last troops will come home from Iraq by the end of this year1.
That’s 48,000 holidays that will be much happier this year. And a reason to celebrate for the millions of us who have been working to end this war since before it began.
In nine years, you’ve knocked on doors, attended rallies and vigils, called and emailed Congress countless times asking for this.
The losses have been hard to bear – more than 4,000 American soldiers killed, tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, $800 billion dollars gone forever.2 Our reputation around the world, and especially with the Middle East, has been forever tarnished by images of abu ghraib and Guantanemo.
But you never lost faith. You kept coming back to email and call because you shared a belief that America has more to offer the world than guns and bombs. That we can still be a place that offers every child a decent start; cares for the poor and elderly; and invests in an economy that works for the 99%.
We’ll need all that resolve and hope in the coming months: Even as we celebrate ending the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan – already the longest in our history – goes on and on. Even now there are pundits and politicians demanding that we send more troops and more money to Afghanistan, even as people here at home clamor for the jobs and opportunity we could create for a fraction of the price.
We’ve still got work to do, and lots of it, before we can say we’ve ended the disastrous legacy of these conflicts.
But for today – take a moment to savor the victory, hug a friend and revel in the simple fact that when we stand up together, there’s nothing in the world we can’t change.
Thanks,
Drew Hudson
USAction / TrueMajority
PS – if you’d like to share thoughts, memories and congratulations please stop by our Facebook page this weekend.
1 – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/world/middleeast/president-obama-announces-end-of-war-in-iraq.html?hp
2- http://www.thenation.com/article/164087/after-nearly-nine-years-war-and-occupation-america-withdraw-all-troops-iraq
USAction, 1825 K St. NW, Suite 210, Washington, DC 20006
LikeLike
Administrator on October 24, 2011 at 10:01 pm said:
Police scheme ‘a bottomless pit’
IRAQ: The US reconstruction watchdog in Iraq accused the State Department today of chucking cash meant to train Iraqi police into a “bottomless pit.”
A new report by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said that only 12 per cent of the money set aside for the programme will be spent on training officers.
Most of the rest will go towards security and other items for the US trainers.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/111092
LikeLike
Pingback: British soldiers accused of abusing Afghan children | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Kony 2012, humanitarianism or war? | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Chicago protest against NATO summit | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Jail Bush and Blair, Galloway says | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Demonstration against war profiteer Tony Blair | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Labour wants army in schools
The Labour Party wants to set up military schools all over the country. Shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg launched the plan last week, saying they will have a “distinct service ethos”. Ex-soldiers on the staff will give children “vocational” or “service” education.
The schools would be targeted on “communities with the greatest social and economic need”. These are the same poor areas that provide the army’s cannon fodder.
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=29072
LikeLike
Pingback: Anti-Abu Ghraib torture firm protester jailed | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: British child soldier recruitment | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: British government recruits child soldiers | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Young British soldiers traumatized by wars | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: British recruitment of child soldiers criticized | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Chickenhawk Tony Blair wants more dead British soldiers in Iraq | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Death penalty for British World War I child soldier | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: Dutch colonial army recruited child soldiers | Dear Kitty. Some blog