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Hey folks,
I suspect that everybody in this forum recognizes the name above. His efforts to end the genocide in Rwanda have earned the respect of nearly every Canadian; his suffering in the aftermath is, however, something that perhaps only the veterans in the community can truly appreciate.
The retired Lieutenant-General’s efforts to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers are somewhat less well-known. Since he recently released a book describing the extent of this issue and the strategies in development to counter it, I thought that I would take a moment to briefly discuss his work. I had also hoped to solicit some feedback from the community here. Thoughts, opinions, tirades, descriptions of experiences – anything more eloquent than name-calling, really – would be welcome.
Titled “They Fight like Soldiers, They Die like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers”, the book begins with a look at the rationale for employing (enslaving?) child soldiers. Dallaire explains how socioeconomic conditions can facilitate the recruitment of child soldiers; how it can be “practical” to hide experienced adult soldiers behind a frontline of armed children; how overpopulation and poverty have made children as easily replaceable as the small arms they carry.
In the subsequent sections, the book outlines the successes and failures of previous attempts to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate child soldiers into (often unstable) societies. The challenges are both obvious and familiar. Can a child-turned-sociopath be rehabilitated? If so, can this rehabilitated child be forgiven by the community that he / she victimized? We need only consider our own opinions of Omar Khadr to realize how complex the issue is.
Dallaire ends on a note of tempered optimism as he discusses his own work with the Child Soldiers Initiative (run out of Dalhousie University, in Halifax!). The organization’s primary objective is of particular importance to us: “the continued enhancement of a practical field guide for missions at the operational and tactical levels”. My understanding was that this guide would help focus the efforts of both the bureaucrats in the boardroom and the soldiers in the shit so that nobody would be left waiting for new orders, ROE, supplies or information.
The book, though slow in parts and occasionally unnecessarily prolix (an ironic criticism, given my writing style), is extraordinarily informative for people like myself who know little to nothing about this issue. I was surprised to find that Dallaire used a combination of fiction and non-fiction – disappointed, even – but I suspect that this was a tactical decision made by a man frequently forced to balance the utilitarian demands of military brass with the humanitarian demands of NGO representatives. The statistics and analysis presented in the non-fiction sections provide an intellectual reason to care about this issue; the stories told in the fiction sections provide an emotional impetus to act.
One of Dallaire’s tales is told from the perspective of a UN peacekeeper obligated to neutralize a child soldier. After reading it, I found myself wondering how I would react. I pictured myself a Private in the heat of a firefight, tired and anxious, but alert and functional. Would I hesitate, or would training and adrenaline blind me to the age of my target? Would the soldier’s youth compact my guilt? Would it haunt me? Or would I suffer no more than if I had eliminated an adult combatant? I can visualize all this perfectly. But there is no emotion without experience. These images and words are just that.
So I invite the rest of the community to speak up on this issue. Those with experience and those without. Where do we stand on this issue?
I suspect that everybody in this forum recognizes the name above. His efforts to end the genocide in Rwanda have earned the respect of nearly every Canadian; his suffering in the aftermath is, however, something that perhaps only the veterans in the community can truly appreciate.
The retired Lieutenant-General’s efforts to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers are somewhat less well-known. Since he recently released a book describing the extent of this issue and the strategies in development to counter it, I thought that I would take a moment to briefly discuss his work. I had also hoped to solicit some feedback from the community here. Thoughts, opinions, tirades, descriptions of experiences – anything more eloquent than name-calling, really – would be welcome.
Titled “They Fight like Soldiers, They Die like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers”, the book begins with a look at the rationale for employing (enslaving?) child soldiers. Dallaire explains how socioeconomic conditions can facilitate the recruitment of child soldiers; how it can be “practical” to hide experienced adult soldiers behind a frontline of armed children; how overpopulation and poverty have made children as easily replaceable as the small arms they carry.
In the subsequent sections, the book outlines the successes and failures of previous attempts to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate child soldiers into (often unstable) societies. The challenges are both obvious and familiar. Can a child-turned-sociopath be rehabilitated? If so, can this rehabilitated child be forgiven by the community that he / she victimized? We need only consider our own opinions of Omar Khadr to realize how complex the issue is.
Dallaire ends on a note of tempered optimism as he discusses his own work with the Child Soldiers Initiative (run out of Dalhousie University, in Halifax!). The organization’s primary objective is of particular importance to us: “the continued enhancement of a practical field guide for missions at the operational and tactical levels”. My understanding was that this guide would help focus the efforts of both the bureaucrats in the boardroom and the soldiers in the shit so that nobody would be left waiting for new orders, ROE, supplies or information.
The book, though slow in parts and occasionally unnecessarily prolix (an ironic criticism, given my writing style), is extraordinarily informative for people like myself who know little to nothing about this issue. I was surprised to find that Dallaire used a combination of fiction and non-fiction – disappointed, even – but I suspect that this was a tactical decision made by a man frequently forced to balance the utilitarian demands of military brass with the humanitarian demands of NGO representatives. The statistics and analysis presented in the non-fiction sections provide an intellectual reason to care about this issue; the stories told in the fiction sections provide an emotional impetus to act.
One of Dallaire’s tales is told from the perspective of a UN peacekeeper obligated to neutralize a child soldier. After reading it, I found myself wondering how I would react. I pictured myself a Private in the heat of a firefight, tired and anxious, but alert and functional. Would I hesitate, or would training and adrenaline blind me to the age of my target? Would the soldier’s youth compact my guilt? Would it haunt me? Or would I suffer no more than if I had eliminated an adult combatant? I can visualize all this perfectly. But there is no emotion without experience. These images and words are just that.
So I invite the rest of the community to speak up on this issue. Those with experience and those without. Where do we stand on this issue?
