In a February 4, 2008 article, Jane Sutton writes about Omar Khadr, who was captured at age 15.  He was compelled to fight by extremists who told him that the US was out to destroy his religion, Islam. He has been held without trial for 6 years.

The military assigned Navy Lt. William Kuebler to represent him in a recent proceeding that few lawyers would call a trial.  Lt. Kuebler nevertheless asked a military judge to throw out the charges against the Canadian detainee, saying that "He is a victim of al Qaeda, not a member of al Qaeda."

Children are not considered capable of voluntarily consenting to be combatants. 

Jane Sutton's article appears on Reuters.com