As I wrote about on Sept. 27th, President Obama is a master of the art of empty rhetoric. He delivers stirring, albeit teleprompted, speeches with passionate conviction. Unfortunately, as we’ve learned over the last four years, his actions rarely match his high-minded oratory.
 
In the same speech at the Clinton Global Initiative that I’d mentioned in my earlier post, commendably, Mr. Obama had this to say about the disgraceful practice of forcing children to serve as armed combatants in many African and Middle Eastern countries ~

“When a little boy is kidnapped, turned into a child soldier, forced to kill or be killed — that’s slavery. It is barbaric, and it is evil, and it has no place in a civilized world.”

Those remarks were made on October 3rd. Three days later their vacuity became apparent when, as Bryana Johnson reported in the Washington Times – Communities;

President Obama signed a Presidential memorandum waiving the sanctions that the CSPA (Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2008) imposes on the nations of Libya, Yemen and South Sudan, and partially waiving the sanctions imposed on the Congo, thus authorizing the US to sell weapons to four nations that would not be eligible to receive military aid from the US under the CSPA. Four of only six nations on the State Department’s list of foreign governments that recruit and use child soldiers.

 
The CSPA was specifically drafted to help stop countries from recruiting children into the armed services ~

This bill passed both houses of Congress unanimously and was signed into law by former President Bush, making it a federal crime to recruit or use soldiers under the age of 15. The law also gave the US authority to “prosecute, deport or deny entry to individuals who have knowingly recruited children as soldiers.” Needless to say, international human rights organizations applauded the bill enthusiastically.

 
Unbelievably, this is the third year in a row that the president has waived the law for individual countries. Included for the first time this year was Libya. (Hey! Isn’t that the place where radical jihadists recently murdered our ambassador and three other Americans?!) Yet, as Daniel Greenfield points out; Obama Waives Child Soldiers Law for Muslim Brotherhood’s Libyan Forces ~

During the (recent) Libyan Civil War both sides used child soldiers, but the rebels were particularly notorious for the use of child soldiers. Particularly the Muslim Brotherhood’s Feb 17 Brigades.

 
Johnson’s article continues with this:

Jesse Eaves, a senior policy advisor for child protection at World Vision, expressed disappointment over this action by the President, saying, “At a time when Congress is locked in one of the most difficult budget battles I’ve ever seen, it is shameful that a portion of federal funding continues to help support governments who are abusing children. At its core, this is a missed opportunity to show leadership on this issue and protect thousands of vulnerable children around the world. Frankly, we expected more from our nation’s leaders.”

 
Yes, we certainly expected more than this blatant hypocrisy!

 
Too bad these third world child soldiers don’t fit in with Obama’s fairytale parentage hyperbole like Trayvon Martin did.