Essay: Military Intervention to Protect Children

Sample Essay

Words 2,130

In addition the children, having learned no other response to challenging situations than violence, may fall into lives of crime in the absence of intensive rehabilitation efforts (Achvarina & Reich, 2006).

The question whether the use of child soldiers in a conflict justifies military intervention in that conflict by global powers is tied to a larger question; the question of whether military intervention is ever justified. I believe that in the world, as it exists today, there can be no justification for military intervention.

Imperialism, while being based on such motivations as mercenary goals and amoral nationalistic pride, frequently strives to present itself as a humanitarian project. During the colonial era when various European powers such as France, Britain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Italy conquered various parts of Africa, dividing the continent among themselves and pilfering its resources, this was interpreted as the ‘White Man’s Burden’ to bring civilization to the ignorant savages of Africa. The Europeans presented themselves as a long suffering put upon race that nature had entrusted with the difficult task of civilizing the others (Welsh, 2006)

Western nations have a particularly brutal colonial past in Africa. This colonial past means that Africans are very protective of their independence and wary of outside intervention, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) for example, was formed by African nations in order to protect Africa from conflicts that could be used as a pretext for outside intervention (Welsh, 2006)

The colonial past also means that any attempts at intervention are naturally seen as neo-colonialism and provoke popular opposition the popular uprising in Côte d’Ivoire in 2004 against French peacekeepers can be seen as an example of this (Nanga, 2005).

The French intervention in Rwanda in 1994, while ostensibly for humanitarian…..

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