Memoirs of a boy Soldier. Do his experiences apply to Iranian Hardliners that Advocate Violence?

I have read a book about a boy soldier that got caught in war in Sierre Leonne, joined the army , committed brutal killings and violence. Later he became reahbilitated and told his story.

In his book he describes how his mind shut out the guilt of the horrible things he did. While he was a soldier, the army commanders would give them cocaine and other drugs. The author writes:" The idea of death didn't cross my mind at all and killing had become as easy as drinking water. My mind had not only snapped during the first killling, it had also stopped making resmorseful records, or so it seemed"

The author stated that he would get caught up in revenge. If he saw someone that appeared to be of the same background as the enemy, he would kill him. In my opinion, this is part of the source of many problems we face today. For example, in the United States, there was a massacre in a High School in Colombine. The teenage killers were wearing black trenchcoats during their bloody rampage. If another individual looks like a troubled teenager and wears a black trenchcoat, one cannot assume the person will kill others. One needs further evidence of the actions of a person. Ishamel Behr, the author of the book, stated how he exacted revenge on rebel army members that were caught:" I am not sure if one of the captives was the shooter, but any captive would do at the time (he then killed all of the captives.)."

However, his mind was recording everything, only waiting for the right opportunity to replay. He later became extremely remorseful of his actions. From the book it appears that individuls who inflict suffering on others, no matter what the motivation, suffer extreme remorse themselves later. It appears that perpetrators of abuse experience guilt, sleep loss and headaches/migraines,. "... I tried to think about my childhood days, but it was impossible, as I began getting flashbacks of the first time I slit a man's throat. The scene kept surfacing in my memory like lightning on a dark rainy night and each time it happened, I heard a sharp cry in my head that made my spine hurt. I went inside and sat on my bed facing the wall and tried to stop thinking, but I had a severe migraine that night. I rolled my head onthe cold cement floor, but it didn't stop. I went to the shower room and put my head under cold water, but that didn't help either. The night nurse was called. She gave me some sleeping tablets, but I still cloudn't fall asleep even after my migraine stopped. I couldn't face the nightames I knew would come."

He later addressed the United Nations in regards to his experiences:"
".... all this is because of starvation, the loss of our families, the need to feel safe and the need to feel part of something when all else has broken down....I joined the army to avenge the deaths of my family and to survive, but I've come to learn that if I am goiong to take revenge, in that process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge, then revenge and revenge and revenge will never come to an end...."