They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers

by Roméo Dallaire, Ishmael Beah (Introduction), Jessica Dee Humphreys

"It is my hope that through the pages of this remarkable book, you will discover groundbreaking thoughts on building partnerships and networks to enhance the global movement to end child soldiering; you will gain new and holistic insights on what constitutes a child soldier; you will learn more about girl soldiers, who have not been fully considered in the discussion of this issue; you will discover methods on how to influence national policies and the training of security forces; and you will find practical steps that will foster better coordination between security forces and humanitarian efforts."-Ishmael Beah
As the leader of the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda, Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire came face-to-face with the horrifying reality of child soldiers during the genocide of 1994. Since then the incidence of child soldiers has proliferated in conflicts around the world: they are cheap, plentiful, expendable, with an incredible capacity, once drugged and brainwashed, for both loyalty and barbarism.

The dilemma of the adult soldier who faces them is poignantly expressed in this book's title: when children are shooting at you, they are soldiers, but as soon as they are wounded or killed, they are children once again. Believing that not one of us should tolerate a child being used in this fashion, Dallaire has made it his mission to end the use of child soldiers. Where Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone gave us wrenching testimony of the devastating experience of being a child soldier, Dallaire offers intellectually daring and enlightened approaches to the child soldier phenomenon, and insightful, empowering solutions to eradicate it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Africa, War, History, Politics, Military Fiction, Canada

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2010

About the author

Lieutenant-General The Honourable Roméo A. Dallaire, O.C., C.M.M., G.O.C, M.S.C., C.D., (Retired), Senator, has had a distinguished career in the Canadian military, achieving the rank of Lieutenant-General and becoming Assistant Deputy Minister (Human Resources) in the Department of National Defence in 1998. In 1994, General Dallaire commanded the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).

His book on his experiences in Rwanda, entitled Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, was awarded the Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 2004.

It has garnered numerous international literary awards, and is the basis of a full-length feature film released in September 2007.

Since his retirement from the military, Senator Dallaire has worked to bring an understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder to the general public. He has also been a visiting lecturer at several Canadian and American universities, and has written several articles and chapters in publications on conflict resolution, humanitarian assistance and human rights. While a Fellow of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, he pursued research on conflict resolution and the use of child soldiers.

As a champion of human rights his activities include:

* Advocacy for the Canadian Forces mission to Afghanistan;
* Speaking engagements on issues relating to human rights and genocide prevention;
* A Senior Fellowship at Concordia University's Montreal Institute of Genocide Studies;
* Membership in the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention;
* Leadership in a project to develop a conceptual base for the elimination of the use of child soldiers;
* Leadership in activities aimed at the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Reviews

[Mikey B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exacting, but depressing account, of the use of children as soldiers in military combat. Mr. Dallaire describes the recruitment phase – why child soldiers are used and the extreme brutality that they undergo.

Mr. Dallaire makes a strong point that once a child soldier “has been made” the damage done to he or she will never be undone. Remoulding an ex-child soldier to adjust back into society will be long-term work and involve excruciating psychological restructuring of the former child.

Mr. Dallaire also makes the case that young girls are also part of this recruitment process and their abuse is likely more debilitating than that for boys. How can these children ever hope to be accepted back into the culture that they were so viciously abducted from? Their lives are a shamble – they have had no schooling, they likely don’t know their age, their parents and relatives, if they are still alive, are probably in a refugee camp.

The best solution is to stop the recruitment and the author outlines steps being taken. There would seem to be some progress and at least with this book (along with a few others) the world is becoming aware of this grievous issue.

This is a sad book – a child soldier is indicative of a “failed state” – a society in disarray. I found the book a little awkward at the beginning, but after 100 pages the persuasiveness and passion of the Mr. Dallaire overwhelms. Of the two short stories, I found the second one better.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book goes beyond calling attention to the plight of child soldiers as victims. What I learned, and what I want to remember is this:
The use of child soldiers is a weapons system where the child is only the most obvious victim. As a weapons system, it is as destructive to humanity as land mines and chemical weapons. In the same way that the world has moved to condemn and eradicate the use of these two, we must do the same with the use of child soldiers. As with slavery, apartheid, civil rights, animal rights, etc, it all starts with an idea and gains momentum by the will of people. It can be done. If you want to convince yourself of this, read this book.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Shake Hands With the Devil a few years ago after we learned about the Rwandan genocide in social studies. I enjoyed it but most of it seemed very political from what I remember and hard to comprehend. Recently Romeo Dallaire came to our school and spoke about the genocide, child soldiers, and how the new generation has to make a difference. This is a great book if you're interested in helping change the lives of those currently living in poverty in Africa, and his methods of how to eradicate the use of child soldiers are quite plausible. An interesting thing that I liked about this book was that he took on the perspective of a young child soldier, as well as the perspective of a UN soldier, writing from their povs what happened. It is a relatively quick read and is very interesting. To all of those people who are concerned with the kony 2012 campaign, this is a book for you, so you cando your research and see what's really going on.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children is a book with a special personal connection for me. I received this book through a book signing at Politics and Prose in Washington DC, where I had the privilege to hear Romeo Dallaire speak about his experiences in Rwanda and in developing this project. As a conflict resolution student, I studied the Rwandan genocide and reconstruction, and was very familiar with Mr. Dallaire’s outreach efforts in promoting post-conflict sustainable peacemaking. It was truly an honor for me to hear him speak and obtain a copy of his work.

Dallaire was irrevocably changed by his service as Major-General of UNAMIR, United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda, and has dedicated his life to the rebuilding effort there as well as preventative and best practice efforts in other conflicts. I was stunned by his honesty and bravery in sharing this incredibly personal experience, and I commend him for continuing this crusade despite the difficulty it poses for him on a mental and personal plane. His life’s work, outlined in the final chapters through his struggle to gain attention to this debilitating problem, is truly inspiring.

This book takes a holistic view on the struggle to eradicate the use of child soldiers. In order to frame this discussion, Dallaire utilizes a somewhat unorthodox methodology. He begins with a discussion of the concept of childhood, using his own upbringing in Canada as a model of a healthy family dynamic. As he weaves in this personal history with the chronological history of the genocide in Rwanda as he experienced it, he appeals to the child and remembrance of childhood in the individual reader to demonstrate the destructiveness of child soldering. His fictional characters are staged after Dallaire’s real world experiences with children and child soldiers in Rwanda. When I learned that he was going to incorporate elements of fiction into this project, I was dubious about the efficacy of mixing invention and experience, but it lent itself well to the story and case. The use of the fictitious characters allowed Dallaire to take the reader through a very personal example of recruitment in a way that I am sure was cathartic for the author, and also preserved the individual privacy of the real child soldiers he met in the field.

His final chapters concluded with the Child Soldier Initiative successes and struggles, as well as additional international legal framework and current initiatives to eradicate the use of child soldiers. He calls on the reader to become personally involved and gives several suggestions as to how interested parties can support this worthy imperative.

In the end, this book is not a work of fiction, and child soldiering is a catastrophic and intractable problem throughout much of the world. Dallaire has devoted his life to ending the use and recruitment of children as mass weapons, specifically citing the success of land mine bans as an example to emulate. Dallaire writes in a conversational tone that is able to explain technical international law and in the same breath describe personal and heart-wrenching experience, which lends itself well to absorption of his argument. In the final chapters, Dallaire appeals to the reader to take action through various means to assist in ending this barbaric practice. If we are able as a global community to end the use of child soldiers, we will be empowering the next generation with positive impact being felt around the globe.

[Suha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has left me utterly confused and baffled.
If there's any stance I was 100% sure of, it's my stance against international intervention. "Stop interfering! Let people solve their own problems." These kinds of statements were my first reaction when encountering books/movies/news reports about African issues written by foreigners (i.e White people).
But after reading this I'm really not sure what I think anymore.

The book has made it obvious that the prevention of child soldiers, that fighting against human rights violation is everybody's responsibility. Humanity transcends man-made national borders. To be neutral is to support the oppressors. Your patriotism to the world should come before your patriotism to any specific country.

But what about personal interest?
The West was overly eager to wage war in Afghanistan and Iraq under the name of humanity, but you don't need to be a genius to find out there was an ulterior motive.
President Bill Clinton decided that the U.S Army would not get involved in the Rwandan genocide because it had nothing to offer - no natural resources, no strategic location. Apparently, humanity alone was not a motive strong enough for international interventions.

What about the soldiers or risk their lives, who leave their homes and families to help people? To protect them? To bring about a change?
What about soldiers who kill, rape, mutilate the very people they're supposed to be protecting?
Should one of those overshadow the other's actions?

My mind is swarming with question I've no answer to, I don't know what to think anymore.

That being said, this book definitely deserves five stars.
Five stars for making me think, and doubt my positions and stances, for being extremely informative on the issue of child soldiers - and most of all, for offering a solution, a sliver of hope, a promise of a better future.

[Doriana Bisegna · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was a heavy subject and a very concerning one, I was totally immersed in Romeo Dallaire's crusade against child soldiers! It is hard to believe what goes on in the world but it is all too real and beyond anyone's comprehension. By countries banding together and by individuals standing up for children's lives and rights to have a childhood will we eradicate this senseless practice in these underdeveloped nations. This should not exist in the world and the fact that it does shows that we are simply not looking out for children, period!! The great nations of this world are not fighting this war against using children as scapegoats but continue to fight others that are senseless is beyond me!! Another of life's great mysteries!!

[hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm about half way through this book. I want to keep on top of what Romeo Dallaire is doing, since he's a bit of a hero of mine. So far it's good; can't read too much of it at once, because it is hard on the psyche. He has included what I think is a very effective fictionalized account of a child soldier's life. I like that this is a former military general writing fiction about a little boy! What a lovely man.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author made some interesting points and presented child soldiers in a new way, and also had a chapter written toward young readers, advising them how they can help with the situation.
However it was extremely repetitive... it could have been cut in half and delivered the same message, but considering he's a peacekeeper and not an author, I'd say he did a great job at presenting a horrifying reality.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do I always kick off the new year on a downer?

I hate to say it, but I kind of wimped out on this one after the first-hand account of being a child soldier (which is fictional but a composite of what I suspect it is like). I skimmed through the rest. Still, I'm convinced that this is a big problem that is for the most part ignored. Dallaire's experiences in Rwanda seem completely horrific.

[Liralen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw them being tended to in their field medical stations, their young bodies ripped apart by fragments of artillery shells. They would die far from home, from family, from the warmth of a last hug or kiss from their parents. Alone and often conscious that they were about to die, some would cry, not in pain but in sorrow, in loneliness, in despair. Their last conscious thoughts most likely were of loss and abandonment as their wounds silently stole the life force from their young bodies that had barely started to live. They fought like soldiers, like warriors for a cause they and their families believed in, but in their torn and bloodied soldiers' uniforms, they died like children. (43)

Dallaire's experience in the Canadian army ultimately led him to a career path unlike any other—campaigning for the cessation of child soldiers as a tool of war. They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children describes that campaign, from the abuses and traumas that such children face to the pushback he has faced against referring to child soldiers as weapons.

That experience, alongside Daillaire's compassion for the people affected by war and by the experience of child soldiers and his understanding of the many complex factors that go into how to address the fact of child soldiers, makes this a powerful read.

Do you treat this person aiming his weapon at you as a soldier or a child? If you do nothing, dozens will be slaughtered and you put your own life at risk. If you fire to frighten or disarm, you begin a doomed and bloody shootout. Fire back to kill, as you would at an adult, and you will save a village, but at what cost? (5)

The one criticism I have is that the book is quite repetitive—I lost count of the number of times Dallaire mentioned, e.g., that girls make up as much as 40% of child soldiers but face additional traumas and get even less support after the fact, or that children are useful to commanders in war because the other side will be reluctant to shoot children / children are 'renewable resources' / etc. etc. They're very important points and worth hammering home a couple of times, but after the first three or four times I wished for new information rather than a reiteration of established information.

Still, as Dallaire notes, relatively little has been written about the use of child soldiers in war, and less that is useful for (adult) soldiers who may face them in the field. It's necessary work and a necessary starting point.

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Romeo Dallaire was head of UNAMIR, the peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, just before the genocide in 1994. Since then, he has become involved in trying to stop the use of children as soldiers. This book looks at how and why children become soldiers, some as young as 7 or 8 years old, and offers ways to get this stopped. He also talks a lot about the group he has formed to try to stop it; his group is trying to get the military and humanitarian NGOs to work together. He has done a lot of research and has published papers on the topic.

This is terrible. I have read both Dallaire’s Shake Hands With the Devil (which I highly recommend) and Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone (also recommended). There were a few chapters where Dallaire created a fictional boy who became a soldier, then later a fictional peacekeeper who shot a girl soldier; I thought these chapters, in particular, were very powerful. I hadn’t realized how many girl soldiers were also involved, and they have (many sad) issues of their own. Although some of the nonfiction parts of the book weren’t as interesting (in the second half of the book, as Dallaire talks about trying to get agencies to help stop this), I did find myself reading the bibliography at the end for a couple more books to read on the topic. He does repeat himself a bit, but I forgave him that. He is obviously very passionate about what he is trying to do.

[Kelvin Pau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful, brutal, but ultimately held back because in some ways it does seem like Dallaire's efforts as of this book were still barely on the ground floor. In addition to this, despite the seeming promise of a relevant framework for dealing with this problem, near the end he proceeds into what I would term as "fundraising/get involved mode" which was a bit disappointing as some of the ideas he had are definitely dated as of 2024. Still, the book does give you insight into the unique mindset and psychological damage surrounding the problems of child soldiers as a phenomenon in war, which is important even though heavy.

[Krys (Krys Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We [the international community] do not have a choice about whether or not to intervene; we have a fundamental responsibility to humanity to intervene ’in extremis’, even with force.”

After reading “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, I became increasingly interested in the topic of the use and abuse of children as soldiers, and reading further into the eradication of this inhumane treatment of innocence. The glory of working in a book store is that anything will and can catch your eye while you’re stocking shelves, and this book was one of them.

Gen. Roméo Dallaire wrote this book as an awareness-base biography about his fight in the plight for the eradicating of not only child soldiers but also other humanitarian efforts that he has contributed to through his years with several non-profit and for-profit organizations. I found it in the “Current/Historical” section. I had a lot of trouble finishing it, but I was still very interested in what he had to say.

Not only did I have trouble finishing this book, I also had trouble following it. I’m sure somebody who knows about acronyms, I personally should have started my own personal “mobile index”, a bookmark with all the definition terms of all the acronyms that were used:

- NGO Non Governmental Organization
- UN United Nations
- R2P Responsibility to Protect
- CIDA Canadian International Development Agency

That’s just to name a few. No, that’s not saying I don’t know what some of them meant, but there were a few where I’ve had to flip back a few pages to remember what I was reading.

“To the homeless, the poor, the beggar, the victim of AIDS and Alzheimer’s, the old and the humble, the prisoners in the prison and the wanderers in their dreams, it is our sacred duty to stretch out our hand and say, ‘In spite of what separates us, what we have in common is our humanity.’”
~ from ‘What Does it Mean to be Human? by Elie Wiesel

This book was a great resource of wealth of information for any person who is looking for a clear path on how to be part of “the solution”. Which ever one that may be. I had become attracted to They Fight Like Soldiers… when I reached a point where there were separate chapters, Gen. Dallaire had incorporated a short story of the life of a child soldier (all fiction). It was terrifying, reading what was potentially flashing through the protagonist’s mind, the thoughts, the scenes, distressful to the point where I had to set the book down. I even shed a tear near the end even when I knew what was going to happen next.

Once the story stopped and the book became more diplomatic, I had trouble keeping focus. I can’t say it was a terrible read, because I felt a little more enlightened by what I had read; inspired.

There was also a lot of self-promoting for his CSI movement – Child Soldiers Initiative - which is admirable, since it is his book and it’s a great action! He also spoke of several different ways anybody can be involved, even a fast and cheap way of contributing, “What would our symbolic action be?” Gen. Dallaire uses the idea of a small school group raising funds to help a school in the Congo get a computer as an opportunity for potential growth and making the world feel a little smaller.

“If this level of global intercommuncation were properly nurtured and developed, it would eventually be possible to create a movement that wold influence every human being who exists or will exist in the future. Such a movement could facilitate a grand design… the application of human rights and justice around the world – a global appreciation that all humans are equal, that all humans are human, and that no human is more human that any other.”

I noticed eventually the author’s targeted audience was young adults, between the ages of 18 to 30 years, the young years that he believed could be the great push on government to finally make a great change. He referenced how important the web had become and how important it can be to serve as a form of influence.

“This slow and predictable progression is no longer a given for young people today, born into a wide-open and limitless world. When we speak of ‘your’ future, we’re speaking three, four, five years down the road, because we’re not in an era of evolution or even in an era of change or reform…”

“I see a lot of evidence of instant, anonymous communication over the Web being used to foment stupidity, ignorance and hate, or to mire people in intellectual futility, serving up endless helpings of celebrity gossip or instant reinforcement of ignorant attitudes, or worse. Illegal material, such as adult and child pornography, colonizes much of the Internet, the latter being a form of child abuse that perpetrators can now easily share all over the globe, creating a virtual community of pedophiles. Youths in the developed world sit in their bedrooms imbibing the hate represented by videos of beheadings, being recruited to a cause that has little to do with the realities of their own lives, but much to do with the perversion of youth’s sensitivity to injustice, and longing for action.”

I’m sorry if this post seems to be riddled with quotes, but this was the one thing that made this book worth reading. The words used are strong, stirring, and they create an inner-reaction that you wish you could just bottle up and ship any one of these countries/continents to fix their problems.

If you read Roméo Dallaire’s Shake Hands with the Devil, and enjoyed it, you will more than likely enjoy Gen. Roméo Dallaire’s They Fight like Soldiers, They Die like Children.

[Jennifer Lucking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romeo Dallaire's passion and expertise is so incredibly evident in this book. His humanitarian heart mixed with his military background provides a unique look at the issue of child soldiers. It took me quite a while to soak up this book. I didn't find the writing to be filled with unnecessary jargon, but the rawness and sincerity of his writing was a lot to take in; I could only read about a chapter at a time and over a long period of time.

It would benefit me to regularly re-read his last chapter on "What you can do" - he has important words for anyone engaged in social justice issues or passionate about making a positive difference.
In this chapter, Dallaire really emphasizes 1) the rich technological powers we hold to connect with others and make positive change, and 2) the importance of youth/young adults in being the generation that will make the most difference. This chapter is especially timely now (our Canadian federal election is in a few months) as he has quite a bit to say about challenging our politicians to make a positive difference and be accountable to what constituents care about. "Don't tell me you're not being heard - it's that you're not speaking. You may roll out to the streets of Toronto to protest G20 meetings or travel to Copenhagen to voice your opinion on the climate change conference, but overall your age group is letting political leaders off easily because you aren't forcing them to craft a vision of how we are going to move the country forward. So far as I can tell, you aren't consistently demanding your rightful place in the political process. The political elite thrive on the non-participation of the vast majority of citizens and end up being driven more by the media than by the individuals that comprise a country... Without your voices and leadership, the political will to intervene in the world's toughest and most intractable hot spots will simply not materialize." (p. 256).

Drawing on some incredible activists (Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., etc), Dallaire says "Individuals who possessed no apparent power, wealth, influence, connections, or even the technological tools you have at your fingertips today, harnessed their passion and changed the world. Seismic change can happen over a lifetime, or in an instant" (p. 243). I could have taken a highlighter to most of the last chapter just to draw inspiration from his empowering words.

I saw so many parallels between the traumas and obstacles both child soldiers and survivors of domestic sex trafficking face in exiting and recovery. Lack of funding, lack of awareness and empathy from those in positions of ability to help, lack of services, etc.

I know his expertise is African child soldiers, but I would have appreciated learning more about the scope of this atrocity worldwide. However, this gap is not enough to make me want to give the book less stars!

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

"They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers","Romeo Dallaire"

"This was a compelling book which explained the recruitment and use of child soldiers in detail, and the horror of not only their victims but the life many child soldiers are forced to live. Physical and psychological abuse and drugs are frequently used to keep them in line, and describes the effects on their former communities. He also tells about the fate of girls abducted from their homes and forced to become soldiers and bush wives.
Organizations are working to free, educate and integrate the young people back into villages. This is very difficult. One reason is the some of the young soldiers had power, and the impoverished children in villages who were never child soldiers, feel how unfair it is that these former soldiers, some who may have murdered their families and friends, are now being housed, clothed and educated by relief groups while their own needs are being unanswered.
Romeo Dallaire is working hard to end the use of child soldiers and find better ways to lead them to a normal, productive life and is to be commended. A real Canadian hero!. The one problem I had with the writing was the frequent use of initials for the fighting factions and relief organizations, which I also found confusing in his first book.
This is an important book in its detail and explanation of what makes a child soldier and hopefully ways this atrocity may be ended."

[Bosco Raj · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not as intense in describing the evil atrocities as Roméo Dallaire's previous book, "shake hands with the devil". Instead, this book sheds excellent information regarding the child soldiers and child Génocidaires who were voluntarily or forced to be part of the mass killings, rape and unimaginable evil.

Before reading this book, if someone had asked me what to do with the child genocidaires, I would have told them to exterminate those evildoers.

But in this book, Roméo Dallaire makes the profound arguments of why and how the child soldiers needed to integrate into civilian life. He considers the child soldiers as the victims. He proposes a new perspective that considers child soldiers as a weapon system rather than seeing them as victims or perpetrators.

He also argues that to eliminate the use of Child soldiers successfully, the NGOs need to create new principles to replace or modernise the doctrine of neutrality in humanitarian work to increase the collaboration and coordination with the military or security organisations like the UN and other defence institutions.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

His passion for speaking up for the most vulnerable shines bright in this book. While some of his points become a bit repetitious throughout the book, his overall objective to completely eradicate the use of children as weapons systems is inspiring to say the least.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

An A+ high school research paper.

[Samuel Fillion Doiron · Rating 5 out of 5]

À lui seul le titre est poignant et raconte tout ce qu'on s'apprête à lire sur ces lignes. L'enjeu est clair, est-ce qu'un enfant qui fonce vers vous les yeux remplis de haine est encore un enfant? Est-ce que l'innocence caractérise les enfants et si oui, si elle est perdue en raison de la haine qui est inculquée aux enfants-soldats, en est-il encore un? Le titre nous rappelle qu'au plus profond d'eux, même si leurs yeux sont plein de haine à l'égard des ennemis, au moment où ils tombent au sol, ils redeviennent ce qu'ils étaient et la haine fait place à la terreur.

Et ceux qui tirent? Ils doivent composer avec le dilemme moral et déshumaniser ce qui est le plus précieux pour toutes les sociétés : les enfants. Ils doivent tirer, car les enfants n'hésiteront pas, mais s'ils tirent, tuent-ils un enfant? Ou un ennemi? Les gens qui emploient les enfants-soldats sont parfaitement conscients que la simple présence de ces petits êtres créent ce dilemme dans l'esprit des soldats adultes et les déstabilisent suffisamment pour donner un avantage stratégique.

Après son mandat avec la MINUAR au Rwanda, Roméo Dallaire est ressorti brisé et traumatisé en raison des horreurs qu'il a vu sur les lieux et qu'il a raconté dans son livre "J'ai serré la main du Diable". Cependant, une chose dont il n'a pas parlé dans ce livre était l'utilisation des enfants-soldats. C'est donc dans ce livre écrit plusieurs années plus tard qu'il nous en parle.

La structure du livre prend la forme d'une réflexion qui a toutes les allures d'un texte de français qu'on remettrait à l'école. Introduction, développement, conclusion. On a même presque un sujet amené, sujet posé et sujet divisé!

Sujet amené : Ce qui a conduit Roméo Dallaire à se tourner vers la cause des enfants-soldats. Il nous parle de son parcours au Rwanda et des horreurs qu'il a vu.

Sujet posé : Les enfants-soldats

Sujet divisé : Fabrication, Formation, Utilisation, Déconstruction et Mort des enfants-soldats.

Et la fin se divise en deux chapitres où on nous présente en premier l'état des choses (en 2010) et les obstacles dans la lutte pour mettre fin à l'utilisation des enfants-soldats. En second, Roméo Dallaire nous donne des pistes de réflexions, des solutions potentielles et fait un appel à l'action qui semble crier à la fois à l'espoir et à la supplication. Ce message s'adresse d'ailleurs tout particulièrement aux jeunes qu'il invite à prendre leur place dans l'espace politique et médiatique pour faire entendre les causes qu'ils estiment importantes.

La seule chose qui détonne d'une structure plus scolaire est l'insertition de quelques récits fictifs narrés du point de vue d'un enfant soldat et qui servent à nous faire voir la réalité telle qu'elle est vécue sur le terrain. J'apprécie d'ailleurs que Roméo Dallaire ait pris le temps de nous expliquer la différence entre les garçons et les filles, car là où les garçons ont souvent quelques chances de s'en sortir après le démantèlement, les filles n'en ont presque aucune... et je pense même que je pourrais enlever le mot "presque".

Parce que oui, les filles vont subir les mêmes violences que les garçons, mais ajoutez à ça tout ce qui touche à l'exploitation sexuelle, la stigmatisation et le victim blaming même après le démantèlement.

Certains passages sont durs à lire et même 15 ans après la publication, on se rend compte qu'il reste un immense travail à faire, car les enfants continuent à ce jour d'être utilisé et ils le seront tant que des gens n'en feront pas une cause qui importe à l'échelle mondiale. C'est d'ailleurs une des suggestions de Dallaire à la fin de son livre : Si les politiciens choisissent leurs priorités en fonction de la couverture médiatique, alors faites en sorte que la couverture médiatique soit tourné vers un enjeu important pour vous et par ricochet, les politiciens vont s'y intéresser. Il fait d'ailleurs des suggestions concrètes pour y parvenir dans son dernier chapitre.

Roméo Dallaire représente à travers ce livre tout ce qu'il y a de plus canadien dans notre culture militaire. La recherche de la paix est ce qui caractérise le Canada à l'étranger et non pas le Canada guerrier de Stephen Harper et des conservateurs actuels. C'est ce qui fait de lui un héros de paix bien plus qu'un héros de guerre. Mais ça, le politique n'était pas prêt pour ça à l'époque sauf s'il y avait des ressources naturelles à en retirer.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply, this is challenging material - it is hard to read due to the tough issues it reviews and shocking examples given. Having once raised my rifle at a child and put him in my sights, and having been to Rwanda, I had some experience aiding my thoughts as I read. This is certainly a book every military leader should read as child soldiers are out there and we are not taught about the associated issues except on rare occasions. A subject without easy answers, I hope their use does not increase over time. Key excerpts below:

- Thanks to a worldwide proliferation of light weapons and ammunition, combined with the limitless resource of children as a result of the overpopulation in developing countries in conflict, such as we see in so many cases in Africa, there is no more readily available, cost-effective and renewable weapon system in existence today. Desperate children, boys and girls, are cheap to sustain, have no real sense of fear, and are limitless in the perverse directions they can be manipulated….”
- Children are vulnerable and easy to catch, just like minnows in a pond, especially in places where families are being destroyed by famine, epidemic, AIDS, warring factions.
- These children fight and die where there seem to be no rules except self-preservation – basic survival.
- My research and experience have led me to conclude that child soldiers are used and abused in four distinct areas of most force constructs: as front-line fighters, psychological weapons, logistics support and reconnaissance or information collectors.
- Depriving their troops of food, water and medicine likely drives some of the violent looting when soldiers enter villages – pillaging being the only means of survival.
- … remember that child soldiers may have better access to food and medicine inside their armed groups than they will have after they’ve been repatriated to their home communities, and both the children and the people who attempt to demobilize them know that.
- … many leaders force children to commit atrocities on friends, neighbors and even their own families expressly so they can’t go home again.
- … returning child soldiers in the Teso region reported extensive and persistent stigmatization and rejection by their communities… This was aggravated by envy and jealousy in the community over benefits these ex-child soldiers received in the DDRR programmes, which were not extended to war-affected children. How must it feel to be an orphan child, who has never raised a gun, and see a child soldier – who may have been the one to kill his family – receive food, schooling and support denied the orphan?
- Reintegration is an interesting word in that it presupposes that what existed before the conflict was adequate.
- An ex-girl soldier knows that if and when she returns to her village she will be seen as a disgrace to her family and her community, even if she wasn’t to blame for what happened to her.
- Girls actually help to sustain armed groups, almost literally… that without girl soldiers most armed groups would fall apart.

[Suanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my third book by Lt. General (Ret’d) Roméo Dallaire, the UN commander during the Rwandan Genocide in 1993-1994. Though suffering from significant PTSD from his experiences there, Dallaire has pushed forward with multiple volumes based on current research that are against genocide or against the use of children as soldiers. In They Fight Like Soldiers he puts forth the unique idea that children are a 'weapons system' rather than mere soldiers. They are a commodity of nearly endless supply that can be used to kill; to provide transport drugs and small arms; to sweep areas where mines are potentially buried as they are heavy enough to set off the mines, but are disposable; and in the case of girls, they can cook, clean, serve as sex slaves and bush wives, and literally give birth to the next generation of child soldiers.

Initially, Dallaire speaks to his own childhood and how he moved into the military. Then he shows, through a fictional compilation of many boy soldiers’ stories, how a child is stolen or bought, and then radicalized. Later, he shows another fictional story, a UN soldier killing a child soldier, a girl, and the long-term effects on the soldier’s emotional state after that act.

This is a thought-provoking book that forces readers to look at the role of children through history and how they have often been marginalized, ill-treated, and considered disposable. Though we Americans claim to have risen above such demeanor, we nonetheless refuse to pass gun control laws to protect our own children, much less deal with gun control when those weapons are used by children in foreign lands. induced rituals and murder to being trained to become a killing machine. I applaud Dallaire and his continuing and consistent efforts to prevent genocide and the use of child soldiers.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a coincidence that I started this book a couple of days before the Omar Khadr settlement was announced. Khadr is mentioned once in it (he was between being news at the time). He definitely qualified by international standards as a child soldier at the time of his capture and incarceration at Gitmo. This is not an easy read, but it is an important one. It took me around 7 years to get to reading it, since I bought it at a book-signing event by LGen. Dallaire. Children, boys and girls, are induced into "armies" in conflict zones in various places around the world, but perhaps especially in sub-Saharan and other spots in Africa, with a dramatic increase in the past 25 years.
The book's chapters take different forms. Some are recollections by child soldiers, some detail the UN's attempts to deal with the issue, others the struggles of Dallaire to bridge the gap between military and NGO actors, two are a fictionalized story of a typical child's induction, "training" and eventual death. Dallaire's own experiences in Rwanda are included. The final chapter is an aspirational appeal to young people to become involved in the campaign to end child soldiering, including with his Child Soldiers Initiative. Not light reading, but not that long, and very important for anyone who cares at all about the issue.

[Jonathan]

DNF (page 186) due to research purposes and time urgency.

Dallaire's work is an incredible accumulation of research and personal experience that effectively explores the issue of child soldiers. They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die like Children articulately explains the nuances of child soldiers, including the reasoning behind the phenomenon, the making of a soldier, and the aftermath of such shocking child development. I believe that his fictional work "Kiddom" inside is highly effective in instilling empathy and understanding into the reader, and I was impressed with how Dallaire incorporated so many facets of this issue into a compact narrative.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is written more like a very lengthy academic paper. I found it to be wordy using many pages to say little and not really staying on topic with the titles of the chapters. He pauses to share two fictional stories about a child soldier and a peacekeeper. I wasnt impressed with either. The child story was pages of their imagination first with no warning at the start of that chapter what you were about to read."

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Shake Hands with the Devil for college. It stayed with me even now , a decade later. This one hurt to read. The conditions for the children were intense. Worse than having Stockholm Syndrome in my opinion. Do what you need to do to survive. Kill or be killed. What happens next for these victims and that is exactly what they are. Mr Dallaire puts it down in his voice so you can use your voice. What are you waiting for?

[Tinika · Rating 3 out of 5]

They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children tells an important and tragic story. This is a book you read to be informed rather than entertained because children being used as instruments of war is never going to be an easy topic. The writing is not as focused as Shake Hands with the Devil but the personal passion the subject elicits in the author is palpable.

[Wildlifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a book which covers in wide scope the global problem of child soldiers and how to end it. Romeo is experienced soldier who was involved in peacekeeping in Rwanda in early 1990s as a a head of UN Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR). On thing he came across in Rwanda is deployment of children in warfares. It's a very good sourcebook.

[Kulwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a book which covers in wide scope the global problem of child soldiers and how to end it. Romeo is experienced soldier who was involved in peacekeeping in Rwanda in early 1990s as a a head of UN Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR). On thing he came across in Rwanda is deployment of children in warfares. It's a very good sourcebook.

[Sonia Villamil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es el libro con la historia más desgarradora que he leído. Recuerdo haber llorado, tenido ganas de vomitar y un desconsuelo que solo me llevo a orar.

Aunque no tengamos relación con esta cruda realidad del mundo, vale la pena conocer por lo que pasan cientos de niños en zonas de conflicto armado.

[Bailey Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it was okay. I hate reading fake stories inside of a book so I didnt love those chapters. I also thought it went in circles with not enough depth or explanation. An easy read for a beginner on the topic