Why do the members of the Revolutionary United Front hate the army? Why is this ironic?

The main logical reason that the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) hates the army would be the fact that the army is fighting to save Sierra Leone's current government, and the RUF wants to get rid of it because the government is a one party system. A one party system would be like if the USA only had the Democratic Party, or only had the Rebublican Party. There is only ONE group of people that are represented and everyone else doesn't get what they want or they don't at all get represented.

The ironic reason that the RUF hates the army is that the army burns villages and kills innocent civilians, and so on. That is ironic becuase the RUF does the exact same thing. The RUF burns villages and kills innocent civilians, as well as taking some as prisoners, mostly young boys between the ages of 7 and 13. For the reason to force them into the war.

In chapter 11, Ishmael and the group he is with, sees 3 rebel soldiers go into a village that they had just burned. They hear the soldiers boast about how they had burned 3 villages in one afternoon and how the one they had just finished was their best one yet since there were no survivors. In chapter 15, when Ismael has already joined the army, he talks about how when they run out of supplies they go and burn villages and raid them. As well as bringing back prisoners which they force to carry back the supplies they took.

Both sides do much of the same things. The RUF has their reasons for it and the army has their own. They both think they are doing it for the good. The reader can assume that their isn't actually a "good" side as both sides are doing awful things and getting no where doing so.