Stimulants, impaired judgment, and military atrocities

Could wartime stimulant use help explain some small-unit atrocities?

It could contribute by reducing restraint and increasing false confidence, but individual conduct and military discipline remain important.

Stimulant use can weaken self-control while making a person feel unusually capable and decisive. That combination can increase the risk of rash violence, especially among troops already inclined to ignore restraint. The explanation has some merit as a contributing factor in small-unit atrocities, although personality, discipline, command climate, and circumstance still matter. A drug effect should therefore be treated as part of the causal setting rather than a complete explanation.