The Bush administration this week reported on the number of juveniles currently being held in detention in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. The report, which is required under the terms of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, indicated that there are currently 500 juveniles being held in Iraq, 10 in Afghanistan and two in Cuba, whose status as juveniles is unclear. Given that we have been at war for nearly seven years, and given that our opponents observe no scruples about using juveniles, women, the mentally impaired, and even donkeys as suicide bombers, it is not surprising that many of those apprehended are juveniles. The vast majority are 16 or 17—technically juveniles but by no means “children.”

The ACLU, ever vigilant to defend the civil rights of non-Americans who were apprehended while trying to kill Americans, moaned that these juvenile prisoners were not being held in separate juvenile facilities. “Juveniles and former child soldiers should be treated first and foremost as candidates for rehabilitation and reintegration into society, not subjected to further victimization,” said the director of the ACLU’s human-rights program, Jamil Dakwar. I would suggest that an excellent way to avoid being victimized as detainees would be to refrain from trying to kill Americans and our Coalition friends. Meanwhile, why isn’t PETA raising a ruckus over the rights of the donkey?