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Remembering Rwanda--and the Clinton Failure
This week the world--that is, those in the world who give a damn about such things--is marking the 15th anniversary of the horrific Rwanda genocide. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama released a to-the-point statement on the Rwanda nightmare. It's below. Read it, and tell me if you can spot what's missing:
This week marks the 15th commemoration of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. It is a somber occasion that causes us to reflect upon the deaths of the more than 800,000 men, women, and children who were killed simply because of their ethnicity or their political beliefs. The memory of these events also deepens our commitment to act when faced with genocide and to work with partners around the world to prevent future atrocities. The figure of 800,000 is so enormous, so daunting, that it runs the risk of becoming a statistic. Today, we must remember that each of the 800,000 individuals who died in 1994 had their own story, their own family, and their own dreams. As we mourn their senseless passing, we must also acknowledge the courageous men and women who survived the genocide and have since demonstrated remarkable strength and generosity in forgiving those who committed these heinous acts. These individuals inspire us daily by working to restore trust and rebuild hope in Rwanda. The United States is committed to its partnership with Rwanda and will continue to support efforts to promote sustainable development, respect for human rights, and lasting peace in Rwanda.
What's not there? Any mention that the United States essentially did nothing at the time to halt the slaughter in Rwanda. At that crucial moment, Bill Clinton was president, and Hillary Clinton, the influential First Lady. In her memoirs, Living History, Hillary Clinton, the current secretary of state, does not write about what went on in the White House during those god-awful weeks in the spring of 1994, when human rights activists were begging the Clinton administration to do something--anything--to stop or slow the mass-murder frenzy underway, and the Clintonites steadfastly refused their entreaties. Clinton does note that later on she came to "regret deeply the failure of the world, including my husband's Administration, to act to end the genocide."
As Obama and others commemorate the tragedy of Rwanda this week, they ought not to shy away from reminiscing about the cowardly and consequential inaction of the United States, particularly that of President Clinton and his top aides and advisers.
Never Forget
The genocide in Rwanda led to tensions in the Congo which unleashed more violence. Even after legislators and foreign leaders had access to reports, including one from Amnesty International in 2004, which demonstrated the scale of violence, the UN took no serious action until 2008.
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/Africa/May-June-08/UN-to-Address-Rape-as-Weapon.html
Shannon from Brooklyn
Rembering Rwanda and the Clinto Failure
I recall that the genocide was a very important issue to Obama, at the time that he went back to his father's village in Kenya prior to his campaigning for the presidency. It was at the time of his birthday in August and he took Michelle and their daughters along because he had of course been there before when he was a young boy(to visit his father's grave-site).
He addressed the elders about the dangers of tribalism, especially critical in times of epidemic crisis which would require the cooperation of others than your own family group and relatives and tribesmen. (I can see how this might have been on his mind, as the kind of immunization shots required for African travel are rough on adults and how much more concerning for a parent bringing along children enduring a course of preventative precautions.) He enlarged upon tribalism having caused the genocide in Rwanda and how no one would turn in the perpetrator who has propagandized for the violence and who paid off contacts lavishly so that they would not reveal his whereabouts as he moved continually into hiding, because family loyalties/tribal identity is so strong in Africa.
Consequently, whatever possessed him to consider Hillary Clinton the best suited to become Secry.of State? We know it was felt he owed her, Democrat identification as strong as any other tribal loyalty. He may have forgotten in the ensuing strategies of the campaign, but we know that some kind of deal was cut in the living room of a California congresswoman. I can not imagine that he was unaware at the time fifteen years, ago as I suspect no Black person in the USA was, from the many times I have heard this mentioned over the years. Which means, I also suspect that he knew this about the Clinton priorities back in 1994.
Like all of us, I see the Clinton administration through different eyes, a different value system than I did while it existed but there is one thing that I should mention and that I remind myself of -- I did not vote for Bill Clinton in that election anymore than I would have supported Hillary in her campaign because, like so many others, I already knew why not. They are dishonest people and cared no more extensively about Africans in Rwanda back then that they cared about African-Americans in reality and which became painfully obvious because of the frequent gaffes and slips of the tongue during this more recent campaign.
I can only wish him well in his cogitations about how to best resolve some of the matters required by critical predicaments in Africa while a financial crisis prevails everywhere. Especially considering we seemed to have sprouted our own political tribalism with a vengence following the inauguration as a reality and not just a blind spot to those who preferred to retain their illusions.
After the fiasco in
After the fiasco in Mogadishu, can you blame Clinton?
Actually, yes.
Actually, yes. Both Obama's speech and this article softpedal events that I remember very well. I'll never forget the dedication of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, where Elie Wiesel concluded his remarks by comparing Hitler's "Final Solution" to events in Rwanda, looking directly at Bill Clinton in the first row of assembled dignitaries, and departing with the words "Do Something!" But Clinton's deliberate lack of action in Rwanda, officially at least, had more to do with Belgrade than Mogadishu.
Although the ongoing controversy over American military intervention in the Balkans provided a convenient excuse for Clinton's response to the "Black Hawk Down" incident, withdrawing U.S. troops from Somalia was exactly wrong and led directly to the Rwanda genocide for the following reasons: it sent the message that if a particular group of people (militias, ethnic groups, governments, etc.) acted badly enough the rest of the world would just leave them alone, and it dismantled the U.S. force presence and logistical support that would have been essential to mounting a meaningful and timely response in Rwanda.
And the world is still paying the price for Clinton's failures, given the fact that the nexus of piracy on the high seas has now shifted from the Malacca Straits to the Horn of Africa. Both Republican and Democratic administrations, not to mention the world at large, need to figure out principled and effective ways of dealing with failed (or failing) states like Somalia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sudan, or we're all going to be in for a lot more of this kind of thing. I'm actually surprised that neither this article, nor the responses to it, made mention of genocide historian Samantha Power's less-than-encouraging experience with the Obama campaign...
The hand of a shadow government
For far too long Americans have been living with the illusion about their government that what they see is what they get...........it's what they don't see that's the real problem.
thank you for this nice
thank you for this nice article..thanx more
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