On Tue, 2 Dec 2008, Chris Doss wrote:
> Any idea how accurate his description of the Hutu militias is? (I have a
> sneaking suspicion that some of the more gruesome tales coming out of
> Africa are actually the local version of
> Huns-catching-babies-on-bayonets propaganda, one tribe badmouthing
> another tribe to credulous outsiders).
That's a reasonable suspicion, but the book he cites is of first-person accounts, not second person. And I've seen several short documentaries of Hutus giving first person accounts that were astonishing for their matter of factness and lack of any contrition whatsoever as they walked you down the road and told you how they did it. They weren't quite as lurid as what he cites -- nothing about rapes or having the time of their lives -- but they described killing people with bayonets like I might describe my summer bucking bales: invigorating work. And these were guys who weren't in jail.
You're right to say it's hard to credit. Warnerd says that too. It is. No matter how many times I hear it, I'll still find it hard to credit. But you should check out some of the interview docs. If you have a DVD player, I can send you a couple.
Michael