I have made it a minor interest of mine to read up on the Rwandan situation, partly out of a long interest in African politics and partly because, when it is investigated in any depth, the Rwandan genocide shows just how incredibly irrational and even fantastical 'racial' categories can be. There are a number of worthwhile books, but I would recommend most strongly Philip Gourevitch's _We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda_.
And yes, it is one of the greatest failings of the Clinton presidency that the US did nothing in face of this genocide. In this respect, only the socialist government of France -- which intervened militarily to protect the organizers of the genocide -- ends up looking worse. Much of the continuing warfare in Central Africa can be laid at the feet of those who made those decisions.
| Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 00:12:27 +0100
| From: Jim heartfield <jim at heartfield.demon.co.uk>
| Subject: Re: Ehrenreich on Nader
| In message <39D4DC87.22DE0636 at tao.ca>, Chuck0 <chuck at tao.ca>
| writes
| >The Clinton/Gore record
| >* Didn't lift a finger concerning the Rwandan genocide
| Not so. The US military trained and advised the RPF guerillas who invaded
the
| country just prior to the slaughter, provoking the ethnic conflict. This
Tutsi
| minority seized control of the country by force of arms, and remains in
power
| despite having foresworn any democratic elections. US agent Paul Kagame is
| the PM to this day.
| - --
| James Heartfield
Leo Casey United Federation of Teachers 260 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869)
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. -- Frederick Douglass --