Word: guerrillas
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...past five years, Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas have been the site of a grueling, bloody, and brutal guerrilla war between the U.S.-backed Pakistani government and the Taliban. Three broken cease-fires and thousands of deaths later, the two sides are no closer to resolving their quarrel over control of the disputed territory. In the past year alone, Taliban fighters have attacked NATO supply convoys, the Sri Lankan cricket team on its visit to Lahore, and Pakistani outposts in the region...
...commandos since World War II, when amphibious squads fought in the beach landings at Normandy and Pacific-theater operations. The first SEALs--the acronym derives from their proficiency in sea, air and land combat--were commissioned in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy to meet a growing need for guerrilla-warfare specialists. SEALs earned a reputation for valor and stealth in Vietnam, where they conducted clandestine raids in perilous territory. Since then, teams of SEALs have taken on shadowy missions in strife-torn regions around the world, stalking high-profile targets such as Panama's Manuel Noriega and Colombian druglord...
...machines to normal human beings." The rehabilitation program, started in 2003 and supported by Developing Minds and Colombia's Family Welfare Institute, offers housing, recreation, counseling, schooling and vocational training to former child soldiers. The 31 boys here are among the nearly 3,000 minors who have given up guerrilla life under a 2003 government amnesty program. The guerrilla groups, formed out of the leftist peasant militias of the 1960s, continue to fight Colombia's government and rightist paramilitary forces but have been greatly weakened in recent years, defeated in battle and diminished by desertion. (See pictures of child soldiers...
...many fighters, especially children, leaving the guerrillas can trigger an identity crisis, says Colombian psychologist Luis Gaviria. "They're like scared rabbits in a world they know nothing about." Many come from impoverished rural communities and enlisted at as young as 9 years old. While some are kidnapped and forced to join rebel groups, the majority are lured with empty promises of salaries, says Martha Mesa, a social worker at the center. Others join for darker reasons: for those who have lost loved ones in the cross fire between guerrillas and paramilitary groups, vengeance can be a powerful motivator. Humberto...
...gangs is a sign that they were rattled. Critics call the relentless violence proof that Calderón took a baseball bat to a hornet's nest but wasn't ready for the hornets - and point out that the Mexican army is not particularly well trained for the urban-guerrilla nature of drug wars. Either way, by last year Washington had become alarmed at Mexico's slaughter: Congress approved $400 million in aid for Mexico's drug war, the first installment of what is supposed to be a three-year, $1.5 billion package known as the Mérida Initiative...