Most of the 3,000 or so children in the Ugandan NRA had been orphaned during the Obote army's rampages through the countryside. They were taken in by the army when their parents died. They looked to the army as surrogates, as parents. But that was often secondary to the fact that they had personally lived through the murder of family, friends, and community, in an experience beyond remedy and certain to influence the rest of their lives. How children explain and evaluate their personal experiences influences their decision to join one or another armed group.
Adults have different explanations.
Leaders and devotees of armed opposition groups, like Liberia's NPFL, the Afghan Mujahedin, El Salvador's FMLN, and the Sri Lankan LTTE often claim they could not prevent zealous children from joining voluntarily in support of 'the cause'. In Iran, young men flocked to the recruitment centres, fired by the picture of Iraqis as unbelievers without divine protection. How communities 'value' the reasons for conflict is often central to children's own perceptions. Children see a violent response to structural or political problems as the 'only' choice. Ironically, some young people feel more secure inside an armed opposition movement than outside, with other orphans, street children, refugees and displaced civilians.