Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don’t take a “dark” view of his actions. Sorry if I gave that impression.

What I’m saying is this. Dallaire was trying to deal with a hundred different inputs that were, in many cases, completely contradictory. And he was doing this in the dark, not knowing what wheels were turning in the background, not know the scale of the growning horror, not knowing what politics were being played at the UN and among the French, the Belgians, the Ugandans and the dozens of other parties to the growing disaster. It’s easy to grab a gun and start shooting bad guys. It’s inconceivably MORE difficult to be trying to find political, judicial, and military solutions, with an unclear mandate, no political support, and waning resources, all under the glaring light of history, and with corpses beginning to pile up in the streets around you.

Dallaire’s account of his own failings and failures was detailed, unsparing, and more specific and self-critical that anything either Kursk or Nick had to say. I just see a man caught in an impossible, irresolvable situation of pure horror, and struggling to do the best he could. Wrong decisions? Sure, probably. Back seat drivers alway have 20-20 vision, especially in hindsight.

That said, I haven’t met anyone who served with Dallaire in Rwanda. However, I have visited several genocide memorials and talked with many Rwandans and they do not have the same dim view that Kursk and Dalton seem to take of his actions. As those who were perhaps in the best position to judge him, I’ll take their opinion as the most accurate. To those who survived, but lost their children, husbands, wifes and parents in the genocide, they hold Dallaire in high regard to this day for his efforts in an impossible situation. Did he make mistakes? Certainly. But it is not what he didn’t do, but what he did that people respect.

I don’t know why we must tear down anyone that is admirable, that is worthy of praise and respect in this country. We know we need heroes, we look for them but can’t find them. Why? Because we have already destroyed them, because we couldn’t stand to look up at them and have someone to live up to.

No, I don’t. But I think folks who dismiss the impossible complexity of General Dallaire’s position might be.

“Not sure who is generalizing here.”

Well, that would probably be the guy who said that me and my “ilk” “represent all that is wrong in this country”…a rather staggering statement to make about someone whose contribution to this country you know nothing about.

‘You sound like someone who is downplaying my contribution due to your lack of service.”

I have no idea who you are, or what you’ve actually done. I have read and seen enough to know that Dallaire did quite a bit more than “absolutely nothing” (unless several thousand Rwandans, journalists, other soldiers, historians, and of the course the General himself are all psychotic liars.) Sorry, but I’m disinclined to take the work of an anonymous poster as being more reliable than the historical record.

In the movies, that works out pretty well. The despicable commander or bureaucrats or police chief who try to restrain the Harry Callahans from doing the Right Thing are always proved wrong and skulk away, our maverick is always proven right, and accollades rain down from heaven on the just.

Funny that life doesn’t work out that way, ain’t it?

To me, one of the most horrific aspects of Dallaire’s experience was the account…not just his, but those of other and fairly critical observers…of his being forced into a dozen conflicting roles - commander, diplomat, negotiator, politician, manager, salesman, soldier, in a situation where he was bound to fail in almost every role, and, increasingly, knew it.

It’s nice to hear folks brag about how brilliantly THEY would have handled things. Let’s hope they get their chance some day.

I’m now trying to recall how he communicated with DPKO and Kofi, in 1993. In Africa. Email you say?

I absolutely believe that you were there in Rwanda, heroically twitching to take over the reins of power. I just KNOW that you would have led UNAMIR without authorization and saved the day. Absolutely.

Gee,If i was in charge Dalton, it would not have happened, we would not have just drove by..your ‘biting’ sarcasm aside, if you wish to hero worship the man, feel free to do so..unfortunately, we all can’t be there when the need for decisive action arises..sometimes you have to join up..

A lot of ugliness happened in Rwanda because for too many years we employed ass licking political soldiers who were more worried about their future positions and pleasing their masters than doing what was right..

He could of intervened, it was worth a try..not just then , but in other matters as well..

Unfortunately, it is a soldiers place to take the orders you are given, whether you can stomach them or not.

A great loss for mankind ,Dalton?
No…a great loss of innocent people who died because they deserved better leadership…

Many of my fellow soldiers chafe at the mention of his name, and felt he could have done more with what he had (insofar as assets.. )in theatre.

Many of us feel his breakdown was caused by his inability to handle stress, nor delegate command decisions on his own, on which many lives could have been saved if direct action had been taken..

I cannot stress enough how painful it was to be a forced witness to Belgian paras being slaughtered, with a quick reaction team being no more than 0.5 km away..

Even as lightly armed as we were, we could have aided these men, as trained soldiers (even in small numbers) can effect the outcome of a fight even when faced by superior numbers..

This is, i feel, the number one thing that haunts the Gen..the inability to break fee of being a DND bureaucrat, a political soldier trained in the classic (for its time..) liberal mode of advancement for political ideals, rather than competent battlefield judgement..

He knew of no other mindst than to defer to bureaucrats, whether they were in Ottawa or New York..we had senior officers completely paralyzed for fear of making a career civil servant 1000’s of kms away upset(because his war stopped at 4:30 on the dot, to resume on Monday at 9:35, after the morning cup of joe whilst checking e-mails..)

It looks like being a good political soldier for the liberals has payed off handsomely for the Gen..

Like the bureaucrats on page 6 of the text:

…”there is nothing here of strategic value, there are only humans.”

If they are the help, we have no need for enemies.

I hope this movie does well. I think it’s probably the type of high quality film we all wish there were more of!