To Orwell Today,
re: MYTH OF SAINT ROMEO

As a former U.N. peace keeper, it is refreshing to see another angle on the Rwanda-Dallaire affair. Most of the soldiers whom I have talked to despise the former general. It seems too strange that it took 10 years for Ottawa to put together a public affairs promo about the subject. I recall that initially, they did not want to touch him with a 10 foot pole.

Yes, the guy was a bureaucrat and not a real soldier. If he had any balls, he would have done something with his troops, instead of being such a yes-man to the U.N. He was a General for gosh sakes and would still come out of the situation with a huge pension.

I know guys who literally put their lives on the line to protect total strangers in UN situations. I can't help but wonder why their efforts constantly get swept under the carpet.

--Doug S.

Greetings Doug,

Thanks for your input on the Rwanda-Dallaire affair or should we say "phenomenon", so famous and financially set-up is he now (with his Senator salary, book and movie royalties, UN salary as advisor-on-genocide on top of the money he makes on the speakers' circuit). And that's on TOP of his military pension calculated for rank of general. Not bad for someone who admits he failed in his mission.

The thing that amazes me most recently about Dallaire is how he has said nothing about the Hutus in the Congo who are attacking Tutsis there - the same ones who did the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Here he is going all around the world saying "never again" when "again" is actually happening. See RWANDA'S SILENT FRIENDS and UN PEACEKEEPING NOT KEEPINGPEACE.

All the best,
Jackie Jura

PS - I notice in today's news (in follow-up to our email exchange last week) that Dallaire's movie SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL is doing well at the box office, making lots of money, although I don't know how much of it goes to Dallaire (or if ANY of it goes to Rwandans).

Playback Magazine, Oct 23, 2007 (...Seville Pictures claimed the number two spot with the biopic Shake Hands with the Devil, based on Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire's experiences in Rwanda. Shake Hands added another $170,944 in its third week, increasing its tally to $836,059. The film, starring Roy Dupuis, played especially well in Quebec, where it has brought in $534,119)