Reader Rwanda Book Gribbin

To Orwell Today,
re: READING ON RWANDA

I saw your list of Rwanda books. You ought to add mine, IN THE AFTERMATH OF GENOCIDE: THE U.S. ROLE IN RWANDA, if you want a fuller picture.

Regards,
Robert Gribbin

Greetings Robert,

I don't add a book to my list of Rwanda books until I've read it -- and until now I wasn't aware of your book.

The Aftermath of Genocide: The USA Role in Rwanda
by Robert Gribbin

... Robert E. Gribbin lived and worked as a U.S. diplomat in Africa for thirty-five years. He served in Rwanda twice, once before and once after the genocide. He was U.S. ambassador from 1995 to 1999. Now retired, in addition to consulting, writing and teaching about Africa, he undertakes short-term diplomatic postings to the continent he knows so well... Sent to Rwanda as U.S. ambassador just after the genocide, Gribbin said, "These issues were the substance of my tenure in Kigali. I believe I had a unique responsibility to write about them"...Drawing on inside information and conversations with policy makers, especially Rwandan military genius (then-Vice President) General Paul Kagame, the author describes how the U.S. responded to the unfolding crises in Rwanda and in the region. The ethnic conflict that began with the genocide, spilled over into neighboring Zaire/Congo, not once, but twice. First, in a dramatic chase of the remnants of the militia group responsible for genocide, that coincidently swelled into a grass roots ouster of long-time dictator Mobutu; and secondly, when Kabila, Mobutu’s successor, failed to honor his commitments regarding ethnic tolerance. In the Aftermath of Genocide is essential reading for those seeking to understand the complexities, agony and violence of contemporary Africa. Furthermore, it is crucial for those who ask what can we Americans do about such problems?...

I feel that in the hundreds of essays and articles about Rwanda on my website that I have provided a full picture of the USA role -- but of course there's always more to learn.

I've noticed, in this past few years especially, that the spokespeople for Rwanda tend to criticize the Western World -- USA included -- for their role in Rwanda -- but there's never any criticism of the role of the Communist World in Rwanda -- especially China.

Afterall, it was China that provided the corrupt genocidal Hutu government of Habyarimana with the machetes used to carry out the genocide against the Tutsi -- and yet China's given a "pass" and never criticised for travesties against Rwanda. On the contrary, Rwanda's government seems to have nothing but praise for Communist China -- and nothing but criticism for America.

Orwellianly, too, Kagame is very friendly with the former president of the USA -- the disgraced Bill Clinton -- who didn't come to Rwanda's aid during the genocide. But in the immediate aftermath -- even before the bodies were buried -- Clinton started pumping a million dollars a day of taxpayers money into the United Nations refugee camp in Congo to which hundreds of thousands of Hutu genocidaires ran escaping justice in Rwanda. See GOMA CAMP MAFIA HUTU HOTEL

I started losing respect for Kagame after what he did to Nkunda -- the Congolese Tutsi rebel who was fighting the Hutu genocidaires who had set up base in Congo after escaping from Rwanda when Kagame stopped the genocide there. Kagame arrested and imprisoned Nkunda over four years ago -- January 22, 2009 -- and since then Nkunda hasn't been seen or heard of -- it's as though he never existed.

Also, Kagame's position against Gaddafi -- ie supporting the United Nations war on Libya in 2011 -- has caused me to further lose respect for Kagame and shatters my belief that he has the best interests of Rwanda -- or Africa -- in mind.

I would be interested in hearing your reasons why I should read your book THE AFTERMATH OF GENOCIDE: THE USA ROLE IN RWANDA and then perhaps I will.

All the best,
Jackie Jura

To Orwell Today,

Thanks.

-RGribbin

Why China is making a big play to control Africa's media, by Geoffrey York, GlobeMail, Sep 11, 2013
When one of South Africa’s biggest newspaper chains was sold last month, an odd name was buried in the list of new owners: China International Television Corp. A major stake in a South African newspaper group might seem an unusual acquisition for Chinese state television, but it was no mystery to anyone who has watched the rapid expansion of China’s media empire across Africa. From newspapers and magazines to satellite television and radio stations, China is investing heavily in African media. It’s part of a long-term campaign to bolster Beijing’s “soft power” – not just through diplomacy, but also through foreign aid, business links, scholarships, training programs, academic institutes and the media. Its investments have allowed China to promote its own media agenda in Africa, using a formula of upbeat business and cultural stories and a deferential pro-government tone, while ignoring human-rights issues and the backlash against China’s own growing power. The formula is a familiar one used widely in China’s domestic media. It leads to a tightly controlled pro-China message, according to journalists and ex-journalists at the Africa branch of CCTV, the Chinese state television monopoly that owns China International Television and launched a new headquarters in Nairobi last year. “It was ‘our way or the highway,’” recalls a journalist who worked in Ethiopia for CCTV. He said he was ordered to focus primarily on diplomatic negotiations over Sudan, with his bosses citing “China’s interest in the region” – a reference to China’s state oil companies and their heavy investments in Sudan. Other CCTV Africa journalists say they were told to provide positive news on China, to omit negative words such as “regime,” and to ignore countries such as Swaziland that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Chinese demand for ivory could not be mentioned in stories about Africa’s poaching crisis, one journalist said. Another recalled how human-rights questions had to be avoided in an interview with an authoritarian African leader. “I knew it would be cut out of my story, so I self-censored,” he said. The journalists asked not to be named for fear of repercussions....

MacheteRwandaCongo RWANDAN GENOCIDE IN CONGO NOW

Kagame Nkunda Gaddafi TALKING KAGAME/NKUNDA/GADDAFI

GaddafiShirtLumumba Lumumba Assass JFKCongoCry KILLING GADDAFI LIKE JFK-LUMUMBA

What Happened to Congolese General Laurent Nkunda?, by Georgianne Nienaber, Huffington Post, Jan 20, 2012
...China was also silently waiting in the wings for the spoils and Nkunda viewed the Chinese as a threat to his country's heritage and wealth -- a robber baron of the future of Congolese children. In our 2009 discussion during a Virunga thunderstorm at Jomba, shielded from its force by a tattered UNICEF tarp, Nkunda predicted deals between DRC's President, Joseph Kabila, and the Chinese would benefit no one but Kabila. In fact, by October of 2011 it was Kabila who approved a $6 billion copper-for-infrastructure deal with China that left Congo holding an empty money bag and $5.5 million the worse for the deal. The Economist and the British press commented: "The sale of mining licenses at below-market value to firms associated with friends of the president has raised eyebrows."

In three years, no one has heard from Nkunda after his betrayal by Rwanda's Paul Kagame in a mutually beneficial alliance with Congo's Joseph Kabila. Paul Kagame's press office has not responded to repeated requests for an interview. Contrary to news reports at the time, Nkunda was not on the run, nor had he been ousted in a coup d'état by the war criminal Bosco Ntaganda. Against the advice of advisors, Nkunda went willingly to a meeting called in Rwanda to consider peace talks. Associates suspected a trap, and they were correct. But a "renegade" general "on the run" is a compelling story. Today, Nkunda is being held under house arrest in Rwanda with no criminal charges pending against him. A petition filed by his lawyer in the Supreme Court of Rwanda in March 2010 says Nkunda...

In late 2008, there was intense international pressure on both Rwanda and Congo to end the bloodshed in eastern Congo. When Rwanda decided to join forces with Joseph Kabila to fight the FDLR, Nkunda refused to join the new alliance. Nkunda, a Tutsi, was providing protection for the Rwandan border and also residents of eastern Congo from the Hutu FDLR, responsible for the 1994 genocide. There was good reason for Kagame to want Nkunda marginalized. He was more popular than the Rwandan president. As far as Kabila was concerned, Nkunda's CNDP was marching almost unopposed towards Kinshasha, and an alliance with the enemy Rwanda was an easy solution to the Nkunda "problem." 21,000 square kilometers were under CNDP [Nkunda] control...

NKUNDA SAY CONGO OWNS RESOURCES & CONGO 500-POUND GORILLA CHINA

watch NKUNDA LAST CONGO INTERVIEW

KNOW NKUNDA CONGO

The Aftermath of Genocide: The USA Role in Rwanda, by Robert Gribbin, March 2005

RWANDA'S GOOD MAN KAGAME

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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