Perfect Weapon

The rebel commanders have many different tactics to recruit the child soldiers. Jeffrey Gettleman says in his article “The Perfect Weapon,” “Children are often drawn into these movements, and kept there with magic and superstition” (Gettleman 2). The commanders taught them that their life revolved around spirits, and these were made by the commaders using oils and amulets (Gettleman 2). Once the child soldiers were recruited, they were given drugs to help brainwash them into believing that killing the opposing forces was right. An escaped soldier from Sierra Leone says that when he was only 13 years old, he was “drugged up and taught to kill” (Gettleman 1). “Today...there are some 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. Experts say the problem is deepening...especially in Africa” (Gettleman 1). Since children are in such abundance all over the world, they are being robbed of their childhood and easily manipulated into this horrible conflict.