Reply #34: Not according to the UN [View All]

The Optional Protocol raises the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities
to 18 years from the previous minimum age of 15 years specified in the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and other legal instruments. The treaty also
prohibits compulsory recruitment by government forces of anyone under 18 years
of age, and calls on State Parties to raise the minimum age above 15 for voluntary
recruitment, and to implement strict safeguards when voluntary recruitment of
children under 18 years is permitted. In the case of non-state armed groups, the
treaty prohibits all recruitment – voluntary and compulsory – under age 18.

http://www.unicef.org/emerg/files/option_protocol_conflict.pdf

Khadr was indoctrinated into this life from early childhood by a jihadist father. He did what he was taught to do and WAS a child soldier. Of course the U.S. even though they helped draft it can ignore the protocol because, other Somalia, it is the only nation that hasn't ratified it.