Shake Hands with the Devil - Romeo Dallair - Part 3 of 10

2020 Reading Challenge - Day 194

July 13, 2020

Book 55 - Shake Hands with the Devil
Roméo Dallaire
 Part 3 - pages 100-151 (e-book)
Reading Time - 60 minutes

Reading the next two chapters in this book, I was amazed at the sheer ineffectiveness and massive inertia of an organization like the United Nations. It has no money, no teeth, no mandate. I'm not sure the word "United" reflects the organization... "Squabbling Nations" or "Side-stepping Nations" might be better.

Chapter 5 - The Clock is Ticking

Dallaire arrived back in New York after conducted a reconnaissance missio nin Rwanda. They had a plan and wanted it approved by the 10 September, the deadline laid out in the Arusha Accord. But... the UN does not work that quickly. Dallaire was shocked at the molasses-like pace of the bureaucracy but was convinced that it could happen and moved and pushed hard to get it to happen. Not only did he believe that the peacekeeping mission would help Rwanda but it would also be an Operational Command and he wanted it for that reason as well.

As negotiations proceeded, Dallaire realized that he would not be getting his 5500 troops but likely only 2600. On top of that, much of the equipment and specialized units that they requested would not be the same. He wanted helicopters but would only get them in late March 1994... and they would abandon the mission the day after the genocide started in April 1994. He wanted an HQ staff but that didn't handle either... nor the requested communications section. Basically UN peacekeeping missions were at the mercy of the countries who were volunteering their soldiers.

Still, with 2500 soldiers, he figured he could cover the demilitarized zone and have small, unarmed military observer teams for the rest of the country. He was also counting on the fact that Burundi, to the south of Rwanda, was a safe and peaceful country. They had elected a Hutu president in democratic elections after a minority Tutsi military-run dictatorship. He wasn't worried about Rwanda's southern flank. Later, he would wonder if he compromised too much but he kept getting reassured by UN staff that it was a good plan. "Instead of quitting an impossible task, I was determined to do the best I could to secure peace for Rwanda."

The deadline of 10 September came and went and the UN was still "reviewing the options". The big players on the UN Security Council (America, Britain) didn't take Rwanda seriously. The peacekeeping mission really needed a NATO country to step up and volunteer their forces but only the former colonial overlords of Rwanda, the Belgians, volunteered. Even Canada refused to supply 30 troops to coordinate the unloading of aircraft. Apparently, everyone was too busy with the Balkans and eastern Europe. There were some Third World countries who offered troops (e.g. Bangladesh) but they had very little material, sustainability and training specific to complex conflicts and vast humanitarian catastrophes.

Most UN staff thought that Rwanda was doable but one staffer reminded Dallaire that the Hutu hard-liners had only signed the Arusha agreement under enormous pressure. The UN wanted the mission to be "small, cheap, short and sweet". Dallaire is quite harsh in his assessment of the UN and its member nations:

"Member nations do not want a large, reputable, strong and independent United Nations, no matter their hypocritical pronouncements otherwise. What they want is a weak, beholden, indebted scapegoat of an organization, which they can blame for their failures or steal victories from."

Dallaire had no intelligence on Rwanda and was relying on other countries to provide it... which none did (e.g. France, US, UK). And so, he flew off to Africa on the mission, starting in Uganda where it was clear that arms were still trickling through the border which was riddled with mountain trails. While in Uganda, there was a coup d'etat in Burundi which completely destabilized the southern border of Rwanda.  Things were not off to a good start...

Chapter 6 - The First Milestones

The moderate Hutu leadership in Burundi had been toppled by Tutsi military leaders and that little country was headed for an ethnic bloodbath. Kigali was thick with rumours and the local media were full of hysterical talk about Tutsi hegemony. After arriving in Rwanda, some officers from Uruguay, Bangladesh and Poland arrived.

Dallaire got a crash course in UN bureaucracy, being assigned a CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) who was all about "process" and red tape. Dallaire was forced to fight a petty internal war over vehicles and office supplies. On top of that, the political liaison had not arrived so Dallaire was trying to wear two hats: military liaison and political liaison. After a month, and with nothing happening, Dallaire arranged a flag raising in the demilitarized zone and one in Kigali as well. All parties who attended the raising of the UN flag expressed high hopes for peace and cooperation and yet... beneath the surface, old grievances were simmering.

Attacks happened against the Hutu near the demilitarized zone and the RPF was blamed. Later, Dallaire wondered if the attacks were a test of the resolution of the West. Many of the Rwandan leaders had studied in Canada or elsewhere in the West and they knew that response would be minimal. The massacres were an immediate challenge to the UN mission but Dallaire didn't have all his personnel in place.

The Belgian troops arrived, 450 para-commandos with light weapons and few vehicles, despite the fact that Dallaire had requested motorized infantry. The Belgians also came from Somali where they had been part of a Chapter 7 UN mission. They were quite racist and also refused to stay in tents at the airport but settled throughout the city. This would cause problems later... In mid-December, the Bangladeshi soldiers arrived with no supplies other than their weapons and personal kit - no food, no tents, no ammunition, no soap. They were also very officer heavy, but with their arrival, the last of the French detachment flew home.

The political liaison finally arrived, working 9 to 5 on weekdays and rather disinclined to take the lead on the international political effort. Another massacre took place in northwestern Rwanda and again was pinned on the RPF. Later, Dallaire would learn that translator communicating with the massacre survivors was an RGF spy and that several other RGF spies had infiltrated the local staff of the UN mission. Other information seemed to indicate that at least one of the massacres had been carried out by para-commandos from an RGF base.

By December 1993, Dallaire was getting word from several sources that elements close to the president were out to sabotage the peace process. The conspiracy's opening act would be a massacre of Tutsis. He learned that there were several weapons caches around Kigali but the political liaison disagreed.

By the end of December, the UN mission had established the Kigali Weapons Secure Area so the RPF could attend negotiations with their leader. Plans to establish the BBTG (Broad-Based Transitional Government), however were stalled. Extremist parties who were not part of the Arusha Accord had infiltrated the other parties and were whipping up public paranoia. 

Thoughts

I'm not sure if this level of dysfunction and inefficiency is common in other endeavours but... it seems quite appalling. If this is standard operating procedure, then it's a miracle that anything gets done at all and that there aren't more disasters. Although... when you look at it... Syria is one long disaster with the world standing aside wringing its hands in despair... or covertly supporting one side or the other. It makes me wonder if the Cold War ever really ended. I've read elsewhere that the US and Russia are still fighting each other, it's just that they now use other countries to fight their skirmishes... Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine...