What do the US and Somalia have in common?

[MOBIUS]

Apparently the US and Somalia are the only two countries in the World not to have signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child...

Can someone please tell me why this is the case?

At least Somalia has an excuse, being a lawless anarchy and a hotbed for international terrorism...

[Q Classic]

well, silly, it's because in the us, children are never abused.

[PLATO]

The UN is irrelevant, remember?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Look at it this way. The signatories include such notable bastions of human rights and stringent child labor law enforcement as Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia.

The fact that someone signs an international treaty is insignificant. It's what they do or fail to do that counts.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

We dont wanna sign it because it increases the minimum wage of soldiers from 16 to 18. The US army accepts recruits starting at the age of 16, and they dont want to change that.

[Lincoln]

Signing the latest UN treaty really is not the end of all of life's problems.

[Pekka]

What? US Army accepts 16 year olds? Under 18 year olds? Is this true?

[Lord Merciless]

Signing a piece of paper is easy. Every crook, liar, gangster, and charlatan can do that.

[Al B. Sure!]

no it doesn't... you can go to a military 'school' at 16...

[Pekka]

Albert Speer, ah, thanks for correction.

[Al B. Sure!]

though i think in the world wars the army did have 16 year old volunteers... hell there even was a 14 year old who claimed to be his older brother

[Al B. Sure!]

also i assume a 17 year old high school graduate (just a year early) would get accepted...

[Lawrence of Arabia]

16 is the minimum age you can enlist with the army.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Speer, you don't know what you're talking about. With written consent of a parent or legal guardian, a minor who is past his seventeenth birthday can enter the US Armed forces. Until not too long ago, the limit was sixteen, but the ability to meet recruiting quotas has upped the requirements, and most MOS require high school diplomas, however, non high school graduates can enlist regardless of age, they are just restricted in the MOS they can sign up for.

The youngest KIA in Vietnam was a 16 year old Marine.

[Al B. Sure!]

MtG:

what did I say? Army accepts 18 year olds generally but a 17 year old High school graduate will be accepted... i also said that the world wars did result in enlistment by 16 year olds...

if i dont know what i'm talking about then neither do you because you repeated me