[EnsconcedDeity]

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See this video.

What are your thoughts? It's a bit old but I'd like to see how this forum reacts to it.

[Coldsmoke]

Not news for me, African civil wars show some of the most barbaric and quite frankly stupid behavior imaginable.. Using child soldiers only works when fighting those who have no grasp of tactical squad dynamics, proper weapon handling/posture, and general strategic positioning for minimizing exposure to hostile fire while relying on surplus soviet equipment that's been neglected sitting in a box for 20 years .

Case and point, these photos.

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(LoL thinking air from lifejackets can stop bullets)

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Interesting how they try to make people relate to it easier by having it take place in a modern society,its not even worth going over the inaccuracies in that video but the message nonetheless is good.. in my opinion it would be more powerful if they showed the conditions where things like this really take place.

[Vagrant]

The sad thing is that it's throwing human bodies at the problem instead of an effective military force. Using children only makes it worse, as when they grow up, they haven't learned effective tactics.

Not to invoke Godwin's Law, but if you look at Nazi Germany, they didn't use the children as the soldiers -- they only taught the children rhetoric and what the believe. When the kids were adults, they were more than willing to fight to death for the cause. It made them an effective fighting force, but only because they were adults when they learned to fight. An effective military has an intelligent commander, units capable of following orders and improvising as necessary, and proper training. The reason the Navy SEALs, the British SAS, and the French Foreign Legion are given such great respect is because their level of training allows for amazing precision that ends conflicts quickly.

Children are not capable of doing the same things, and should not be expected to do so. I don't think you need me to mention the ethics of the issue.

[Also Lark]

The nature of these conflicts is such that children will be sufficient and maybe there arent any men because they're dead, the films City of God and City of Men are pretty good and illustrative of what's at stake, at the end of the first film the reign of terror of the barro lord ends pretty much because he laughs as the small kids who're holding him at gun point and they blast him.

[Nonsuch]

I feel sorry for the kids who end up as child soldiers. They are marked for life, even if they manage to escape back to civilized society. They have major problems adjusting to a 'normal' life.

I read somewhere that they are often forced to take drugs (royhypnnol ?) before they enter combat so that they are not afraid and uninhibited.

[sircockburn]

It'd make more sense to have adults fight, whilst children tend the land and property, teenagers attend training, etc.

Children will be more competent at simply taking care of things at home than trying to handle weapons/war strategy/complex orders and failing miserably. This cannot happen, because it reduces the future breeding pool, meaning less manpower in the long run. And in developing countries, during wartime, manpower replaces the technology they don't have.

Many soldiers + adult competence = victory

Then use the pillaged profits to fund an upgrade in technology and long term training, putting the group in a better starting position.