Rawanda Genocide

The United States decision not to intervene in the Rwandan genocide was in direct violation of the standing U.S. policy at the time, the policy was to work in concert with the United Nations to actively intervene to prevent or halt any genocide that occurred in any country or countries (as stipulated in the adoption of the prevention and punishment of the crimes of genocide, 1988). Underlying this decision is a general philosophy of how to run a government. The United States government was created to serve a specific purpose or function, serving the people of the United States; it’s often claimed that a government's sole concern is national interest. As a result, the United States is under no obligation to prevent human rights violations unless it serves the narrowly defined national interests, directly benefiting United States security or economic goals. The United States repeatedly confirms that national interest is the lead concern when dealing with humanitarian efforts, as in the case of the Bosnia-Hercegovina “ethnic- cleansing” (the preferred titling of the Bosnia-Hercegovina events), the delay in reaction,

The definition of Genocide is quite contentious, both with in the academic and the policy making community. The first element considered in genocide is physical destruction, the killing and/or causation of a cease of reproduction, the endangerment of a group’s ultimate survival, and the psychological and cultural destruction. The second aspect of defining genocide is the predators’ intent (Harff 1992). Third the nature of the predator, the “modern” genocide refers to the “actions carried out by a state or ruler with the intent to kill systematically a particular community or social collectivity, resulting in destroying the targeted group in whole or in part” (Scherrer1999). (The academic and policy making communities have narrowed the definition of a genocide to isolate happenings across the globe and to reduce the response the global community must have to these occurrences). The genocide in Rwanda took place without United States intervention, despite clear evidence of genocide and Dallaire's (Major General Romeo Dallaire, commander of the United Nations[UN] peace keeping forces in Rwanda) pleas for additional support, the United States pushed for a UN withdrawal, slashing UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda forces from 2500 to 270 (although 503 decided to stay). The result was a 100-day massacre of 800,000 Rwandan men, women, and children not including the unknown numbers suffering from other offenses like rape, torture, and intimidation. The Rwandan genocides rate of killing exceeds that of the Holocaust and makes it the “most efficient mass killing since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki” (Gourevitch1998). The United

Some topics in this essay:
United Nations, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Rwandan Genocide, Gourevitch1998 United, United States', Mission Rwanda, Organization NATO, Rwanda April, , Bob Dole, human rights, definition genocide, genocide rwanda, immoral unjust, domestic politics, people population, academic policy, clinton administration, modern hutu, rwandan genocide,