David Corn in the Nation writes a pretty damning piece about Clinton’s lack of reaction to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, despite his knowledge of it. Particularly poignant,
“In the first weeks of this tragedy, human rights advocates urged Clinton to issue a clear and forceful declaration that a genocide was happening and that the killers could expect to be tracked down and tried for crimes against humanity. But the Clinton administration dithered for weeks over whether to use the G-word, for doing so would have compelled the administration, under international law, to take direct steps to stop the killings. But after the disaster in Somalia, Clinton had no stomach for becoming involved in another messy conflict in Africa. In public, he had more to say about the caning of a young American in Singapore than the murders of hundreds of thousands in Rwanda.”
I remember the caning incident. I wish I had known more about what really mattered, in Rwanda.
Comments 2
Hiram,
Thank you for the book. I am almost halfway through the book. It is beautifully written, but atthe same time grossly disturbing.
Posted 06 Apr 2004 at 1:19 am ¶Rwanda has been in the news much today as this is the ten year anniversary of the beginning of the genocide.
I was speaking with one of our Freshman work-study students. She informed me that the Gourevitch book was required reading for her freshman english class. I was impressed by this.
All I was ever taught about Rwanda was a single class period in History 2.
Also,
Posted 06 Apr 2004 at 1:22 am ¶The Gourevitch book is very damning in its treatment of Kofi Annan and Boutros Boutros-Gali. The failure regarding Rwanda seems to have been worldwide.