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                                Coercion and Intimidation of Child Soldiers to Participate in Violence
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                                <h1>Coercion and Intimidation of Child Soldiers to Participate in Violence</h1><div class="barra"><hr></div><br>

                                <div class="hide_image" id="doc-img-8"><div class="screen"><div class="screen-image"><img src="imgs/childsoldiers.png"></div><div class="screen-overlay"></div></div>
                                <div class="label_photo"><p>A fourteen-year-old member of the AUC in Medellìn. Credits: Marcello Salinas.</p></div></div>
                                <div class="img_paragraph"><img src="imgs/childsoldiers.png">
                                    <div class="label_photo"><p>A fourteen-year-old member of the AUC in Medellìn. Credits: Marcello Salinas.</p></div></div>
                            
                                <h2>Introduction</h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                     <img id="hide_image3" src="imgs/childsoldiers.png">
                                    <p id="hide_label">A fourteen-year-old member of the AUC in Medellìn. Credits: Marcello Salinas.</p>
                                <p>Thousands of children under the age of 18 currently participate in armed conflicts in at least 18
                                countries worldwide, as part of government armies, paramilitaries, and armed opposition
                                groups. Since <span class="y1994">1994</span>, <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch"><span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Watch">
                                </iframe></a> has reported on the use and recruitment of child
                                soldiers in 15 countries. Both girls and boys are used as child soldiers. They serve as porters or
                                cooks, guards, messengers or spies. Many are pressed into combat, where they may be forced to
                                the front lines or sent into minefields ahead of older troops. Children have also been used for
                                suicide missions. In some conflicts, girls are raped, or given to military commanders as "wives."</p>


                                <p>Because children are often physically vulnerable, easily intimidated, and susceptible to
                                psychological manipulation, they typically make obedient soldiers. As part of their training for
                                violence, child recruits are often subject to grueling physical tasks as well as ideological
                                indoctrination. Children accused of the slightest infractions may be subject to extreme physical
                                punishments including beating, whipping, caning, and being chained or tied up with rope for
                                days at a time. In some conflicts, commanders supply child soldiers with <span class="Marijuana">marijuana</span> and <span class="Opiates">opiates</span>
                                to make them "brave" and lessen their fear of combat. Furthermore, commanders may initiate
                                child recruits by forcing them to witness or commit abuses and killings in order to desensitize
                                them to violence. Some children are forced to take part in atrocities against their own families
                                and neighbors to stigmatize them and ensure that they are unable to return to their
                                communities.</p>


                                <p>Many child soldiers are compelled to follow these orders under threat of severe punishment or
                                death. To coerce children to participate in combat and commit atrocities against civilians,
                                commanders not only use threats of violence against child recruits but also against their families
                                as well as the possibility of torture and death at the hands of the enemy. <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span>
                                investigations have also found that child recruits are often forced to physically punish and kill
                                other soldiers, including children, accused of desertion and other crimes. Child soldiers who
                                refuse to comply with orders may be severely beaten or threatened with execution. These
                                practices instill fear and guilt in the children and forewarn them of their fate should they
                                attempt to escape or fail to heed orders.</p>
                                <p>The use or threat of violence to compel child recruits to kill and torture other fighters and to
                                commit human rights violations against civilians is geographically widespread and common to
                                government armies, paramilitaries, and armed opposition groups. <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span> has
                                collected testimony to this effect in its investigations in <span class="location Africa" id="Africa">Africa</span>, <span class="location Asia" id="Asia">Asia</span> and the <span class="location Americas" id="Americas">Americas</span>.</p>


                                <p>The following examples are drawn from reports on child soldiers produced by <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights
                                Watch</span>. Full reports are available at <a href="https://www.hrw.org/en/topic/children039s-rights/childsoldiers">Human Rights Watch<a>.</p>
                                </div><br><br>
                                <h2><span class="location Angola" id="Angola">Angola</span></h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <p>Children recruited by the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNITA"><span class="UNITA">National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNITA">
                                </iframe></a> faced
                                harsh discipline for infractions and especially severe penalties for attempting to escape. To deter
                                desertion, commanders forced child recruits to watch and participate in the execution of
                                captured escapees. Children demobilized from <span class="UNITA">UNITA</span> forces in <span class="y1996">1996</span> explained that when one
                                child who had escaped was captured, the others would have to assist in his execution even if that
                                person were a family member.</p>
                                

                                <p><span class="JoaoF">João F.</span> told <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span>: "If you didn't comply with orders, you would be punished,
                                sometimes killed. Children were punished too. Myself, I was whipped twice for disobeying
                                orders. Other children were beaten with heavy sticks."</p>
                                

                                <p>See: Forgotten Fighters: Child Soldiers in Angola, April 2003.</p></div><br><br>
                                <h2><span class="location Burma" id="Burma">Burma</span></h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <p><span class="location Burma" id="Burma">Burma</span> has recruited tens of thousands of boys into its national army, typically by force, coercion
                                or intimidation. Boys are often told that if they refuse to join the army, they will be forced to go
                                to jail. Deliberately cut off from contact with their families, they are treated brutally by their
                                superiors and often prevented from fraternizing even among themselves. After training they are
                                sent off to distant battalions, where they are further brutalized by their commanders and taught
                                to view the local population as their enemy.</p>
                                <p>When a recruit is captured attempting to escape there is a standard punishment that seems
                                common to most of <span class="location Burma" id="Burma">Burma</span>'s training schools and has not changed in the last 10 years: the
                                trainee is paraded in front of his entire training company, who are then forced to line up and take
                                turns hitting him hard once or twice with a stick while officers or other trainees pin him down
                                and look on.</p>
                                

                                <p>Sai Seng described his experience of this in 2005, when he was 17:</p>

                                <blockquote>Only one person was caught. All 249 people had to beat him on the buttocks and the back
                                of his thighs with a green bamboo. I felt pity on my friend so I hit him lightly, and the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-commissioned_officer"><span class="NCO">NCO</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-commissioned_officer">
                                </iframe></a>
                                came and said, "Don't hit like that, hit like this" and hit me, and then made me hit my friend
                                again. Three sections [150 recruits] had already beaten him by then, and he was crying. The
                                <span class="NCO">NCO</span> was pinning his arms down with his back to me, so I couldn't see his face, he was face
                                down with his legs in the stocks. He was bloody because sometimes the sticks broke when
                                they hit him. After the beating the <span class="NCO">NCO</span>s carried him to the barracks with his legs still in
                                the stocks, and laid him on the cement floor without a mat. He died that night. His name
                                was <span class="ThetNaingSoe">Thet Naing Soe</span>, he was 18. After that the <span class="NCO">NCO</span>s said, "If you run away we'll do the same
                                to you."</blockquote>

                                <p><span class="SaiSeng">Sai Seng</span>, a 16-year-old <span class="Shan">Shan</span> farmer who was taken as a porter in mid-<span class="y2001">2001</span> and then forced into
                                the army, told <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span> in <span class="y2002">2002</span>,</p>


                                <blockquote>After a while the soldiers couldn't bear it anymore and they ran away. When people ran
                                away, if they recaptured them we students had to beat them. There were 200 people in our
                                group, and every one of us was ordered to hit him one time with a cane stick. If we said
                                anything they hit us. The reason is for us to know that if we run away later we will get
                                beaten like that too. After the beating, if he couldn't stand up anymore he was just left
                                laying on the concrete like that. Sometimes they were unconscious.</blockquote>

                                <p>Child recruits sent to their first combat operation were often so afraid that they were unable to
                                use their weapon or attempted to retreat. Fear of beatings or death at the hands of their
                                commanders prevented them from escaping.</p>

                                <p><span class="KhinMaungThan">Khin Maung Than</span> was 12 years old when he was first deployed into combat:</p>

                                <blockquote>I was afraid that first time. The section leader ordered us to take cover and open fire. There
                                were seven of us, and seven or ten of the enemy. I was too afraid to look, so I put my face in
                                the ground and shot my gun up at the sky. I was afraid their bullets would hit my head. I
                                fired two magazines, about forty rounds. I was afraid that if I didn't fire the section leader
                                would punish me.</blockquote>

                                <p><span class="AungZaw">Aung Zaw</span>'s commander threatened to kill him if he attempted to retreat during his first combat
                                exposure:</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>I can't remember how old I was the first time in fighting. About 13. That time we walked
                                into a <span class="Karenni">Karenni</span> ambush, and four of our soldiers died. I was afraid because I was very young
                                so I tried to run back, but [the captain] shouted, "Don't run back! If you run back I'll shoot
                                you myself!"</blockquote>
                                

                                <p>Child recruits interviewed by <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span> reported being forced to participate in
                                human rights violations against civilians, including forced labor, beatings and summary
                                executions. Forced to carry heavy loads of ammunition and other supplies, the civilians often
                                have trouble keeping up with the army column. The rank and file soldiers in charge of them,
                                afraid of the beatings and other punishments they face if they fall behind, become desperate and
                                try to do whatever is necessary to keep the porters moving. <span class="TheinOo">Thein Oo</span> often saw villagers beaten
                                by his commanders during forced labor; "I didn't like it but I was afraid of my commander. If I
                                protested I'd be beaten by my commander, 2 <span class="LieutenantKyawMyintThein">Lieutenant Kyaw Myint Thein</span>."</p>
                                

                                <p>Child soldiers are also compelled to take part in the destruction of villages in areas where the
                                army is pursuing a scorched earth policy. From the time of his recruitment at age thirteen in <span class="y1995">1995</span>
                                until he fled the army in late <span class="y2001">2001</span>, <span class="MoeShwe">Moe Shwe</span> says, "I saw it twelve times. There were some <span class="Karen">Karen</span>
                                soldiers in the village, or if there's a battle near a village we burned the village." When asked if he
                                actually torched houses himself, he answered, "Yes, three times. About two or three houses each
                                time. We had to do it. We were ordered. If not they'd punch me. I felt very sorry and unhappy,
                                because I thought that if my house were burned like this there would be a lot of problems for my family and me."</p>
                                

                                <p>See: "My Gun Was as Tall as Me": Child Soldiers in Burma, October 2002, and Sold to Be Soldiers:
                                The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma, October 2007.</p></div><br><br>
                                
                                <h2><span class="location Colombia" id="Colombia">Colombia</span></h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <p>As part of their training, children recruited by the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Armed_Forces_of_Colombia"><span class="FARC-EP">Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
                                (FARC-EP)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Armed_Forces_of_Colombia">
                                </iframe></a> and paramilitary forces in <span class="location Colombia" id="Colombia">Colombia</span> have been asked to kill captured enemy soldiers
                                as well as other child recruits, including friends, to prove their loyalty. <span class="Bernardo">Bernardo</span>, who joined
                                paramilitaries as a seven-year-old street child, told <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span>,</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>They give you a gun and you have to kill the best friend you have. They do it to see if they
                                can trust you. If you don't kill him, your friend will be ordered to kill you. I had to do it
                                because otherwise I would have been killed.</blockquote>

                                <p>Seventeen-year-old <span class="Adolfo">Adolfo</span>, also recruited by paramilitaries, described his initiation:</p>

                                <blockquote>I was really scared at first. The first test they give you is to kill a man, a guerrilla. Bring me
                                so and so, they say, so that he can learn. And they bring you and tell you to kill the man. If
                                you don't kill him, they will kill you. They used to bring guerrillas captured in <span class="location Caquetá" id="Caquetá">Caquetá</span> to
                                the camp, and tie them up by the hands and legs and a man would come up with a
                                chainsaw, and slice them piece by piece. Everybody could watch. I must have seen it ten
                                times. It's part of the training.</blockquote>


                                <p>Fellow combatants who desert or are accused of infractions are treated harshly. Child recruits
                                are expected to watch and often to participate in such punishments. <span class="Mauricio">Mauricio</span> had been in the
                                <span class="FARC-EP">FARC-EP</span> for four years and had won a command without killing anybody. Then he was sent to
                                find and bring back a deserter who had been spotted in town by the militia:</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>We went to his house and picked up him, then brought him back to the camp. There, they
                                held a war council. He had a defender, but everyone knew what the verdict was going to be.
                                It was automatic. There was no real possibility that he would escape shooting. His crimes
                                were "theft from the movement and desertion," the most serious crimes of all. In the war
                                council, no one voted to save him. After the council, we went and dug his grave. Then we
                                brought him to the side of the grave. He closed his eyes, and I shot him in the head. I had
                                never executed anyone before, but this time I had to do it. If you don't do it, they'll kill you.</blockquote>

                                <p>Children recruited by paramilitary and guerilla groups are trained to treat their enemy's fighters
                                and sympathizers without mercy. As a result children witness and participate in grave violations
                                of human rights including torture and killings. Commanders often use these instances to initiate
                                and implicate children in violence. Many child soldiers expressed fear of being executed if they
                                did not comply with orders.</p>

                                <p>At 13, <span class="Laidy">Laidy</span>, recruited by paramilitary forces, shot a policeman in the head. "I felt happy
                                afterwards. I wanted to please the commanders. Because if you say no, they'll kill you."</p>

                                <p>Separated from their families and believing they will never be released or escape, many child
                                recruits believe they have no choice but to prove their loyalty to their commanders and fellow
                                combatants by participating in killings and other grave abuses.</p>
                                

                                <p>See: "You'll Learn Not To Cry": Child Combatants in Colombia, September 2003.</p>
                                </div><br><br>
                                <h2><span class="location Liberia" id="Liberia">Liberia</span></h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">

                                <p>Many children were recruited into armed groups and government forces during the conflict in
                                <span class="location Liberia" id="Liberia">Liberia</span>. Some children saw their parents killed and believed they had no options but to join
                                armed groups for safety or survival. Some were forcibly recruited. Some joined because of
                                starvation so they would be fed by a warring faction. <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span> received testimony
                                that both rebel and government affiliated forces including the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Patriotic_Front_of_Liberia"><span class="NPFL">National Patriotic Front of Liberia
                                (NPFL)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Patriotic_Front_of_Liberia">
                                </iframe></a>, <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Liberation_Movement_of_Liberia_for_Democracy"><span class="ULIMO">United Liberian Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Liberation_Movement_of_Liberia_for_Democracy">
                                </iframe></a>, <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_National_Patriotic_Front_of_Liberia"><span class="INPFL">Independent National
                                Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_National_Patriotic_Front_of_Liberia"></iframe></a>, and <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_Liberia"><span class="AFL">Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_Liberia">
                                </iframe></a> threatened, beat, and
                                tortured children to force them to witness and participate in atrocities against combatants and
                                civilians.</p>
                                

                                <p>Child soldiers and their counselors told <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span> that children were frequently
                                severely mistreated by the warring factions. <span class="KN">KN</span>, a 13 year old recruited by the <span class="NPFL">NPFL</span> in <span class="y1993">1993</span>, told
                                <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span>:</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>They treated me very bad. They didn't take care of me. They beat me with a cartridge belt if
                                I put my gun down.
                            </blockquote>

                                <p>The treatment of child soldiers was described by a social worker as follows:</p>

                                <blockquote>The kids got very harsh treatment. First of all, boys from both factions have told us that
                                there were initiation procedures when they joined in which they were forced to kill or rape
                                someone or perform some other atrocity, like throwing someone down a well, or into a
                                river. This was supposed to demonstrate that they were brave enough to be soldiers.
                                Anyway, they were told that they would be shot if they didn't do it. <br> Then many of them have told us that they were beaten if they spoke up and were
                                threatened with torture as punishment for doing something they weren't supposed to do. It
                                was not just <span class="NPFL">NPFL</span> and <span class="ULIMO">ULIMO</span> that beat the kids; <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Community_of_West_African_States_Monitoring_Group"><span class="ECOMOG">ECOMOG</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Community_of_West_African_States_Monitoring_Group">
                                </iframe></a> and the <span class="AFL">AFL</span> beat kids
                                severely, too, sometimes causing head or other injuries.</blockquote>
                                

                                <p>A counselor working with child soldiers also discussed their treatment by commanders:</p>

                                <blockquote>The factions use a kind of torture called "tabay," in which a person's elbows are tied together behind his back, and the rope is pulled tighter and tighter until his rib cage
                                separates. This was a form of punishment that was used with child soldiers, too.<br>>Kids have told us that they were actually forced to witness the execution of members of
                                their family or their friends. If they screamed or cried, they were killed. Boys have told us of
                                being lined up to watch executions and being forced to applaud. If you didn't applaud, you
                                could be next.
                            </blockquote>
                                <p>One child-care worker reported:</p>

                                <blockquote>
                                    Some children were the most vicious, brutal fighters of all. I once saw a nine-year-old kill
                                someone at a check-point. Children learn by imitation; they saw killings and then when
                                their commanding officers ordered them to kill, they did. Some of the kids killed out of
                                fear; they were told they would be killed if they didn't carry out orders to kill.
                            </blockquote>

                                <p>In <span class="y1990">1990</span>, 15-year-old <span class="FW">FW</span> was "arrested" by <span class="INPFL">INPFL</span> soldiers at a checkpoint and asked to join the
                                group, but he refused. He said he was then told to kill a captured <span class="AFL">AFL</span> soldier who was being
                                beaten. He refused. The <span class="INPFL">INPFL</span> fighters told him that he would be killed if he did not kill the
                                soldier. At knifepoint, he carried out the order.</p>
                                

                                <p>See: Easy Prey: Child Soldiers in Liberia, September 1994.</p></div><br><br>
                                <h2><span class="location Nepal" id="Nepal">Nepal</span></h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <p>To discourage child recruits from surrendering, <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism"><span class="Maoist">Maoist</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism">
                                </iframe></a> commanders informed children that they
                                will be tortured if captured by the army. Child soldiers also fear violence to themselves or their
                                families if they attempt to surrender.</p>
                                

                                <p>Eighteen-year-old <span class="Padma">Padma</span> told <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span> that her superiors tried to discourage her
                                from ever surrendering, warning her about the treatment she would receive from the <span class="NepaliArmy">Nepali army</span>:</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>
                                    The commanders told us never to surrender. They told us to throw the grenade that we had
                                into the troops and run away. When I said that I wouldn't be able to do that, they said that
                                the army would then arrest me, and if I surrender the army would torture and rape me.
                            </blockquote>
                                <p>When <span class="Padma">Padma</span> and several other <span class="Maoist">Maoist</span>s, including children, were followed by government forces
                                after the battle of Tensen, the group sought shelter in a house in a village. Harried by
                                government helicopters, their commanders first told them not to surrender and then essentially
                                abandoned them:</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>
                                    We were staying in the house with our commanders; they went out and started firing at the
                                helicopter, and they also told the others to come out. Then, when the second helicopter
                                arrived, the commanders just threw their weapons in the house and left. The commanders
                                told us to run and not to surrender, but we said we would surrender to the army. The
                                commanders were outside of the house, still trying to convince us to run, saying, You are
                                going to surrender, we cannot let this happen-we would rather kill you.' And then they shot
                                at the house once from a submachine gun, and ran away.
                            </blockquote>

                                <p>See: Children in the Ranks: The Maoists' Use of Child Soldiers in Nepal, February 2007.</p>
                            </div><br><br>
                                <h2><span class="location SierraLeone" id="SierraLeone">Sierra Leone</span></h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <p>During <span class="location SierraLeone" id="SierraLeone">Sierra Leone</span>'s civil war, child combatants armed with pistols, rifles, and machetes
                                actively participated in killings and massacres, severed the arms of other children, participated in
                                rapes, and beat and humiliated elderly people. Often under the influence of <span class="drugs">drugs</span>, they were
                                known and feared for their impetuosity, lack of control, and brutality. <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span>
                                documented instances in which children recruited to the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_United_Front"><span class="RUF">Revolutionary United Front (RUF)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_United_Front">
                                </iframe></a>
                                were compelled to commit abuses under threat of death or as a result of being drugged.</p>
                                

                                <p><span class="Abubakar">Abubakar</span>, a 17 year old <span class="RUF">RUF</span> child soldier demobilized in <span class="March2000">March 2000</span> was abducted outside the
                                demobilization camp and forced to rejoin the <span class="RUF">RUF</span> later that same year:</p>
                                <blockquote>
                                    It was not my wish to go fight, it was because they captured me and forced me ... There was
                                no use in arguing with them, because in the RUF if you argue with any commander they will kill you.
                            </blockquote>
                            
                                <p><span class="Abubakar">Abubakar</span> and others were often forced to commit abuses. In <span class="location RogberiJunction" id="RogberiJunction">Rogberi Junction</span>, their commander
                                ordered them to burn down the entire town after a counterattack on the <span class="RUF">RUF</span> by government
                                helicopters. He finally managed to sneak away from the <span class="RUF">RUF</span> and return to the demobilization
                                camp, which was evacuated to <span class="location Freetown" id="Freetown">Freetown</span> soon after.</p>
                                

                                <p>The <span class="RUF">RUF</span> frequently gave their fighters <span class="drugs">drugs</span>, <span class="marijuana">marijuana</span>, and <span class="alcohol">alcohol</span>. Many witnesses believe
                                that most of the group's atrocities were committed while fighters were under the influence of
                                these substances.</p>
                                

                                <p><span class="Lynette">Lynette</span>, 16, was abducted and held by the rebels for several days during which time she was
                                given <span class="drugs">drugs</span> in her food, and witnessed other abductees being lined up and injected with <span class="drugs">drugs</span>.
                                She recounted:</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>
                                    From the first day they drugged us. They showed me some powder and said it was <span class="cocaine">cocaine</span>
                                and was called <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-brown"><span class="brownbrown">brown-brown</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-brown"></iframe></a>. I saw them put it in the food and after eating I felt dizzy. I felt
                                crazy.<br>One day I saw a group of rebels bring out about 20 boys all abductees between 15 and 20
                                years old. They had them lined up under gunpoint and one by one called them forward to
                                be injected in their arms with a needle. The boys begged them not to use needles but the
                                rebels said it would give them power.<br>About 20 minutes later the boys started screaming like they were crazy and some of them
                                even passed out. Two of the rebels instructed the boys to scream, "I want kill, I want kill"
                                and gave a few of them kerosene to take with them on one of their burn house raids.</blockquote>

                                <p>See: Getting Away with Murder, Mutilation, Rape: New Testimony from Sierra Leone, July 1999, and
                                "Sierra Leone Rebels Forcefully Recruit Child Soldiers," May 2000.</p>
                                

                                <p>Child abductees in the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_Resistance_Army"><span class="LRA">Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_Resistance_Army"></iframe></a> are forced to beat and sometimes kill
                                civilians in looting operations, participate in the abduction of new children, and steal from and
                                burn houses in their home regions. Children are forced to witness and to participate in the
                                killings of other children, usually those who attempt to escape and are captured. The practice of
                                using the children to collectively kill fosters guilt and fear among them, and sends a powerful
                                message to the children of their potential fate if they attempt to escape. In addition, the brutal
                                tactics used to control children make their personal rehabilitation and reintegration into their
                                home communities more difficult.</p>
                                

                                <p>Many children interviewed by <span class="HumanRightsWatch">Human Rights Watch</span> were forced to participate in the beating or
                                trampling of fellow abductees. Some of the children, while fearing to refuse the orders of the
                                <span class="LRA">LRA</span>, nevertheless spoke with difficulty about performing these killings. <span class="JamesK">James K.</span> told <span class="Human
                                Rights Watch">Human Rights Watch</span>:</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>
                                    Just a few days before an air assault by <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_People%27s_Defence_Force"><span class="UPDF">UPDF (Uganda People's Defense Force)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_People%27s_Defence_Force"></iframe></a> helicopter
                                gunship, there was a group of children who escaped. Two girls, aged fourteen, were
                                captured. They were given to the group of child abductees and we were told that we must
                                kill them with clubs. Every one of the new recruits was made to participate. We were
                                warned that if we ever tried to escape, we would be killed in the same manner.
                            </blockquote>
                                <p>Twelve-year-old <span class="SusanA">Susan A.</span> reported being forced with a group of other girls to kill an adult
                                escapee:</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>
                                    I saw many dead bodies in the bush. One day, a man tried to escape. After he was caught,
                                four of us girls were forced to beat him to death. When we started crying, the <span class="LRA">LRA</span> told us
                                that if we cried, we would also be killed. The man pleaded with us, ‘You forgive me, you
                                sympathize with me, please let me live.' But the commander told him, ‘If you speak again,
                                we will cut you to pieces with a machete.'
                            </blockquote>
                                <p><span class="Susan">Susan</span>, a 16 year old abducted by the <span class="LRA">LRA</span>, was threatened with a gun when she refused to
                                participate in the killing of a fellow 
                                

                                <blockquote>
                                    One boy tried to escape, but he was caught. They made him eat a mouthful of red pepper,
                                and five people were beating him. His hands were tied, and then they made us, the other
                                new captives, kill him with a stick. I felt sick. I knew this boy from before. We were from
                                the same village. I refused to kill him and they told me they would shoot me. They pointed
                                a gun at me, so I had to do it. The boy was asking me, "Why are you doing this?" I said I had
                                no choice. After we killed him, they made us smear his blood on our arms. I felt dizzy.
                                There was another dead body nearby, and I could smell the body. I felt so sick. They said we
                                had to do this so we would not fear death and so we would not try to escape.<br>I feel so bad about the things that I did ... It disturbs me so much--that I inflicted death on
                                other people ... When I go home I must do some traditional rites because I have killed. I
                                must perform these rites and cleanse myself. I still dream about the boy from my village
                                who I killed. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me and saying I killed him for
                                nothing, and I am crying.</blockquote>
                                <p>In combat operations many child soldiers who expressed fear or reservation were beaten by their
                                commanders into pressing ahead to the front lines. Even children without weapons were sent
                                forward to engage the enemy. Former child recruits witnessed large numbers of children killed
                                in such actions. <span class="Timothy">Timothy</span>, a 14 year old captured by the <span class="LRA">LRA</span>, recounted his experience in <span class="location Sudan" id="Sudan">Sudan</span>:</p>

                                <blockquote>I was good at shooting. I went for several battles in <span class="location Sudan" id="Sudan">Sudan</span>. The soldiers on the other side
                                would be squatting, but we would stand in a straight line. The commanders were behind us.
                                They would tell us to run straight into gunfire. The commanders would stay behind and
                                would beat those of us who would not run forward. You would just run forward shooting
                                your gun. I don't know if I actually killed any people, because you really can't tell if you're
                                shooting people or not. I might have killed people in the course of the fighting . . . . I
                                remember the first time I was in the front line. The other side started firing, and the
                                commander ordered us to run towards the bullets. I panicked. I saw others falling down
                                dead around me. The commanders were beating us for not running, for trying to crouch
                                down. They said if we fall down, we would be shot and killed by the soldiers.<br>In <span class="location Sudan" id="Sudan">Sudan</span> we were fighting the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinka_people"><span class="Dinkas">Dinkas</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinka_people"></iframe></a>, and other Sudanese civilians. I don't know why we
                                were fighting them. We were just ordered to fight.</blockquote>
                                

                                <p><span class="Charles">Charles</span>, a 15 year old abducted by the <span class="LRA">LRA</span> reported,</p>
                                

                                <blockquote>After training in <span class="location Sudan" id="Sudan">Sudan</span>, the rebels sent me back to <span class="location Uganda" id="Uganda">Uganda</span>. I was to be part of a group that
                                would attack trading centers in <span class="location Kitgum" id="Kitgum">Kitgum</span> and abduct new children. I was well-armed, a
                                soldier already. As we were returning, we were attacked by government soldiers. The
                                frontline was somewhere ahead of where I was, and the commander said, "Run, run to the
                                front-line!" It didn't matter whether you had a gun or not. If you did not run they would
                                beat you with sticks. Many children without guns had to run to the front.<br>You are not allowed to appear to be thinking too much. If you had a gun, you had to be
                                firing all the time or you would be killed. And you were not allowed to take cover. The
                                order from the Holy Spirit was not to take cover. You must have no fear, and stand up as
                                you run into fire. This was because they said you would be protected by the Holy Spirit if
                                you stood tall and had no fear. But if you took cover, the Holy Spirit would be angry and
                                you would be shot dead by all the bullets.<br>So many, so many were killed.</blockquote>

                                <p>See: The Scars of Death: Children Abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, September 1997,
                                and Stolen Children: Abduction and Recruitment in Northern Uganda, March 2003.</p>
                                </div><br><br>
                                <h2>Conclusion</h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <p>For many child soldiers, carrying out violent acts against other fighters or civilians is an
                                inescapable part of their experience. Even though some children initially "volunteer" to serve as
                                soldiers, they quickly learn that the penalties for leaving their group are severe, and may include
                                death. They realize that they are at the mercy of their commanders, and do what they believe
                                they must in order to survive. Children who engage in violence often believe they have no choice
                                but to follow orders, particularly if they have witnessed other children killed for disobedience, or
                                have been beaten or threatened themselves.</p>
                                <p>For children who eventually leave these armed forces and groups, rehabilitation and
                                reintegration into their home communities can be extremely difficult. They may be stigmatized
                                as a former child soldier, be rejected by family and communities members for acts that they have
                                committed as a fighter, and in some instances, be subject to reprisals for their actions or group
                                affiliation. They often have no marketable job skills, may be vulnerable to re-recruitment as a
                                child soldier, or turn to a life of crime. Sustained support is essential to help them successfully
                                reintegrate into their home communities. This includes access to educational and vocational
                                training programs, reuniting the child with family or extended family members where possible,
                                and in some cases, participating in restorative justice processes to help the child acknowledge
                                their actions and gain reacceptance by the community.</p>
                                </div><br>               
                                                                    
                                                                
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                                The Drugs of War—Captagon and the Islamic State
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                                <h1>The Drugs of War—Captagon and the <span class="Islamic">Islamic</span> State</h1><div class="barra"><hr></div>
                                <br>
                                <div class="hide_image" id="doc-img-7"><div class="screen"><div class="screen-image"><img src="imgs/captagon.png"></div><div class="screen-overlay"></div></div></div>
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                                    <img src="imgs/captagon.png"></div>

                                <p>One perennial challenge of writing about illicit <span class="narcotics">narcotics</span> is the dearth of hard data. While drug-trafficking organizations often maintain scrupulous records of their transactions, they have a pronounced disincentive to open these books to outsiders. And for a variety of reasons, the media, the counterdrug law-enforcement establishment, and elected political leaders all have incentives to overplay the problem.</p>

                                <p>In a dismayingly typical scenario, drug warriors will fill this information vacuum by conjuring up back-of-the-envelope figures, which the press will then gleefully repeat—at which point, the drug warriors will seek a budget increase, citing the press account, which has now accorded their data points the aura of established fact. (This configuration of mutually affirming incentives is sometimes described—by federal bureaucrats who are clear-eyed enough to admit it—as a self-licking ice cream cone.)</p>

                                <p>If there is fog in the drug war, there is more still in the actual armed conflagration that has consumed <span class="location Syria" id="Syria">Syria</span>, which is now entering its fifth year. And the violent fluidity of this conflict makes it all the more difficult to assess a wave of reports over the past several years about the significance of a little pill known as <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenethylline"><span class="Captagon">Captagon</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenethylline"></iframe></a>—an <span class="amphetamine">amphetamine</span> that is said to play a significant part in the <span class="CivilWar">civil war</span>.</p>
                                
                                <h3>According to numerous accounts, <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> has become immensely popular with the fighters of the Islamic State.</h3>
                                <p>According to numerous accounts, <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> has become immensely popular with the fighters of the <span class="IslamicState">Islamic State</span>. <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post">The <span class="WashingtonPost"><i>Washington Post</i></span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post"></iframe></a> says <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> is “fueling <span class="location Syria" id="Syria">Syria</span>’s war and turning fighters into superhuman soldiers.”1 According to other reports, the gunmen in the terrorist attack on <span class="location Paris" id="Paris">Paris</span> last <span class="November">November</span> had used the pills, which might explain what some observers described as their relentless, “zombie-like” focus during the assault.2 A series of alarming news stories have described the drug as a form of “chemical courage,”3 instilling those who take it with incredible strength and endurance, and the coldly robotic, fearless detachment that allows them to engage in a murderous rampage.</p>

                                <p>So far, so terrifying. But these stories are, to at least some degree, at odds with what we actually know about the <span class="drugs">drug</span>. To begin with, the very name <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> is something of a misnomer: there was an <span class="amphetamine">amphetamine</span> that was commercially manufactured under that name until the <span class="decade1980s">1980s</span>, when it was banned on the grounds that it was too addictive. The <span class="drugs">drug</span> is no longer manufactured under license, but it is still very widely produced, and variants of it can contain <span class="amphetamine">amphetamine</span> and <span class="caffeine">caffeine</span>, and sometimes also—reportedly—<span class="methamphetamine">methamphetamine</span> and <span class="ephedrine">ephedrine</span>.4 Like any <span class="amphetamine">amphetamine</span>, <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> boosts your energy and can increase your focus and help you to stay awake for long periods of time. It can also create a feeling of euphoria.</p>


                                <p>“The brigade leader came and told us, ‘This pill gives you energy. Try it,’” one former fighter told the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC"><span class="BBC">BBC</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC"></iframe></a>. “So we took it the first time. You feel physically fit. And if there were ten people in front of you, you could catch them and kill them. You’re awake all the time. You don’t have any problems. You don’t even think about sleeping. You don’t think to leave the checkpoint. It gives you great courage and power.” One former veteran of the Syrian war tells <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_(magazine)"><span class="NewYorkMagazine"><i>New York Magazine</i></span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_(magazine)"></iframe></a>: “Some people take so much, if you shoot them, they won’t drop.”6</p>


                                <p>What is curious about these reports is that, in terms of its chemical composition, <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> does not appear to be able to deliver these superhuman properties. Rather, it resembles other <span class="amphetamines">amphetamines</span>s that are widely used by American college kids with attention <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder"><span class="ADHD">deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder"></iframe></a>. It is considerably weaker, in fact, than a drug like <span class="Adderall">Adderall</span>.</p>


                                <p>Furthermore, according to <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_24"><span class="France 24"><i>France 24</i></span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_24"></iframe></a>, the reports about the <span class="ParisAttackers">Paris attackers</span> using <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> proved to be erroneous. A toxicology report demonstrated that none of the participants in the attacks were drugged. (The report found faint traces of <span class="cannabis">cannabis</span> and <span class="alcohol">alcohol</span> in the blood of two of the attackers, but the amounts were small enough that they would likely not have been ingested on the day of the attack.)</p>

                                <p>So how do we explain these reports? Is this an instance in which a sensationalist press is quick to recycle hysterical stories with no basis in reality? One interesting possible answer comes from <span class="CarlHart">Carl Hart</span>, a professor of psychiatry at <span class="location Columbia" id="Columbia">Columbia</span> who is an expert on <span class="drugabuse">drug abuse</span>. In reconciling the relatively weak chemical properties of the drug with the outsized claims made by those who have taken it, <span class="Carl Hart">Hart</span> says, “The people who think they’re feeling this way must have been told they’re taking <span class="SupermanPills">Superman pills</span>. So there could be a <span class="placeboeffect">placebo effect</span> going on.”</p>

                                <p>This would make sense: militaries around the world have supplied their soldiers with various chemical stimulants. The <span class="Nazis">Nazis</span> distributed millions of <span class="amphetamine">amphetamine</span> pills during <span class="WorldWarII">World War II</span>.9 The <span class="USAirForce">U.S. Air Force</span> still provides so-called <span class="gopills">“go pills”</span> to pilots so that they can remain awake on long flights. (These pills are generally <span class="Dexedrine">Dexedrine</span>.) A number of observers have pointed out that if <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> did, in fact, endow the user with superhuman strength, the <span class="USMilitary">U.S. military</span> would no doubt be dispensing the pills to its own special operators. But even if <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> simply provides energy and greater focus, there would be good reason for <span class="IslamicState">Islamic State</span> fighters to take it—and if the myth that the <span class="drugs">drug</span> makes you invincible takes hold, so much the better for them. If the <span od="placeboeffect">placebo effect</span> has the power to activate the <span class="braininnerpharmacy">“brain’s inner pharmacy,”</span>11 then <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> may end up providing courage, after all.</p>

                                <p>But there’s another interesting aspect to this theory: it’s not only the brigade leader who has an incentive to overplay the effects of the <span class="drugs">drug</span>, but the manufacturer, as well. A man who produces <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> at a factory in <span class="location Lebanon" id="Lebanon">Lebanon</span>’s <span class="location BekaaValley" id="BekaaValley">Bekaa Valley</span> and sells it to <span class="ISIL">ISIL</span> fighters told <span class="NewYorkMagazine"><i>New York</i></span>, “If you shoot someone on <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span>, they don’t feel it. And if someone takes many pills, like 30 or so, they become violent and crazy, paranoid, unafraid of anything.”12 If militants in <span class="location Syria" id="Syria">Syria</span> are indeed taking thirty pills at a time, they may well be experiencing unintended side-effects, but <i>of course</i> the manufacturer would be overselling the product (not to mention suggesting a colossal dosage). Informed that doctors doubt <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span>’s ability to produce the effects he is describing, the manufacturer responds, “Doctors are stupid. They don’t know anything.” He adds, “<span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> is driving the entire war.”</p>
                                </div>
                                <br><br>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <h3><span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> may not make you superhuman, but it is highly addictive. And it has long been a wildly popular drug in the <span class="location MiddleEast" id="MiddleEast">Middle East</span>.</h3>

                                <p>Is the manufacture and sale of <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> driving the war? <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> may not make you superhuman, but it is highly addictive. And it has long been a wildly popular drug in the <span class="location MiddleEast" id="MiddleEast">Middle East</span>. In <span class="y2014">2014</span>, the <span class="UNDOC">United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNDOC)</span> reported that half of all <span class="amphetamine">amphetamine</span> seizures worldwide were in the <span class="location MiddleEast" id="MiddleEast">Middle East</span>. Last year, a Saudi prince, <span class="AbdelMohsenBinWalidBinAbdulaziz">Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz</span>, was arrested in <span class="location Beirut" id="Beirut">Beirut</span> as he tried to smuggle forty suitcases of <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> into <span class="location Riyadh" id="Riyadh">Riyadh</span> on a private jet.14 Every year, tens of millions of <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> pills are seized in <span class="location SaudiArabia" id="SaudiArabia">Saudi Arabia</span> alone. Prior to the <span class="CivilWar">civil war</span>, <span class="location Syria" id="Syria">Syria</span> had a significant pharmaceutical industry that supplied the region, and there is evidence that since the advent of the war, there has been an increase in production of <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> inside <span class="location Syria" id="Syria">Syria</span>. According to the <span class="Guardian"><i>Guardian</i></span>, production of the drug in the <span class="location BekaaValley" id="BekaaValley">Bekaa valley</span> fell 90 percent between <span class="y2011">2011</span> and <span class="y2013">2013</span>, “with the decline largely attributed to production inside <span class="location Syria" id="Syria">Syria</span>.”</p>
                                

                                <p>If the armies of the <span class="IslamicState">Islamic State</span> are using the <span class="drugs">drug</span>, this would explain the uptick in production inside <span class="location Syria" id="Syria">Syria</span>, but it’s also important to remember the entrepreneurial tendencies of this group. <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> sells for $10 or more per pill,16 and if some recent seizures are any indication—such as the 17 million pills confiscated by <span class="DubaiPolice">Dubai police</span> in <span class="y2014">2014</span> 17—the drug is a big business. Fighters on all sides of the <span class="SyrianConflict">Syrian conflict</span> are reportedly using <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span>, and warlords benefit from the illicit trade in the drug—whether in spheres controlled by the government, the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Syrian_Army"><span class="FreeSyrianArmy">Free Syrian Army</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Syrian_Army"></iframe></a>, or <span class="Islamists">Islamists</span>. <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State"><span class="ISIL">ISIL</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State"></iframe></a> has demonstrated its willingness to sell oil and loot antiquities, there is no reason to believe that the group would not make a lucrative business of selling drugs. The drug is so addictive, a former Free Syrian Army fighter told the <span class="BBC">BBC</span>, that combatants in Syria “would stop providing food for their children so they [could] buy <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span>.”18 In the ruthless calculus of the drug business, that’s a great product. According to the <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Office_on_Drugs_and_Crime"><span class="UNDOC">UNODC</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Office_on_Drugs_and_Crime"></iframe></a>, it is now being increasingly manufactured in <span class="location Syria" id="Syria">Syria</span> and trafficked through the <span class="location MiddleEast" id="MiddleEast">Middle East</span>.19 As <span class="MasoodKarimipour">Masood Karimipour</span> of the <span class="UNDOC">UNODC</span> told <span class="TheTimes"><i>The Times</i></span>: “If you’re in organized crime, <span class="CivilWar">civil war</span> is good for business.”</p>
                                

                                <p>It may be, in the end, that the superman qualities of <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> are a red herring—a mere <span class="placeboeffect">placebo effect</span>, or a mantra for soldiers on the battlefield. But the properties of <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> as an addictive drug—one that could potentially generate tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars a year for <span class="ISIL">ISIL</span>—are much more significant, and this is an issue in which much more research is needed. Those funds could be used to purchase weapons, to finance attacks, and to perpetuate the conflict. In that respect, <span class="Captagon">Captagon</span> may be driving the war after all.</p>
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                          <h2 class="accordion-header">
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                                Creating Supermen: battlefieldperformance enhancing drugs
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                                <h1>Creating <span class="Supermen">Supermen</span>: battlefield performance enhancing drugs</h1><div class="barra"><hr></div>
                                <br>
                                <div class="hide_image" id="doc-img-7"><div class="screen"><div class="screen-image"><img src="imgs/superman.webp"></div><div class="screen-overlay"></div></div></div>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                    <div class="second_image" id="second_hide">
                                    <img src="imgs/superman.webp"></div>
                                <p><a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Armstrong"><span class="LanceArmstrong">Lance Armstrong</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Armstrong"></iframe></a>'s doping scandal blew the lid on performance enhancing drugs in professional sport, but opened up the debate regarding their use inother walks of life. Given what's at stake, should soldiers be pumped full ofdrugs to help them reach their peak, and to what extent is this alreadyhappening?</p>
                                <p>With his admission to what was dubbed as sport’smost widespread doping regime in history, LanceArmstrong unwittingly blew the lid on the greatlengths athletes will go to in order to gain anadvantage over their opponents. Pumped full of <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythropoietin"><span class="EPO">EPO</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythropoietin"></iframe></a> and oxygen-infused blood, Armstrong left othercyclists in his wake as he cruised to seven <span class="TourFrance">Tour de France</span> titles.</p>
                                <p>While using performance enhancing drugs to gain anunfair advantage over rivals considered to becompeting clean obviously defeats the object of thecontest, the presence of such substances opens thecurious debate regarding their validity outside of thesporting world. Surgeons, requiring a cool head and asteady hand, have long been known to usemedications designed to steady nerves. If this potentially saves lives, then surely the use of these medications is warranted?</p>
                                <p>If this is indeed the case, then how far does this extend into the unique circumstances associated with military action? War fighters are generallytasked with protecting a perceived greater good, andtheir success or failure can significantly impact thelives of innocent civilians. With so much at stake,could it even be argued that soldiers cannot affordnot to dope?</p>
                                </div><br><br>
                                <h2>Pilots on ‘Go Pills’</h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <h3>“US pilots became involved in a friendly fireincident over <span class="location TarnakFarms" id="Tarnak Farms">Tarnak Farms</span>, <span class="location Afghanistan" id="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</span>, whileunder the influence of <span class="Dexedrine">Dexedrine</span>.”</h3>

                                <p>US Air Force pilots’ use of amphetamines is one ofthe most widely documented examples of the use of performance enhancing drugs by military personnel. Often tasked with conducting excessively longmissions – some lasting upwards of 20 hours – US Department of Defense scientists began to issue dextroamphetamines – more commonly known as <span class="Speed">‘Speed’</span>, but referred to as ‘Go Pills’ within the USAF – to its pilots to ensure they remained alert long after tiredness and fatigue should have started to impingeon mental performance.</p>
                                <p>Although the benefits of such drugs have been rendered ideal, the side effects, including confusion, delusions, auditory hallucinations, aggression and, inextreme cases, psychotic behaviour, represent adisposition that is hardly ideal for a person in charge of a multimillion-dollar war machine. This is best evidenced by an incident in <span class="April2002">April 2002</span>, in which US pilots became involved in a friendly fire incident over <span class="location TarnakFarms" id="TarnakFarms">Tarnak Farms</span>, <span class="location Afghanistan" id="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</span>, while under the influence of <span class="Dexedrine">Dexedrine</span>. Four Canadian soldiers died in the accident.</p>
                                <p>The air force does not hide away from the use of such <span class="Amphetamines">amphetamines</span>, and has publicly disclosed the prescription of small doses – often 10mg – of <span class="Dexedrine">Dexedrine</span> if “fatigue could be expected to degrade air crew performance.” While the <span class="USAF">USAF</span> is quick to insist that the use of such medications is voluntary and consent forms must be signed by pilots, the formalso notes that pilots can be grounded if they decline. Pilot groundings, no matter the circumstances, canhave serious implications on a pilot’s career,potentially leading to a perverse situation where a pilot could almost feel forced to take the drugs.</p>

                                <h3>Banned by <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Anti-Doping_Agency"><span class="WADA">WADA</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Anti-Doping_Agency"></iframe></a>, sought by the army.</h3>

                                <p>The US Army sought to follow the <span class="USAF">USAF</span>’s lead regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs by investigating <span class="Dimethylamine">Dimethylamine (DMAA)</span>, aperformance enhancing supplement registered onthe <span class="WorldAnti-DopingAgency">World Anti-Doping Agency</span>’s banned substance list. Investigations were under way until the supplement was pulled from the shelves, having been linked with the deaths of two soldiers in <span class="December2011">December 2011</span> while undergoing a routine training drill.</p>

                                <p>Supplements containing <span class="Dimethylamine">DMAA</span> grew in popularitydue to their premise of increasing stamina and performance, particularly in preparation for gruelling physical challenges. The drug captured headlines inthe <span class="location UK" id="UK">UK</span> after it was linked to the death of 30-year old <span class="ClaireSquires">Claire Squires</span>, who died of cardiac failure having run 25 miles of the 26.2 mile <span class="LondonMarathon">London Marathon</span> course. The <span class="USArmy">US Army</span> continues to dispute the drug’s links to the death of the soldiers, perhaps alarmingly citing that “the use and safety of these stimulant productsremains matters of intense interest to theDepartment of Defense.</p>
                                </div><br><br>
                                <h2>Peak Soldier Performance Programme</h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <p>The comments regarding the US <span class="DoD">DoD</span>’s interest in stimulants harks back to <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA"><span class="DARPA">DARPA</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA"></iframe></a>’s <span class="PeakSoldierPerformanceProgramme">Peak Soldier Performance Programme</span>, which in <span class="2004">2004</span> sought a biochemical approach that would allow a soldier to operate in theatre for up to five days without requiring sustenance. In pursuit of this, no stone or genome was left unturned.</p>

                                <h3>The air force does not hide away from the useof such amphetamines, and has publicly disclosed the prescription of small doses.</h3>

                                <p><span class="DARPA">DARPA</span>’s approach included investigations into endurance-building nutrients that could be taken in the lead-up to deployment, while also lowering a soldier’s core temperature and boosting his or hermitochondria. Mitochondria are effectively a cell’spower supply, fuelling it by converting sugars into chemical energy. <span class="OxfordUniversity">Oxford University</span> biochemists sought ways in which mitochondria could be altered genetically to have them feed off fat-based ketones, leading to much smaller, ketone-based rations being capable of not only keeping soldiers on their feet, buthaving them operate at their peak for days at a time. Initial laboratory tests demonstrated that rats given the treatment were able to run for extended periods of time.</p>

                                <p>Other approaches include altering a soldier’s metabolism to reduce the need to feed, lowering body temperatures during strenuous activities, sothat less energy was exerted, and even caffeinated gum, which would provide a quick energy boost intimes of dire need, was experimented with. The idea,as one <span class="DARPA">DARPA</span> official informed <span class="Wired">Wired</span>, was not to create <span class="Supermen">Supermen</span>, but to make it so that “these kids could perform at their peak, stay at their peak, andcome home to their families.</p>
                            </div><br><br>
                                <h2>An ethical dilemma</h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <h3>The report alluded to the potential development of drugs that could suppress thefear and inhibition of soldiers.</h3>

                                <p>The notion of creating <span class="Supermen">Supermen</span> poses an obvious ethical dilemma, and the office of US President <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush"><span class="GeorgeBush">George W. Bush</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush"></iframe></a> responded by issuing the <span class="2003">2003</span> report ‘Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness’, which referenced issues concerned with the use of performance enhancing drugs and treatments.</p>

                                <p>The report alluded to discussions regarding memory-blunting drugs that could be issued to soldiers to prevent mental scarring or occurrences of <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-traumatic_stress_disorder"><span class="PTSD">Post Traumatic Stress Disorder</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-traumatic_stress_disorder"></iframe></a> after combat operations, providing they demonstrated efficacy intesting, but focused upon the unique circumstancesof war, rubbishing any comparison to pursuits where <a class="link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_Equipment_Directive_(EU)"><span class="PED">PEDs</span><iframe class="lod" src="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_Equipment_Directive_(EU)"></iframe></a> are outlawed, such as professional sports.</p>

                                <p>What guidance, if any, does our analysis provide for such moments of extreme peril and consequence...when superior performance is a matter of life and death? - the report asked, adding: "There may indeed be times when we must override certain limits or prohibitions that make sense in other contexts".</p>

                                <p>Sections of the report continued in the same vein, confirming attitudes shared by US decision makers that in the grand scheme of ethics, the demands of war may transcend what would otherwise be commonly acceptable. "When we override our own boundaries, we do so or should do so for the sake ofthe whole, and only when the whole itself is at stake, when everything human and humanly dignified maybe lost".</p>
                                </div><br><br>
                                <h2>Men remaining human</h2>
                                <div class="paragraph">
                                <p>The report did, however, insist that physical advancements owing to drugs must only go so far, even in extreme circumstances, emphasising great importance on the notion of “men remaining human even in moments of great crisis.” The report alluded to the potential development of drugs that could suppress the fear and inhibition of soldiers, effectively turning them into killing machines capable of acting without both scrutiny andimpunity.</p>

                                <p>Given the clamour from agencies including the <span class="USArmy">US Army</span>, <span class="USAirForce">US Air Force</span> and <span class="DARPA">DARPA</span> to instigate research into and the explicit use of pharmaceuticals capable of enhancing performance, it must be considered a matter of when, rather than if soldiers are issued with such drugs. A new age arms race could soon be launched, with the limits of human capabilities, rather than human intelligence and ingenuity, the new battleground.</p>

                                <p>Budget cuts and financial implications haverestricted the number of active, retained servicemen, so it is perhaps a predictable practice to ensure that these remaining soldiers are given every possible advantage to ensure national security. With reports issued by the US purposefully vague as to what is deemed an acceptable limit however, it remains to beseen just how advanced soldiers could become.</p>
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