Combatants' Rationales for Engaging in Violence - Essay Sample

The topic of violence has elicited hot discussion in both the media industry and international conferences. Numerous countries worldwide are at the forefront to engage in discussions that will see the end to violence and bloodshed that has persisted for a long time. Modern times witness the ruthless civil wars in Africa and the Middle-East and episodes of violent bombings and killings emanating propagated by the terrorist extremists. However, no one seems to have grasped the rationale that causes people to engage in violence. Thus, looking through historical lenses, this paper evaluates the combatants’ rationale to engage in violence.

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The decision to engage in violence can be catapulted by the persistence of constant struggle and humiliation. Thus, the combatants usually reach a tipping point and opt to take the laws into their own hands. When one analyzes the case of Sierra Leone in West Africa – the warring groups started the civil war because they felt humiliated and abandoned by the government (Prestholdt 9). The tribes that took part in the fighting had been marginalized for a very long period. As a result, the marginalized group had no access to basic amenities, such as education and health care. Consequently, these groups opted to fight against their government – the war that lasted for almost one decade. According to Prestholdt, the warring groups identified with the American rapper Tupac, whom they hailed for addressing the realities that people went through (Prestholdt 3). Thus, the Revolution United Front, RUF used violence intending to overthrow the government they detested. The combatants will always believe that violence is the only way that can solve their problem - since the fighters have to eradicate their oppressor by any means necessary.

The combatants also usually opt to employ violence as a means of spreading fear. Ishmael narrates that the rebel group burnt one of the Muslim Imam in their village to spread fear and show the civilian population that they feared no one (Beah 60). Most of the rebel forces identified with movie icons such as Rambo and personalities such as Tupac. Since most RUF soldiers were children, they used violence to gain respect and recognition from society. Hence, most of them killed civilians since they wanted to look like Rambo (Prestholdt 13).

However, it is equally important to note that when one is under a lot of fear – the individual can resort to violence to protect themselves. This statement resonates with Tupac Shakur's songs, which are highly quoted by Prestholdt in his article. Tupac seemed to be a person who had a lot of fear to the point that he could sleep (Prestholdt 5). Tupac mentions that there are some nights he experienced nightmares that made him so terrified that he could catch any sleep. Thus, Tupac opted to use violence to fight against the people who seemed to be his enemies. Moreover, violence was a justifiable means for them to ascend and assume power by all means. Thus, the rebel forces viewed killing civilians as a small price to pay since they would be enjoying equality in the future.

Sometimes the circumstances can force one to use violence for them to survive in the harsh conditions. For instance, Prestholdt (3) points out that the Revolution United Front attacked Freetown to recruit civilian people to join them. Thus, they used access violence to threaten people who would resist joining their movement. Therefore, the victims had no choice but to join the rebel army and fight against the government forces.

Prestholdt ideas align with Beah's experiences of working as a child soldier for the government forces to fight against RUF (128). Ishmael ended up getting recruited to fight for the government forces since he had no other option. It seems the lack of choice is what forces some people to resort to violence. According to Tupac's rap songs, it seems the musician had no other choice but to fight against the world, which was against him (Prestholdt 12). Thus, the American hip-hop rapper ended up dying at the age of 25 because of the violent life. Tupac's influence spread to all parts of the world since most people identified with the messages in his songs.

At times the rationale for a combatant to engage in violence can emanate from manipulation from different forces. For example, the emergence of terrorist extremist groups results from individuals' radicalization from the people who erroneously quote the Quran (Silva 5). Consequently, the radicalized followers will use terrorism to kill other people with the hope of getting a price of virgins in the afterlife (Abdelhaq 31). These scenarios are similar to that of boys who took part in the Sierra Leone civil wars as children soldiers. For instance, Ishmael is brained washed by his Lieutenant – since the boy is told that he will be fighting against the Revolution United Front to avenge his family's death.

Hence, Ishmael became a killing machine since he believed in avenging his family's deaths. The government forces gave the children the drugs, which clouded their judgment during the warring period. Ishmael's rationale to engage in violence is the unstoppable urge to fight against the evil Revolution United Front who had killed his family. The government forces to give the children who were fighting on the forefront some food, clothing, and guns to protect themselves. The case of Ishmael also shows how brutal the government was when it comes to defending its sovereignty. The government forces viewed killing as the only solution that will make the Revolution United Forces retreat from the civil war. Thus, the government forces instructed their soldiers to kill and the rebel groups. However, the government could have avoided many bloodsheds if they had called the Revolution United Front for a dialogue.

The constant exposure to an environment replete with traumatizing events can cause an individual to engage in violence in the future. In the period in which Tupac Shakur is at the top of his career, many African continents used to experience police brutality episodes (Prestholdt 6). Thus, when Tupac sang about these events, many rebels such as the Revolution United Front in Sierra Leone identified their background with the song's message. Ultimately, these rebels used Tupac's slogan to fight against the government forces. Some of them wanted to use their male masculinity to solve the inequality problems they kept facing society.

The often understated observation causes the combatant to use violence against the civilians in the fight for power and resources. According to Schmidt and Minter, the scramble for protecting the economic interest of the foreign nations is the contributing factor to the observed violence (120). Most of the Western countries have continued continuously to interfere with the affairs of the African nations. The interventions include the use of political influence and, at times, military actions to control the affairs of the African countries. Consequently, these intervention measures usually result in an unprecedented result (Schmidt and Minter, 229). Some of the interventions from foreign nations typically result in a civil war. The civil war wars emanate from the fact that most people feel undermine and devalued in their own country. Thus, some will resort to using violence for the government to heed to their problems. Such efforts will result in unending counts of terrorism acts since the combatant mainly feel that the foreign powers are interfering with their private affairs (Schmidt and Minter 48).

Works Cited

Abdelhaq, Jniyene. Arab-American Identity Representation in Leila Halaby s Once in a Promised Land and John Updike s Terrorist. Diss. 2016.

Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Sarah Crichton Books / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

Prestholdt, Jeremy. "The afterlives of 2Pac: Imagery and alienation in Sierra Leone and beyond." Journal of African Cultural Studies, vol.21, no.2, 2009, pp.197-218.

Schmidt, Elizabeth, and William Minter. Foreign Intervention in Africa: From the Cold War to the War on Terror. Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Schmidt, Elizabeth, and William Minter. Foreign Intervention in Africa: From the Cold War to the War on Terror. Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Silva, Derek, MD. "The othering of Muslims: Discourses of radicalization in the New York times, 1969–2014." Sociological Forum, vol. 32, no.1, 2017.