General Romeo Dallaire is one courageous Canadian. And his tormented pleas--never answered--will ring forever in the hallowed halls of the United Nations.
The true story of General Dallaire is proof positive that the battle of the day in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction is only the latest chapter in a weak-kneed UN.
The role played in Rwanda by the Canadian General is fully documented and illustrates how history is repeating itself in the case of the waffling of UN Secretary General Koffi Annan.
As the former head of the UN Peacekeeping Force, General Dallaire witnessed unspeakable horror in Rwanda, as extremist Hutus massacred more than 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus in the space of a few terrible days in 1994.
According to Canadians.ca, the ABC of Famous Canadians, "General Romeo Dallaire did everything he could pleading for 2,000 more peacekeepers to be added to his insufficiently equipped 3,000 man force.
"If they had answered Gen. Dallaire's pleas, The UN could have stopped the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Rwandans. Instead, following the deaths of 10 Belgian Peacekeepers assigned to protect the President, his forces were cut down from 3,000 to a mere 500 men, who had to watch as one of the most horrible genoicides in human history took place before their very eyes."
Imagine a deaf UN ear being presented to a full-fledged general calling for help from the reality of the trenches.
History has recorded that General Dallaire, frustrated and disheartened by the UN’s passive attitude, nonetheless stood his ground, holding on to his beliefs and repeatedly confronting his superiors who did nothing to prevent this horrific chapter in world history from going down in the books.
The timeline on this human tragedy, played out under the nose of the UN, tells all.
In November of 1995, the Belgian daily De Morgen first publishes extracts from the now famous ‘Dallaire fax’ sent on Jan. 11, 1994 to Kofi Annan, then Head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Commander of the UN troops in Rwanda, Dallaire, warns of planned massacres revealed by a top militia informer.
In March 1996, a five-volume Danish-led study on the Rwanda debacle concludes that the ‘Dallaire fax’ had been overlooked at UN headquarters in New York City.
On Nov. 16, 1996 in the Danish daily Information, Gunnar Willum and Bjorn Willum document that the ‘Dallaire fax’ as well as other information on the planning of massacres were not overlooked, but in fact deliberately suppressed in order to avoid a clash with influential Security Council members.
Information also reveals how during February and March 1994, Belgian Foreign Minister Willy Claes several times asked Annan to intervene against Hutu extremists’ stockpiling of weapons. Annan declines and instead tells the Belgium government to "make sure these elements be tackled".
On December 13 1996, following U.S. opposition to a renewed term for Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Annan is elected as new Secretary-General of the UN.
In July of 1988 during a visit to Rwanda, Annan is snubbed as the Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu decides to stay away from a dinner held in Annan’s honour. Annan refuses to apologize for his own role in the Genocide.
On December 16, 1999 the inquiry team publishes its report, which contains a serious criticism of the way the UN Secretariat and Annan handled the Rwanda crisis. "On behalf of the UN, I acknowledge this failure and express my deep remorse," Annan says.
On October 12, 2001, citing among others Annan’s emphasis on the UN’s obligations with regards to human rights", the Norwegian Nobel Committee decides that Annan and the UN organization should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
On December 3 2001, Bjorn Willum and Therese Heltberg initiate a petition to prevent UN Secretary General Kofi Annan from being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
On December 10 2001 in Oslo, Annan and the UN organization receive the centennial Nobel Peace Prize.
What was happening to courageous Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire during this time frame?
On April 12, 2000 he announced he was retiring early from the army for health reasons, his nerves still shaken by Rwanda.
Forgotten by the international community, a depressed Dallaire is spotted by a reporter inebriated and in tears on a park bench.
Then on January 22, 2002, the heroic Canadian general was awarded the prestigious Aegis Award.
On the occasion of the award, Annan had this to say of Dallaire: "In one of the international community’s darkest hours, Romeo Dallaire’s actions testified to the best of humanity amid its very worst. Today, I send him my warmest congratulations on receiving the first Aegis Award. I can think of no one who deserves it more."
Gen. Dallaire once said, "I know there’s a hell. I shook hands with the devil."
Interviewed by BBC about his fateful Rwanda mission, he said: "We don’t have as many people injured by bullets or shrapnel any more. But in this new generation of operations we’re picking up casualties that have had physical effects on their brains, and as such have suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
"In post-traumatic stress syndrome, one of the dominating components of it is that what you have seen and lived through will never disappear.
"In fact it becomes clearer and clearer as the years go by."
From Kofi Annan in October 2002: silence.
The winds of war may have shifted from Rwanda, but they’re now blowing in Baghdad.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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