Two seemingly unrelated Rwandan stories made both history and the headlines this week. One was the dramatic finding by a French inquiry that members of the pre-genocide Hutu government and military must have shot down the plane carrying their President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6, 1994, launching their planned genocide only hours later. (The President of Burundi was also a passenger on the ill-fated plane, as were other senior Rwandan officials.) The second was the decision of the Canadian government to deport to Rwanda at long last a man named Leon Mugesera, accused of inciting his fellow Hutu to massacre Tutsi about one-and-half years before the plane crash. In fact, the two stories are closely related.
New York Times Continues to Conceal U.S. Role in 1965 Indonesia Coup
Why is the New York Times concealing the key role that the United States played in the 1965 coup in Indonesia that killed between 500,000 and one million people?
Jeffrey Sachs’s Metamorphosis From Neoliberal Shock Trooper to Bleeding Heart Hits a Snag
Jeffrey Sachs has seen his economic theories been applied to disastrous effect.
Resolving Muslim-Western Disputes
Western countries are embroiled in armed conflicts with Muslims, Arab nations, and non-state Arab and Muslim groups. To manage or resolve these ongoing disputes, Western disputants — including Israelis, who define themselves as Western — should become familiar with the ways Muslims and Arabs customarily manage and resolve disputes. Failure to understand these cultural differences will prolong or exacerbate ongoing conflicts.
Cult of Personality
He is, in the words of Barbara Walters, a “mild-mannered ophthalmologist.” Indeed, the rather squeamish leader-to-be chose eye surgery because it didn’t involve much blood. He speaks fluent English and can get by in French as well as his native Arabic. His wife is a knock-out, a “rose in the desert” according to a Vogue profile. Reluctant to take over the family business from his father, he interrupted his medical training in London to return home only after his older brother died in a car accident. Then, once at the helm, he released a number of political prisoners and instituted economic reforms that got a thumbs-up from the international business community. He cooperated with the United States in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Even today, he uses all the right words: transparency, dignity, reform.
Supporting Assad Shreds Iran’s Credibility With Radical Islam
If the Islamic Revolution still means anything, Tehran betrays it by supporting Syria’s Assad regime.
My Day With a Real Thrill Kill Cult: the MEK
The Mujahideen-e Khalq’s Paris-based leadership is reluctantly cooperating with a U.N. plan to resettle its endangered members in an Iraq refugee camp.
Hamas Pulls Rug Out From Under IDF Chief of Staff
Hamas, which has committed to the Oslo agreements, is being accepted by the international community.
One Year After the Referendum a Humanitarian Disaster in South Sudan
Hope engendered by the referendum to create South Sudan last year has been undermined by inter-ethnic strife and mass killings by the forces of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.
Once-Great Journalist Shawcross Now Receives John Yoo Seal of Approval
George Bush’s torture facilitator finds much to like in William Shawcross’s new book.