Monday, October 10, 2016

Waiving morality

Memo from the White House securocrats --

Presidential Determinations with Respect to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, and Delegation of Authority Under Section 404(c) of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE 

SUBJECT: Presidential Determinations with Respect to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 Pursuant to section 404(c) of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, as amended (CSPA) (22 U.S.C. 2370c-1), I hereby determine that it is in the national interest of the United States to waive ... in part the application of the prohibition in section 404(a) with respect to South Sudan to allow for the provision of IMET, PKO assistance, and support provided pursuant to section 1208 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113-66), to the extent such assistance or support would be restricted by the CSPA.

In other words, the US government wants to continue military training and expenditures in support of peacekeeping to the government of South Sudan which would otherwise be blocked by the Child Soldiers Prevention Act because there's clear evidence of South Sudanese government forces using child soldiers. Note: the sense of impunity in South Sudan is so pervasive that Americans were specifically targeted for violence in July, while existing peacekeeping forces did nothing about it. But with the help of a sneaky memo, US military aid will continue.

The final assessment of Obama-era foreign policy will be a long one. South Sudan will on that list as a massive failure for which no one else -- not Russia, not a past invasion, and not a past obsession with the Middle East -- can be blamed.

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