WP op-ed: Learn from Rwanda, by Bill Clinton

Learn From Rwanda

By Bill Clinton
Tuesday, April 6, 2004; Page A21


This month marks 10 years since the advent of the Rwandan genocide, a cruel, violent and well-organized rampage that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children and the total disruption of Rwandan society. Over the past decade, scholars and advocates have rightly reflected on the reasons that the international community and nations in Africa must share the responsibility for this tragedy. As I said during my trip to Rwanda in 1998, "We did not act quickly enough after the killing began. We should not have allowed the refugee camps to become safe haven for the killers. We did not immediately call these crimes by their rightful name: genocide."

The death and destruction that began in April 1994 still haunts Rwandans and all of us who failed to respond. It is important to remember the horrors of that period with clarity and honesty, both to benefit from the lessons learned and to honor the memory of those who perished. But it is also important for the world to focus on the progress that has been and can be made in what is still viewed by too many as a small and remote country in central Africa....

***

Without a doubt, Rwanda is not out of the woods. Some who would opt for a return to the past are still spewing the epithets of hatred; survivors remain frustrated that their needs have yet to be adequately addressed. But 10 years into what can only be described as a grand experiment of import to Rwanda and to us all, this tiny country has made gains that are remarkable by any standard....

***

I hope that the international community will continue to learn from our mistakes in Rwanda in 1994. We need to improve our intelligence-gathering capabilities, increase the speed with which international intervention can be undertaken and muster the global political will required to respond to the threat of genocide wherever it may occur. But the lessons from Rwanda in 1994 pertain not only to future crises; they also apply to Rwanda today. In helping Rwanda confront the specter of HIV-AIDS, we all have an opportunity to move decisively and to stop a second national tragedy....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53314-2004Apr5.html

do not know where, but someplace.

but kerry could get him to do a lot of good around the world. for now advising kerry is enough.

Somebody mentioned it before me, but I think Bill Clinton would make a great Secretary of State - his word around the world is certainly worth more than everybody in the Bush Administration put together.

Germany, France and other countries would come to our aid.

sorry, I fucked up!

Something we will never hear that ass Chimpy say!

I've seen Clinton speaking about Rwanda before and you can tell it's something that will haunt him the rest of his life. You can just see it in his eyes.

who excoriate Clinton for his personal foibles. And it's the kind of morality that their "paragon of virtue" GW Bush lacks completely.

i think it's a good thing for the president to not always be so sure of issues concerning war and peace. it's not always so simple. clinton allowed some in the military to treat him like crap because he felt guilt over not serving himself (something chimp does not feel or care for). but he always support the military and veterans 100% when it came to providing them what they needed. he actually did try to learn from somalia and rwanda. you can tell he thinks about these things, when is it worse to do nothing ? can we do it all or should we ? etc.

the chimp does not feel or care. it's all about him. he repeats the same shit everyday and attacks those that question anything he does,even when what he does results in 600+ dead. who cares, it's not him or his family that died there. just like vietnam, people who knew him say he never really cared for the issue. how does one growing up in that time with their generation going off an dying there not care ? he says we are going to get saddam for trying to kill his dad. it doesn't matter the lives that will be lost while doing it. saddam tried to kill HIS dad. osama bin laden killed many peoples fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers etc, yet it was more important to change the focus from going after him to the one who tried to kill his dad.

by the assassination of John F. Kennedy.