Citation
Michael Dobbs contends that the possibility of intervention by the United
States in the 1994 Rwanda genocide was hampered by an absence of “stronger
intelligence” about the killings and the challenges of trying to “make sense” of
what was happening in Africa.
Samantha Power suggested otherwise in her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “A
Problem From Hell.” Ms. Power, now the United States ambassador to the United
Nations, reported that within weeks after the mass murder began, the Clinton
administration — and the public — had ample information about it. The killings
began on April 7 and continued until well into July. As early as April 23, a New
York Times editorial stated, “What looks very much like genocide has been taking
place in Rwanda.”
Ms. Power showed that the main obstacle to American action was not lack of
information but political considerations. She cited a memo from a Defense
Department official reporting that the State Department was “worried” that
acknowledging that genocide was underway “could commit [the United States] to
actually ‘do something’. ”
She also quoted Susan E. Rice, then director of Africa affairs for the National
Security Council, asking in one discussion among policy makers, “If we use the
word ‘genocide’ and are seen as doing nothing, what will be the effect on the
November [Congressional] election?”
RAFAEL MEDOFF
Director, David S. Wyman
Institute for Holocaust Studies
