A doubt arose last October 7 when we saw the scenes of the assault by terrorists belonging to Hamas on the territories close to the Gaza Strip. Humanely, coldly killing helpless women and children while they sleep in their homes is almost impossible, it goes against every law of humanity. If there were ever a conscience, killing another human being is already in itself an act that cannot be committed in a situation of lucidity because it is against nature, against one's ethics and morality. Another matter, however, is when one is forced to kill because it is a war, but even in this case the veterans do not live an easy life because they are forced to live and relive, throughout their lives, with their own very personal nightmares of what they have seen. or clerk. For this reason, to make the attacker invincible against the intrinsic fears of every human being with a conscience and to combat their inhibitory brakes, the use of drugs has become a widely used remedy throughout history.
This was also the case last October 7th. This was revealed by an Israeli broadcaster, Channel 12. Some of the Hamas commandos were apparently under the influence of drugs. And in particular of a synthetic drug known as Captagon.
Captagon, also known as "the ISIS drug" or "poor man's cocaine", is a narcotic produced in Lebanon and Syria. Pills of that narcotic were also still in the pockets of Hamas members who remained on the ground after the fighting, Ansa writes. The Captagon, according to what the broadcaster reports, allows terrorists to carry out brutal acts while remaining composed and indifferent. It also suppresses appetite, increases alertness and gives a feeling of euphoria. This drug would be taken by ISIS affiliates before carrying out terrorist attacks to quell fear. The spread of Captagon in the region dates back to at least 2006, during the Second Lebanon War.
Drugs in the history of wars
For example, the soldiers of Hitler, writes Focus. When on May 14, 1940, after just 4 days, the troops of the Nazi army conquered Holland, their ability to fight tirelessly, day and night, without sleeping was crucial. According to what Norman Ohler argued in the recent essay Der total Rausch (“The total euphoria”), this resistance would have been guaranteed by the pervitin, a “militarily valuable drug” also used regularly by General Rommel and Hitler himself.
During the conflict in Vietnam (1955-1975), the abuse of heroin, marijuana and other drugs became so common among American soldiers that 10-15% developed addiction and President Nixon was forced to finance the first major expansion of treatment programs of drug addictions.
Amphetamine use among American soldiers in Afghanistan. instead it emerged, for example, with the Tarnak farm incident in 2002, when the pilot of a US F-16, perhaps under amphetamines, killed four Canadian soldiers with friendly fire.
I Inca warriors they chewed coca leaves to stay awake; for the same purpose, two centuries ago, Prussian soldiers took cocaine (the habit would remain later, with caffeine and nicotine added to the cocktail). And the list could continue from culture to culture, from substance to substance, with similar effects and always the same tragic consequences.
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