Military whining about law prohibiting them from training "gross human rights violators" [View all]

[cali]

A 16-year-old law that bars American aid to foreign security forces that violate human rights is drawing unusual fire from some top military commanders who say it undermines their ability to train the troops to fight militants and drug traffickers.

The rare dispute involving some of the military’s top uniformed officers, the State Department and a powerful Democratic senator is important because as the Obama administration winds down the war in Afghanistan and reins in the Central Intelligence Agency’s armed drone program, the Pentagon is increasingly training and equipping local security services to combat militants in their countries so American troops do not have to.

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At issue is the so-called Leahy amendment, a 1997 provision to a foreign aid bill named after its author, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, which bars the United States from providing training or equipment to foreign troops or units who commit “gross human rights violations” like rape, murder or torture.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/us/politics/military-says-law-barring-us-aid-to-rights-violators-hurts-training-mission.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0