AV俱乐部

The book launch for They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children takes place Tuesday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m. in Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building.

The cover photograph of Romeo Dallaire鈥檚 new book rips at the heart. The photo, taken in Liberia in 2003, shows a boy holding a gun sideways, lifting the scope to his eye. He鈥檚 crouched on the ground, one foot tucked under his body as he takes aim 鈥� at you.

And then you realize, as you unlock your gaze from the boy鈥檚, that he鈥檚 wearing a pink teddy bear backpack 鈥� the kind of backpack that kids in Halifax use to carry their granola bars and juice packs for daycare or play dates.

鈥淚t is the most stark contrast that you鈥檒l ever see: the tough kid with the weapon in his hands with the pink teddy bear on his back,鈥� says Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire (retired). 鈥淚t鈥檚 the two extremes, the paradox of children forced into being warriors.鈥�

Renowned for speaking out about the Rwanda genocide鈥攁nd the failure of the international community to stop the carnage鈥擫t. Gen. Dallaire wrote about what happened when the killing spree was unleashed in 1994 and 800,000 people were murdered in 100 days. He has referred to the writing of Shake Hands with the Devil as therapy, even though the devils nearly wrestled him down. He continues to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

If Shake Hands with the Devil was therapy, Lt. Gen. Dallaire regards the writing of They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children as his duty. After retiring from the armed forces, with whom he served 37 years, he says he was in need of a new vocation. In 2004-2005, he spent the academic year as a fellow at Harvard University鈥檚 Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and directed research into the problem of child soldiers. With child soldiers, he found his calling.

鈥淲hen you haven鈥檛 experienced it yourself, you can say, 鈥極h jeez, that鈥檚 a problem,鈥欌�� Lt. Gen. Dallaire says, speaking by phone in the back of a cab on his way to the airport. The book launch for They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children takes place at AV俱乐部, home of the Child Soldiers Initiative which he founded.

Lt.-Gen. Romeo Dallaire.

鈥淏ut when you鈥檝e met these kids and when you鈥檝e locked eyes across the barrel of a gun and they鈥檙e drugged up and confused and sometimes hysterical, you can鈥檛 forget. It is impossible to be neutral and unengaged.鈥�

In the book, Lt. Gen. Dallaire chronicles how children are routinely abducted from their families and are subjected to forcible confinement, torture, threats, rape, brainwashing, slavery starvation and drug addiction. It is estimated that 250,000 boys and girls are being used as soldiers in conflicts worldwide.

With the launch of his book, Lt. Gov. Dallaire is also initiating a new initiative called Zero Force. The idea is to make young people鈥攈igh school students and undergraduates鈥攁ware of the global tragedy of child soldiers and get them to bring pressure to eradicate their use.

鈥淭hese are their peers,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o we want them to be aware of what鈥檚 happening, to get them engaged and wield their influence. I believe these young people are a dynamic force who are underutilized in this country.鈥�

Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire (retired) will be at AV俱乐部 for the launch of his new book, They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children. The event takes place Tuesday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m. in Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building.