Kevin Lamarque
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to remove Iraq and Myanmar from a list of countries known for using child soldiers after overruling diplomats’ assessments of the situation, Reuters reported. Citing three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the report said Tillerson’s decision goes against the advice of high-ranking diplomats in Asia and the Middle East who said Myanmar and Iraq should remain on the list of the world’s worst offenders in exploiting child soldiers. Tillerson also shot down an internal proposal to add Afghanistan to the list, the officials said. One official said the decision appeared to have been at least partly motivated by the Pentagon’s desire to not risk jeopardizing assistance for the Iraqi and Afghan militaries in the fight against Islamist groups. The move, to be made public on Tuesday, is expected to bring further scrutiny to how President Trump’s White House is handling human rights issues.