The British Army is in hot water. It's been caught sending teens to Iraq in violation of the Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict that Britain signed on to in 2003.
The Protocol forbids signatories from deploying soldiers younger than 18 in combat zones.
The British Ministry of Defence acknowledges having sent at least 15, 17-year olds to Iraq. Four were female.
Boy Soldiers have been a part of the British Army as far back as the Duke of Wellington and beyond. Parents until quite recently were able to sign their sons into the Boy Apprentice programme as young as age 14. The Royal Navy had a similar programme.
This is a real problem for the British Army. Retention rates are falling and the combat ranks are severely strained meeting Britain's committments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Teenagers, 16 and 17, have become a mainstay of British recruiting. More than half who joined last year were under 18.
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