Shake Hands with the Devil
Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
by Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire with Major Brent Beardsley
"The only conclusion I can reach is that we are in desperate need of a transfusion of humanity."
I found this book fascinating, terrifying, disturbing, and inspiring.
Fascinating, because it details the breakdown of peace negotiations between the ethnically divided Rwandese Government Forces and the rebel Rwandese Patriotic Front in the fall of 1993 and then documents the futile struggle to put that peace back together. Terrifying, because it also documents how the complete disinterest in Rwanda of the rest of the world set the stage for the slaughter of 800,000 people. Disturbing, because the acts and atrocities described so heartbreakingly by General Dallaire were committed by Rwandans to Rwandans, by neighbours to neighbours. And inspiring, because there are people like Romeo Dallaire and those who worked with him, who continued the fight when the people they were trying to help, the United Nations, and even the rest of the world threw every obstacle they could at them.
It would be nice to think that "never again" would apply here, but the world has returned to a state of apathy as similar genocides are occurring today in other regions in Africa and not one world leader bothered to attend the 10th Anniversary Memorial of the Rwandan genocides last April. Read this book. If not for it's incredible tale, then for a cold hard reminder that the world really is in "desperate need of a transfusion of humanity".
by Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire with Major Brent Beardsley
"The only conclusion I can reach is that we are in desperate need of a transfusion of humanity."
-Romeo Dallaire, Shake Hands with the Devil, p. 522
I found this book fascinating, terrifying, disturbing, and inspiring.
Fascinating, because it details the breakdown of peace negotiations between the ethnically divided Rwandese Government Forces and the rebel Rwandese Patriotic Front in the fall of 1993 and then documents the futile struggle to put that peace back together. Terrifying, because it also documents how the complete disinterest in Rwanda of the rest of the world set the stage for the slaughter of 800,000 people. Disturbing, because the acts and atrocities described so heartbreakingly by General Dallaire were committed by Rwandans to Rwandans, by neighbours to neighbours. And inspiring, because there are people like Romeo Dallaire and those who worked with him, who continued the fight when the people they were trying to help, the United Nations, and even the rest of the world threw every obstacle they could at them.
It would be nice to think that "never again" would apply here, but the world has returned to a state of apathy as similar genocides are occurring today in other regions in Africa and not one world leader bothered to attend the 10th Anniversary Memorial of the Rwandan genocides last April. Read this book. If not for it's incredible tale, then for a cold hard reminder that the world really is in "desperate need of a transfusion of humanity".
posted by nelliedee at 7:50 PM
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