Shake hand with the Devil Outline Essay
Introduction
In the narrative shake hand with the devil, Romeo Dallaire tries to explain the post-traumatic events of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. He accounts for the actions and failures of the united nations and UNAMIR on the civil war in Rwanda. There was an economic crisis in the country, and an approximate of sixteen per cent of the country’s total population died. Romeo regrets the initiatives followed by the united nations and security council concerning the war and did not help save the lives of innocent civilians and children who were affected by the Genocide. The truth is that the world watched the incident, and witnessed the country getting destroyed within a hundred days. Dellaire feels that it is ironical one role of the united nations is to maintain world peace and take initiatives to solve disagreements in case war breaks out in any location of the world. However, during the Genocide, the responsibility was withdrawn and his plea to the body not heard. (Romeo, 2003) This is a sign that this body is not transparent and practical in what in their roles and responsibilities. (Michael, 2013) There are dirty politics done vices practised in the dark in this body. The united nations is a selfish and corrupt body.
Overgeneralizes the concept and experiences
Romeo clearly explains the horrific sight of Rwanda after the war and how he regrets saving fewer lives of the Rwandese people. However, there is no clarity on the leading cause of the Genocide. The information available is that the Genocide was caused by the political differences between the Hutu and the Tutsis. There is missing information about how the government rebels and antagonists secretly conspired and funded for the Genocide to get executed. Also, during the war, there is no significant evidence why the French sent military support to Rwanda to protect the Hutu and why the U.N.A.R.I.M.U.N.A.R.I.M. protected the Tutsis. (Mel, 1997) Finally, there is precise information about international politics. How the two principal commanders of the United National military operations rejected his call for help in Rwanda, (Jared, 2007) and other sources explain that.
Lack of evidence
Romeo claims that the United nation barely took part in the mediation process and helped the Rwandese government. When you critically analyze the narration, the claim seems false. Dallaire narrates how he worked for UNAMIR. He was the overall commander of UNAMIR, a body under the United Nations established to ensure that militants in the collection were peace pacemakers in Rwanda. Before the Genocide, his role was to protect Tutsi rebels. After the Genocide, he explained how the UNAMIR troops negotiated with the Rwandan nationalists to stop the war. Also, UNAMIR established refugee camps for the survivors after the war and provided essential humanitarian resources. These acts signify that some practices were done to help curb the civil war. It would be evident if Romeo proposed that even though the assassination of the Belgium militants forced withdrawal of the U.N.U.N.U.N.U.N. from Rwanda, the initiatives taken by U.N.U.N.U.N.U.N. and UNAMIR were not enough. The time the efforts was exhibited was too late ( Cohen 2007) to stop the Genocide in Rwanda since his troops landed in Rwanda three months after the Genocide.
Self-contradict
There is contradiction how Romeo accepted the job offer as U.N.A.R.I.M.U.N.A.R.I.M. post commander and blindly did what he was commanded to do by the United Nations before the Genocide in 1993. He barely questioned the consequences of his actions and decisions and how it would affect the junior militants and the Rwandese people overall. He was naive and knew he was doing what was right as a patriotic soldier and commander. (Romero, 2003) However, in 1994, when things went out of hand, and the United Nations refused to offer external force to help maintain peace, he discovered that he was used by the U.N.U.N.U.N.U.N. and had no control of the situation. (Romero, 2003) He found that the body had a selfish interest and never viewed the Genocide as an international priority and was reluctant to contribute to the war economically. At this instance, Romeo was assertive on what matters were crucial and tried his best to make his actions right.
Conclusion
The article is an example of the failures of the United Nations to maintain peace. The U.S.A.U.S.A. security council commanded not to take part in the Genocide. The withdrawal of the united nations in Rwanda gave the rebels the freedom to fight each other without external influence and force and impact of the Genocide negatively affected Rwanda. Lives were destroyed, the country was shattered, and there was an economic crisis in Rwanda. The international community could have saved more lives if they were not ignorant and arrogant and intervened on time since they were aware of the happenings in Rwanda, but silently watched innocent lives shed blood. (Jared, 2007) Also, it is evident that power and corruption are apparent in the U.NU.N. U.N.U.N.U.N.U.N. is an independent body, and it does not make sense why it cannot make decisions independently. Still, powerful, developed nations make decisions on behalf of an independent entity. ( Michael, 2013) This selfish acts are anguishing and should not get repeated in history. ( Gregory,1998)
References
Romeo Dallaire (2003) Shake hands with the devil Random House Canada.
Michael J O’ Donnell (2013) Genocide, the United Nations and the death of absolute rights,23B.C. Third World L.J.L.J.L.J.L.J. 399
Mel Mcnulty(1997) France’s role in Rwanda and external military intervention: A double discrediting.International Peacekeeping. Pg (24-44)
Gregory Stanton (1998) The eight stages of Genocide. Genocide watch
Jared Cohen( 2007) One hundred days of silence: America and the Rwanda Genocide. Roman and Little field