Lt General Romeo Dallaire, head of the UN in Rwanda at the time, made increasingly desperate attempts to rally the world and send soldiers to stop the genocide. But, unwilling to intervene in a far-off land, the UN members did not respond – and 800,000 people were killed in 100 days.
"The parallel is the ineptitude of the international community, given a whole bunch of politicians worried about self interest and political capital back home," he said. "Not statesmen who are able to take risks and explain essentially where they want to go with this thing.
"Why should people want to engage when the politicians go at it half-assed? If the politicians, who are supposed to be the leaders, are hedging their bets, then why would the population be convinced?
"That's not leadership. That's just fiddling with the books."
But Mr Dallaire, who is now a senator in his native Canada, said that the only way to resolve the conflict was to send in troops.
He described the idea of a targeted, military strike as "absolute bull ----," and said that only with boots on the ground would the sides be separated and a diplomatic solution achieved. Ground forces should be sent in, he argued, under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter – the clause which authorises action with respect to threats to the peace and acts of aggression. » | Harriet Alexander | Wednesday, September 11, 2013
