Posted on 01/21/2004 11:10:40 PM PST by Utah Girl
In just 12 weeks the world will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. That somber thought was on my mind as my friend, the distinguished African-American journalist Peter Noel, took me the other night for a tour of Harlem. We passed by Bill Clinton's office, and Peter told me how significant crowds, nearly all African-Americans, await the arrival most mornings of the man dubbed "America's first black president."
That description – coined in 1998 by African-American Nobel laureate Toni Morrison – as well as the African-American rapture for Bill Clinton, is nothing short of astonishing. Calling Clinton the first black president is as ridiculous as referring to Franklin Roosevelt as the first Jewish president. Roosevelt did many great things as president. But saving Jews from the Holocaust was certainly not one of them. Likewise, whatever good Clinton did as leader of the free world, saving the blacks of Rwanda was at the very bottom of the list.
The Rwandan genocide of Tutsis by Hutus happened at a rate even quicker than the liquidation of Jews at the hands of the Germans. The best estimate is that 800,000 were killed in a hundred days, which translates into 334 murders per hour, or about six murders per minute. Most of these were low-tech executions by machete. Tens of thousands of others were horribly maimed but did not die.
As Phillip Gourevitch explains in his definitive account of the Rwandan genocide, We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, president Clinton, still haunted by the murder of American soldiers in Somalia, chose to do absolutely nothing in Rwanda. Worse, his administration obstructed the efforts of other nations to stop the slaughter.
On April 21, 1994, the Canadian UN commander in Rwanda, General Romeo Dallaire, declared that he required only 5,000 troops to bring the genocide to a rapid halt. In addition, a single bombing run against the RTLM Hutu Power radio transmitting antenna would have made it impossible for the Hutus to coordinate their genocide. But on the very same day, the Security Council, with the Clinton Administration's blessing, ordered the UN force under Dallaire reduced by 90 percent to a skeleton staff of 270 troops, which would powerlessly witness the slaughter to come.
This in turn was influenced by Presidential Decision Directive 25, "which amounted to a checklist of reasons to avoid American involvement in UN peacekeeping missions even though Dallaire did not seek American troops and the mission was not peacekeeping but genocide prevention."
Indeed, Madeleine Albright, the American ambassador to the UN, opposed leaving even this tiny UN force. She also pressured other countries "to duck as the death toll leapt from thousands to tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands – the absolute low point in her career as a stateswoman."
FINALLY, EIGHT African nations, fed up with American inaction, agreed to send in an intervention force to stop the slaughter, provided that the US would lend them 50 armored personnel carriers. The Clinton Administration decided it would lease rather than lend the armor for a price of $15 million. The carriers sat on a runway in Germany while the UN pleaded for a $5 million reduction as the genocidal inferno raged.
The story only gets worse from there, with the Clinton State Department refusing to label the Rwanda horrors a genocide because of the 1948 Genocide Convention that would have obligated the US to intervene.
I have noticed that the past few years have seen a gradual erosion of my once considerable affection for president Clinton. I have endeavored to understand why. The Monica Lewinsky story was not the cause. As a relationship counselor, I have witnessed other essentially decent men who have been unfaithful to their wives. Less so was it Clinton's refusal to protect the US amid continued provocation from al-Qaida because, while I condemn his virtual inaction, the case can still be made that only a cataclysm the magnitude of September 11th could have fully awakened the United States to the threat of international terrorism.
Rather, upon reflection, I have been able to identify the precise time and cause that Bill Clinton began to so shrivel in my eyes. It was when President George W. Bush brought the American hammer down, first in Afghanistan obliterating the women-beating Taliban, and then in Iraq where Saddam's genocidal assassins were sent early to their graves. Witnessing such humanitarian and heroic action, I was able to compare Clinton's indifference with the decisiveness of a leader who finally gave meaning to the words "Never again."
Paul O' Neill, President Bush's first treasury secretary, attacked his former boss recently by alleging that the Bush Administration began planning an invasion of Iraq just 10 days after taking office. I hope this is true. Hearing it makes me respect President Bush even more. How can one not stand in awe of a man who, offered the levers of power, determined that finally, in the third Christian millennium, a message would be sent to the despots of the world that they would no longer prowl the Earth with impunity and that the hand of justice would reach far across the Earth and sink them into a spider hole.
Watching the formerly insolent and now frightened Muammar Gaddafi meekly ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty this week gave me hope that in this new world, presided over by a determined global leader, justice was growing larger even as the bullies of the past were growing smaller. How sad and tragic that a two-term American president is shrinking along with them.
The writer is author of 14 books including The Private Adam: Becoming a Hero in a Selfish Age.
Yup my thought exactly!
General Dellaire is no different to the Nazis who claimed "I was only obeying orders" He was there, on the spot, and could have stopped it but instead sat about crying and watching while 800,000 people were butchered. What a coward.
If he had acted the UN would have HAD to back him and then pretend that was what they intended all along. He might have risked his career but what a small price to pay for stopping Genocide.
And when is Kofi Annan going to be put on trial for participating in Genocide??
And yet the majority of American Jews revere him.
Admit some to avoid the rest.
There is direct involvement of Clinton administration in Rwandan genocide.
That is what all those who speak of "inactivity", failure to respond etc. hope to hide.
Actually toasting Lil' Kim in Pyongyang was her low point.
Worse, his administration obstructed the efforts of other nations to stop the slaughter. .
If he had acted the UN would have HAD to back him and then pretend that was what they intended all along. He might have risked his career but what a small price to pay for stopping Genocide.
And when is Kofi Annan going to be put on trial for participating in Genocide??
Clive, Ping to your Africa and Canadian lists.
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Luke 10:25-29
Soldiers are taught in every officer's school and military college in the Common Law that they are subject to the policies set down by civilian authority.
This is not a peculiarly Canadian doctrine. It is also taught at West Point and Sandhurst.
You would not want it to be otherwise.
Life is a journey. Thank God there is time for all of us to reach our potential in deeds and in understanding.
Great article.
Article points to the the real role of Clinton administration in Rwanda Genocide.
Alleged Inactivity and lack of resolve of Clinton Administration in Rwandan Genocide is yet another media lie to be debunked.
Clinton administration was the power behind the Genocide. Without knowing this it is not possible to comprehend why they prevented other nations to react. It was their show.
Storyboard of Reshaping of Great Lakes :
1. Tutsis were trained to provoke Rwnadan regime
2. Hutus were encouraged to commit genocide of Tutsis
3. Tutsis gained control of Rwanda afterwards
4. Rwandan Hutus fled into East Congo and caused instability 5. US-assisted Tutsis slaughter Rwnadan Hutus in East Congo
6. Other African countries jump into the fray.
Two Rhodes scholars must be pleased with the outcome: reshaped Great Lakes area at the cost of million dead in Rwanda, 3 million dead in Ituri (East Congo).
Gen. Delllaire is an officer and gentleman and he was made into a patsy to cover the crimes of the Cleaning Lady and other criminals in Clinton administration.
Jamie Shea of Kosovo notoriety is Clark's advisor. Saga continues.
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