August 31, 2007
Abu Ghraib and Gitmo in perspective
While leftists in the United States, and especially in Europe, paint America as brutal and cite Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, the mildness of those so-called "atrocities" (scary dogs, panties on a head) stands out as the true story of the behavior of French troops in Rwanda finally comes out. Do not expect the New York Times to run a month's worth of front page stories on the truly horrifying information coming to light.
The U.K. Independent covers the findings of a commission in Rwanda investigating the genocidal wave a violence that killed hundreds of thouysands there in 1994.
French soldiers stationed in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994 have been accused of "widespread rape" by a Rwandan commission investigating France's role during the conflict.The commission, which is due to publish its final report in October, will also provide fresh evidence that French soldiers trained the Interahamwe, the extremist Hutu militia responsible for most of the killing, and even provided them with weapons. [snip]France's support for the genocidal Rwandan regime - both before and during the slaughter - has been well documented, but the new report sheds some light on the extent of that backing.In particular, it provides the first evidence that French soldiers sent to Rwanda during the genocide as part of a UN-mandated force to protect civilians carried out "widespread rape" of genocide survivors. Jean Paul Kimonyo, one of the commissioners, said: "They were asking for Tutsis - not women - Tutsis." [snip]Dr Kimonyo said: "France was directly involved in the preparation of the genocide. They were training the Interahamwe in a systematic manner. They were training them to kill, to kill as fast as possible as one witness said, using knives and machetes. What were they training them for? It is very disturbing."
More than disturbing. Perhaps under Prime Minister Sarkozy, the French will address this stain on their national honor.