The Rwandan genocide, ten years on

The Economist has an interesting survey of the Rwadan genocide, but all of it except this editorial is subscription only. There are lots of lessons to be learned from this horrifying event, and there is plenty of blame to go around. Frankly, some of that blame should hit us, since we stood by, reeling from the aftereffects of Somalia, and a lot should hit the UN. As the Economist points out:

[W]estern powers could have used force to end the killing. Romeo Dallaire, the UN's soldier on the spot, said it would have taken only 5,000 troops. Others think more would have been needed, but most agree that a determined military intervention would have saved many lives. And it could have been done. Instead, the UN withdrew its tiny presence. No one even jammed the radio station that urged on the killers with slogans such as “the graves are not yet full.”

You can't keep moral score, of course, and I realize we didn't even go, but the UN was there, and it walked away.
- posted by Anonymous @ 8:34 PM