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Paramilitary




The term paramilitary is subjective, depending on what is considered similar to a military force, and what status a force is considered to have. The nature of paramilitary forces therefore varies greatly according to the speaker and the context. For instance, in Northern Ireland , paramilitary refers to any illegally armed group, but in Colombia , paramilitary refers specifically to illegally armed groups which are considered right-wing (e.g. AUC ), while illegally armed groups considered left-wing, such as FARC , are referred to as Guerrilla s.

Depending on context, paramilitaries can include:

  • Youth groups and movements that can be considered 'militarized' to various degrees, the Hitler Youth movement being perhaps the most notorious example. Less nefarious modern examples include miltary cadet movements like the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and the American Civil Air Patrol . Whether various global Boy Scout organizations fill the necessary criteria today or historically is a topic of debate.



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