"Shake hands With the Devil"

[Slim]

I am wondering if there is anyone in the forum who can either provide an opinion on , or who can critique General Romeo Dalaire‘s book "Shake hands With The Devil"?
I have been thinking about buying the book for some time now and would like some feedback on what it‘s like.
Thanks all
Slim

 

[Mike Bobbitt]

Hi Slim,

It‘s the next book on my reading list... Give me some time and I‘ll post a full blown review here. (I haven‘t started it yet, so it may be some weeks before I can give an opinion on it...)

Looking forward to it though...

 

[westernarmymember]

I am half way through reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[GGHG_Cadet]

I finished the book a few weeks ago and it was a very good read and would recommend it to everyone. I think it‘s worth buying.

 

[Slim]

Thanks gents
Slim

 

[pvandoremalen]

Its worth reading. The man was faced with one of the worst situations a commanding officer can be in as he watched as the situation deteriated around him unable to do anything as his orders forbid him to. I remember the point in the book where he described what happened to the Belgian paras as they were slaughtered by the Rwandan militia. Its a good book. I met him at a medical convention once, hope the guy finds some peace some day. Good reason not to become a rupert, things are much easier from the NCM‘s perspective.

 

[EX-STRAT]

Light Infantry Soldier you are the heart and soul of the combat arms. Be proud and stand tall. I was with the assault troop recce for the Strats so can somewhat relate. Soldier on and do our country proud, your type is few and far between...

 

[hoganshero]

It was a very good read. It is written in the form of a narrative. It is not an after action report... he does not discuss the minutea of military life. Instead it is a very personal journey through a very troubled time in a troubled country‘s history. If you are looking for maps and casualty figures and info on how the civil war played out on a tactical level it isn‘t here. If you are looking for a book about one man‘s journey through history and struggle against indeifference then it is a must read.

 

[jimbunting]

Gentelmen:

The general was in the witness chair at the Judicial proceedings, and was embarrassed when he made comments about being "threatened" by a Major, with a pistol. Turns out that his book does not even mention this "event". Seems he had to re-read his own book, to find out that the "fact" was not there. Overall his testimony was a series of un-related claims, that the defence was, for the most part, able to refute.

I‘ve seen this ex-officer on TV a number of times, and my impression was that he was shooting for a UN job, or at least a claim for PTSS.

Jim Bunting.

 

[Mike Bobbitt]

Jim, you‘ll probably want to back up these claims with something more concrete. Granted, you‘re expressing an opinion, but one that‘s likely to draw quite a bit of scrutiny given the circumstances.

I for one can‘t bring Dallaire‘s PTSD claim into question. If 1/10th of what is in his book is true (and I have no evidence that any of it is untrue) then who are we to judge from our positions of comfort and safety?

Please, if you have fact to back any of this up, share it with us.

Cheers

 

[Lexi]

I saw the book at Chapters, wanted to pick it up but the mother shook her head.
"Find something in the ten dollar range, dear." says she.

 

[hoganshero]

I have no idea why everyone says that Bagorosa threatening the general is not in his book it is on page:456 2nd paragraph of my copy

Quote:
"Around this time I had a final, memorable encounter with Theoneste Bagosora. I had gone to the Diplomates to see Bizimungu, and was waiting for him at the front desk, when Bagosora opened his office door and spotted me there. From almost 10 metres away, he started to shout, accusing me at the top of his lungs of being an RPF sympathizer. I was undermining the very important transfers from the Milles Collines and Meridien, he yelled, and he continued to berate me and UNAMIR for having failed the Arusha peace process as he passed me and started to climb the long stairway that swept in a curve up to the second floor of the lobby. When I mildly responded that it was his side that had been failing to keep truces for the transfers, he ratcheted up to an even more intense level of rage, and paused to lean over the metal railing in order to look me in the eye. With menace in every line of his face he promised that if he ever saw me again he would kill me."
Seems pretty clear cut to me....
Mr Bunting:
I assume this is the event in question regarding the death threat.
Your "impression" that Dallaire was shooting for a job at the UN seems a tad uninformed. Dallaire has no use for the UN
page 6:quote" I know intimately the cost in human lives of the inflexible UN Security Council mandate, the penny pinching financial management of the mission, the UN red tape, the political manipulations...."
Describing the reason for his book "It is not a simplistic indictment of the many failures of the UN as a force for peace in the world."

as you can see he is not too keen on the UN.

As to addressing your claim that he did it simply to pass off a claim of post traumatic stress disorder.... 2 suicide attempts and a 3 day stint living under a bridge seem a bit much for an extra 5% of your wage in your pension.

I think what is more likely Jim is that this man has been through something you don‘t understand and it broke him in a way you can‘t sympathize with so you are going to pass it off as some kind of weakness or an act. Not to get too personal but I think the 21st century is passing you by.

 

[clasper]

Jurors unanimous in picking retired lieutenant-general‘s book

OTTAWA - Romeo Dallaire‘s book, detailing his experiences as the Canadian commander of United Nations forces in Rwanda in 1994, has won the 2004 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for political writing.

The jury -- Ottawa councillor Clive Doucet, broadcaster Peter Mansbridge and writer Margaret MacMillan - unanimously selected the retired lieutenant-general‘s Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda for the $15,000 prize, established in honour of the late member of Parliament from Windsor, Ont.

"It puts a heart-rendering face on the costs of the world turning away from its responsibility to protect human rights in Rwanda," the jury said.

The other finalists were The Story of Jane Doe: A Book About Rape by Jane Doe and The Road to ****: How the Biker Gangs Are Conquering Canada by Julian Sher and William Marsden.

The prize, awarded by the Writers‘ Trust of Canada, goes to "a non-fiction book that exhibits outstanding literary merit and enlarges people‘s understanding of contemporary Canadian political and social issues."


http://www.cbc.ca/arts/stories/quickhits20040401


--------------------

Well earned. BZ

 

[sm0ke]

There was a pretty imformative special last night on Detroit Publc Tv (Im assuming it was probably Nova or something like it) about Rwanda, Dallaire was featured as one of the prime interviewees for the show. I dont know how often they rerun that sorta stuff, I was going to burn it but only caught the last half hour or so. Did any one else happen to catch it?

 

[Spr.Earl]

Originally posted by sm0ke:
[qb] There was a pretty imformative special last night on Detroit Publc Tv (Im assuming it was probably Nova or something like it) about Rwanda, Dallaire was featured as one of the prime interviewees for the show. I dont know how often they rerun that sorta stuff, I was going to burn it but only caught the last half hour or so. Did any one else happen to catch it? [/qb]

I saw it and yes it was on PBS,it was two hours long.
It was very incrimenating to the all the members of the U.N. and especialy the U.S. for not acting when Delaire asked for help.

 

[Sh0rtbUs]

I loved it. one of my top favorite books.

 

[sm0ke]

Thanks Earl, I‘ll see if I can find it on the net somewhere, if I can i‘ll make it available by request through FTP

I‘ll continue re-reading the book until then

 

[stukirkpatrick]

I just got this book from chapters today, and from what I can tell from reading the first few pages, it will be well worth the money.

 

[Slim]

I finally broke down and bought the book at the airport while on the way out west. Although I paid the exhorbitant price of waytoomuch$$$ for it I was able to read for 4 hours uninterupted (unheard of time in my world!). I am about half way through now and am enjoying it quite a bit.

 

[Bert]

As a slight tangent to the thread, are there any other stories of Canadian Forces members having to make tough decisions while on deployment somewhere?

I don‘t have the link or the complete facts or can prove whether its true, but I
was told a graphic story of a small platoon of
Candian soldiers in Bosnia in the early days
of the conflict. The leading NCO made a decision
that led him off his ROE and against command authority to protect several families of refugees from a group of opposing soldiers/militia.

I don‘t have all the facts but I think the Canadian government should provide "public"
praise for those soldiers in difficult circumstance and times who tried to do the right
thing. Even if its just the PM privately giving the a slap on the back with a "way to go!".