Shane Smith, Thomas Morton, and Ryan Duffy's documentary Vice
Shane Smith, Thomas Morton, and Ryan Duffy's documentary Vice examines how the Taliban uses youngsters as human shields, bomb-makers, and suicide bombers. This conversation will be centered on the first episode of Vice's first season, in which the team traveled to the Philippines and Afghanistan to examine how young people are involved in terrorism. It was election season in the Philippines, and rival factions were using the kids to carry out political assassinations. Even though there were and still are gun control regulations in the Philippines, children as young as thirteen might be seen carrying weapons around. Because of their innocence, it would be hard to suspect that a kid could be used to carry out a political assassination hence their involvement. In Afghanistan, the reporters noted that the Taliban had radicalized small children to carry out suicide bombings in densely populated areas (Smith, Maher & Moretti, 2013). Notable heads of the Taliban confirmed they use the children because they are not easy to detect and it would be hard to know their identity. The scenes exhibited in the Philippines and Afghanistan are horrifying and calls for drastic actions not only by the United States but by other countries as well. This essay will look into the measures the United States can take to reduce the use of children in political assassinations and suicide bombings.
International Criminal Court (ICC)
There exist international organizations that can be used to make sure that people who involve children to carry out terror activities are arrested and prosecuted. One such organization is the International Criminal Court (ICC). The United States can use its resources to make sure that the ICC is efficient in arresting and prosecuting these people. Many countries do not belong in the ICC, and therefore it leaves a leeway for exploitation by political players in different countries because they are only answerable to laws that exist in their own country. People using children to carry out these atrocities in many cases are big players in their country, which makes it almost impossible to prosecute them. By making sure that countries are listed in the ICC, then it will make sure that people who force children to carry arms like Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, are arrested and prosecuted by the ICC.
Strict International Gun Laws
The guns in the Philippines and Afghanistan are not produced in these countries. Many of them are supplied from other countries using questionable companies. Most of them are smuggled through the porous borders making their way to these countries. There are gun laws for instance in the Philippines, but these laws are not followed. What the United States can do is to come up with strict international gun laws that regulate the importation of arms to porous countries like the Philippines and Afghanistan. Countries that do not adhere to these laws should be slapped with UN sanctions.
Improving Surveillance Systems
The United States should also improve its surveillance systems to monitor cases of radicalization. In Afghanistan for instance, known leaders heavily radicalized children. By increasing its surveillance systems, the United States will be able to identify individuals involved in child radicalization and call for their arrest and prosecution and if this is not possible, then execution.
International Collaboration
For these measures to take effect, it calls for the goodwill of all countries because if this lacks, then the United States alone cannot curb the involvement of children in terror activities. As such, the US needs to call all players on the table, gain their trust and involvement in fighting this vice.
References
Smith, S., Maher, B., & Moretti, E. (2013). Vice. Hollywood: HBO Entertainment.
