Transcript CNN International interview with Nigeria's President Obasanjo and USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu on Democracy and Security Issues

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News update and backgrounder preceding the 2 commentaries on Rwanda:
On Wednesday April 7, 2004, Rwandan President Paul Kagame pinned the country's darkness during the 1994 genocide on the international community and the United Nations in the 10th anniversary of the tragedy. He pinned the cause of the genocide on Western countries, namely Belgium, Britain and the United States that withdrew their forces when they were badly needed. "Injustice of powerful nations should be stopped. Rwanda shouldbe a good example to learn a lesson," the president said.
Also, the retired General Romeo Dallaire of Canada, former commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNMIR), said Tuesday April 6 that the 1994 genocide in Rwanda could have been stopped if the international community had shown their political will. In an interview with Xinhua in Kigali, where commemoration events are being organized for the 10th anniversary of the genocide, Dallaire expressed his disappointment with the world leaders over their inaction during those horrible days. Dallaire, who led the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda from October 1993 to August 1994, was invited to the International Conference on Genocide and the April 7 public ceremony, also known as National Reflection, at the Kigali National Stadium.

Tomorrow, April 7, 2004, marks the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, one of the most notorious and neglected events of the last century. The United Nations, the African Union, and a number of countries, including Canada, have formally voted to recognize April 7 as a day of commemoration and reflection.

Why is it the world's business?

The genocide wasn't just another stereotypical case of Africans killing Africans in the "heart of darkness." It was a deliberate conspiratorial operation organized by a small, shrewd group of greedy Hutu extremists who believed their self-interest would be enhanced if every one of Rwanda's 1 million Tutsis was annihilated. They came close to total success.

But the West has played a key role in Rwanda for more than a century. The central dynamic of Rwandan history for the past 80 years that led ultimately to genocide was the bitter division between Hutu and Tutsi.

This antagonism was largely an artefact created early in the last century by the Roman Catholic Church and the country's Belgian colonizers. After independence in the early 1960s, Rwanda was run as a racist, sometimes violently anti-Tutsi, Hutu dictatorship. This would have happened without the Church and the Belgians.

What's worse, the 1994 genocide could have been prevented by a series of external agencies with the capacity to intervene. Yet without exception, and for universally shoddy reasons, every one of them failed to do so.

My own list of culprits, in order of responsibility, is as follows: The Roman Catholic Church; the governments of Belgium, France, the United States and Britain; and the U.N. secretariat. I name the Church and the French first since they both had the influence to deter the genocide plotters in the first place.

Rwanda was the most Christianized country in Africa and the Roman Catholics were far and away the largest Christian denomination. Catholic officials consistently failed to use their enormous influence to protest against the government's racist policies and practices. Indeed, the Church lent the government moral authority.

Once the genocide began, Catholic leaders mostly refused to condemn the government, never used the word genocide, while many individual priests and nuns actually aided the genocidaires. When the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group of English-speaking Tutsi refugees from Uganda, invaded Rwanda in 1990, the French military saved the day for the Hutu government.

For the following several years, right to the moment the genocide began, French officials armed the government while failing to use their leverage to insist it curtail its racist policies and propaganda, stop the massacres of Tutsis, end widespread human rights abuses, and disband the Hutu death squads.

Once the genocide was launched after April 6, 1994, the U.S. government, steadfastly backed by Britain and cheered on by Belgium, was primarily responsible for the failure of the U.N. Security Council to reinforce its puny mission to Rwanda.

Gen. Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian commander of the U.N. force, UNAMIR, repeatedly pleaded for reinforcements, and was repeatedly turned down. Two weeks into the genocide, the Security Council, unbelievably, voted to reduce UNAMIR from 2,500 to 270 men.

Six weeks into the genocide, the council voted finally to send some 4,500 troops to Rwanda. But deliberate stalling tactics by the U.S. and Britain meant that by the end of the genocide, when the Tutsi-led rebels were sworn in as the new government, not a single soldier or reinforcement materiel ever reached Dallaire. This was one of the U.N.'s darkest moments in its history.

The role of the U.N. secretariat is somewhat ambiguous.

Its failure to support the pleas of its own force commander reflected its lack of capacity to cope with yet another international hot spot combined with its understanding that the U.S. and Britain were intransigent.

Still, there were many occasions when the secretariat failed to convey to the full Security Council the dire situation in Rwanda, and many opportunities when it failed to speak up publicly in the hope of influencing world opinion.

This record of repeated betrayals did not improve after the genocide.

There has been precious little accountability by the international community for its failure to prevent the slaughter of close to 1 million innocent civilians.

France and the Catholic Church to this day refuse to acknowledge the slightest responsibility or to apologize for their roles. Former U.S. president Bill Clinton and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan have both apologized for their failure to protect, but both falsely blamed insufficient information. In fact, what was lacking was not knowledge, but political will and sufficient traditional national interest.

Finally, the very existence of the genocide has largely disappeared from public and media consciousness.

This is the latest betrayal. Marginalized during the genocide, Rwanda's calamity is now largely forgotten except for Rwandans themselves and small clusters of their friends.

That's why I founded the Remembering Rwanda movement in July, 2001.

I had four targets to remember: The innocent victims; the survivors, most of whom live in deplorable conditions with few resources to tend to their physical, financial or emotional needs; the perpetrators, most of whom remain free and unrepentant scattered around Africa, Europe and North America; and the so-called "bystanders," the unholy sextet named earlier.

Rather than being passive witnesses, as the word "bystander" implies, all were active in their failure to intervene to stop the massacres, and all but Belgium remain unaccountable to this day.

Their roles, too, must not be forgotten.
Gerald Caplan is the author of 'Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide' and founder and volunteer co-ordinator of "Remembering Rwanda." This is an edited version of a presentation he will make on April 7 in Rwanda during the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the genocide.

As much as our American presidents say "Never again" with heartfelt passion, the reality too often has been, "Yes, again," to mass killings

The two men were neighbors and good buddies. They often got together, told jokes and shared that great international adhesive of male bonding, beer. That was before a mob insisted that one friend club the other to death.

It happened in Rwanda 10 years ago, a time and place where tribalism ran horribly amok. The victim had done nothing wrong except to belong to the wrong ethnic group. As reported by Los Angeles Times correspondent Robyn Dixon, the confessed killer now rationalizes the death as the mob's fault: "Those people are to blame," he says. "Not me."

There are millions of sad stories in Rwanda. His is one of them. "Those people" are his people. Hutus turned on Rwanda's Tutsi minority on the night of April 6, 1994, after a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and neighboring Burundi was shot down. Bands of Hutu thugs, working mostly with machetes and astonishingly relentless enthusiasm, killed almost 1 million men, women and children and turned another 2 million into refugees, all for the crime of being Tutsis.

The horrible enormity of those numbers numbs the mind. A single death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic, said Josef Stalin--who knew more than a little about how to stun the world into shocked disbelief through the sheer enormity of his own mass killings.

Memories of Rwandan horror pain an idealistic world, a modern civilization that embraced the slogan "Never again." After the horrors of the Holocaust were revealed a half-century ago, one American president after another has pledged never to let such a massive murder of civilians happen again. Yet, they do. Cambodia's killing fields in the 1970s, Saddam Hussein's attacks in northern Iraq in the 1980s, Bosnia's "ethnic cleansing" by Serbs in 1990s and Rwanda's horrors all proceeded without American action.

In Cambodia, Iraq and Rwanda, the United States did not even rush to offer stern words or impose sanctions. In Rwanda, the Clinton administration not only refused to authorize the deployment of a multinational UN force, but actually fussed with other nations over who would pay for American transport vehicles.

Yet, as former UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said in a December speech he delivered at the Gisozi Genocide Memorial site in Rwanda, "The lesson of each genocide is the same: The killing really takes off only after the murderers see that the world, and especially the United States, is not going to care or react."

Indeed, the slaughter in Rwanda of 10 UN peacekeepers from Belgium resulted in the UN Security Council's decision to pull the peacekeeping force out, despite the UN commander's impassioned request for reinforcements. When no response came after 100,000 people were killed in two weeks, the slaughter picked up its pace. It took Tutsi rebels, not the mighty UN, to put an end to the massacre by overthrowing the Hutu leaders.

President Bill Clinton expressed deep regret later. "I feel terrible," he said during one public appearance, "because I think we could have sent [5,000] or 10,000 troops and saved a couple hundred thousand lives. I think we could have saved about half of them."

So why didn't we? Clinton administration officials blame several factors, including the "Somalia syndrome." Congress and the Clinton administration were reluctant to send U.S. troops into more humanitarian missions after the disastrous retreat from Mogadishu.

Gen. Romeo Dallaire, the UN commander whose call for reinforcements went unheeded, was more blunt in an appearance in Rwanda's capital Kigali this week: "The international community didn't give one damn for Rwandans because Rwanda was a country of no strategic importance."

Right. Had there been oil or something else of "strategic importance" under Rwanda, the world might have responded with a greater urgency. Yet the American people are not cold-hearted. A CBS/New York Times poll in 1995, for example, found two-thirds of the Americans polled thought "stopping the killing" was reason enough to deploy troops to Bosnia, while only 29 percent agreed with Clinton that deployment was necessary to maintain a stable Europe and preserve American leadership. Americans want to do the right thing. But they need leadership to help them do it.

Leaders tend to be reluctant to make the humanitarian "Never again" argument, even when it is perfectly justified. President Bush's White House, for example, fell back on the humanitarian motive for invading Iraq ("The Iraqi people are better off with Saddam [Hussein] is out of power") only after our searchers failed to find Hussein's fabled weapons of mass destruction.

As much as our American presidents say "Never again" with heartfelt passion, the reality too often has been, "Yes, again," when our nation's moral courage somehow gets lost in day-after-day of polite conversations between diplomats, followed by no action. It is not surprising that the U.S. is reluctant to send troops to faraway adventures. But if we forget the lessons of Rwanda, we will be doomed to repeat them.
Page is a syndicated columnist who writes primarily for the Chicago Tribune. E-mail: cptime@aol.com. Published on April 7, 2004. Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune

Summary: Africa's most acclaimed and fluent writer of the English Language, the most translated writer of Black heritage in the world, broadcaster extraordinaire, social conscience of millions, cultural

custodian and elevator, chronicler and essayist, goodwill ambassador and man of progressive rock-ribbed principles, the Eagle on the Iroko, Ugo n'abo Professor Chinua Achebe, has recently been selected by a distinguished jury of scholars and critics (from 13 countries of African life and literature) as the writer of the Best book (Things Fall Apart, 1958) written in the twentieth century regarding Africa. Reasonably, Achebe's message has been neither dimmed nor dulled by time and clime. He's our pathfinder, the intellectual godfather of millions of Africans and lovers of the fine art of good writing. Achebe's cultural contexts are, at once, pan-African, globalist and local; hence, his literary contextualizations soar beyond the confines of Umuofia and any Igbo or Nigerian setting of his creative imagination or historical recall. His globalist underpinnings and outlook are truly reflective of the true essence of his Igbo world-view, his Igbo upbringing and disposition. Igbos and Jews share (with a few other other cultures) this pan-global disposition to issues of art, life, commerce, juridical pursuits, and quest to be republicanist in terms of the vitality of the individual/self. In Achebe's works, the centrality of Chi (God) attains an additional clarity in the Igbo cosmology... it is a world which prefers a quasi-capitalistic business attitude while taking due cognizance of the usefulness of the whole, the community. I've studied, lived and tried to better understand, essentially, the rigor and towering moral certainties which Achebe have employed in most of his works and his world. I know, among other reasons, because I share the same ancestry with him. Permit me to attempt a brief sentence, with that Achebean simplicty and clarity. Here, folks, what the world has known since 1958: Achebe is good! Eagle on the Iroko, may your Lineage endure! There has never been one like you!

APPRECIATION A young father writes his One year old son: "If only my heart had a voice...." Nelson Mandela, Tribute to the world's political superstar and Lion of Africa   Why Bush should focus on dangers facing Nigeria's return to democracy and Obasanjo's slipperyslide "Obasanjo has ruined this country...." An open letter to Nigeria's President Obasanjo. By Prof. Niyi Osundare: Dear President, millions of Nigerians see you as the source of their problems. Millions curse you under their breadth. Millions more loudly pronounce their imprecations at the slightest opportunity. You rule over a degraded country, Mr. President; your every act has consistently contributed to that degradation. TRIBUTE A KING FOR ALL TIMES: Why Martin Luther King's legacy and vision are relevant into 21st century. DIPLOMACY Walter Carrington: African-American diplomat who put principles above self for Nigeria (USAfrica's founder Chido Nwangwu with Ambassador Carrington at the U.S. embassy, Nigeria) DEMOCRACY'S WARRIOR Out of Africa. …The cock that crows in the morning belongs to one household but his voice is the property of the neighborhood. -- Chinua Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah. An editor carries on his crusade against public corruption and press censorship in his native Nigeria and other African countries. By John Suval. ARINZE: Will he be the FIRST BLACK AFRICAN POPE? By Chido Nwangwu HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY How far, how deep will Nigeria's human rights commission go? Rtd. Gen. Babangida trip as emissary for Nigeria's Obasanjo to Sudan raises curiosity, questions about what next in power play? 110 minutes with Hakeem Olajuwon Nigerian stabbed to death in his bathroom in Houston. Cheryl Mills' first class defense of Clinton and her detractors' game  It's wrong to stereotype Nigerians as Drug Dealers Private initiative, free market forces, and more democratization are Keys to prosperity in Africa Steve Jobs extends digital magic Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's burden mounts with murder charges, trials Since 1958, Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" set a standard of artistic excellence, and more. By Douglas Killam Lifestyle Sex, Women and (Hu)Woman Rights. By Chika Unigwe Johnnie Cochran will soon learn that defending Abacha's loot is not as simple as his O.J Simpson's case. By Chido Nwangwu USAfrica The Newspaper voted the "Best Community Newspaper" in the 4th largest city in the U.S., Houston. It is in the Best of Houston 2001 special as chosen by the editors and readers of the Houston Press, reflecting their poll and annual rankings.

CONTINENTAL AGENDA Bush's position on Africa is "ill-advised." The position stated by Republican presidential aspirant and Governor of Texas, George Bush where he said that "Africa will not be an area of priority" in his presidency has been questioned by USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. He added that Bush's "pre-election position was neither validated by the economic exchanges nor geo-strategic interests of our two continents." These views were stated during an interview CNN's anchor Bernard Shaw and senior analyst Jeff Greenfield had with Mr. Nwangwu on Saturday November 18, 2000 during a special edition of 'Inside Politics 2000.' Nwangwu, adviser to the Mayor of Houston (the 4th largest city in the U.S., and immigrant home to thousands of Africans) argued further that "the issues of the heritage interests of 35 million African-Americans in Africa, the volume and value of oil business between between the U.S and Nigeria and the horrendous AIDS crisis in Africa do not lend any basis for Governor Bush's ill-advised position which removes Africa from fair consideration" were he to be elected president. By Al Johnson "Our ordeal with KLM" "They bumped me and my daughter from a confirmed flight; then flies out with 5 pieces of our luggage...." TONY IGWE in exclusive interview tells USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu of 5 hours of anguish and disappointments at the George Bush International Airport in Houston, on Friday March 26, 2004 DEMOCRACY DEBATE CNN International debate on Nigeria's democracy livecast on February 19, 2002. It involved Nigeria's Information Minister Prof. Jerry Gana, Prof. Salih Booker and USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. Transcripts are available on the CNN International site. Should Africa debates begin and end at The New York Times and The Washington Post? No NEWS INSIGHT CNN, Obasanjo and Nigeria's struggles with democracy. Why Obasanjo's government should respect CNN and Freedom of the press in Nigeria. Jonas Savimbi, UNITA are "terrorists" in Africans' eyes despite Washington's "freedom fighter" toga for him. By SHANA WILLS Africa suffers the scourge of the virus. This life and pain of Kgomotso Mahlangu, a five-month-old AIDS patient (above) in a hospital in the Kalafong township near Pretoria, South Africa, on October 26, 1999, brings a certain, frightening reality to the sweeping and devastating destruction of human beings who form the core of any definition of a country's future, its national security, actual and potential economic development and internal markets. 22 million Africans HIV-infected, ill with AIDS while African leaders ignore disaster-in-waiting Osama bin-Laden's goons threaten Nigeria and Africa's stability What has Africa to do with September 11 terror? By Chido Nwangwu Africans reported dead in terrorist attack at WTC September 11 terror and the ghost of things to come.... Will religious conflicts be the time-bomb for Nigeria's latest transition to civilian rule? Bola Ige's murder another danger signal for Nigeria's nascent democracy. In a special report a few hours after the history-making nomination, USAfricaonline.com Founder and Publisher Chido Nwangwu places Powell within the trajectory of history and into his unfolding clout and relevance in an essay titled 'Why Colin Powell brings gravitas, credibility and star power to Bush presidency.' AFRICA AND THE U.S. ELECTIONS Beyond U.S. electoral shenanigans, rewards and dynamics of a democratic republic hold lessons for African politics.