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ecb7793
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I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists and therefore I know there is a God.
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Roméo Dallaire |
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0995624
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Many signs point to the fact that the youth of the Third World will no longer tolerate living in circumstances that give them no hope for the future. From the young boys I met in the demobilization camps in Sierra Leone to the suicide bombers of Palestine and Chechnya, to the young terrorists who fly planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we can no longer afford to ignore them. We have to take concrete steps to remove the caus..
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politics
chechnya
international
suicide-bombers
sierra-leone
rwanda
terrorism
palestine
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Roméo Dallaire |
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f24ebf2
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Peux ce que veux. Allons-y.
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Roméo Dallaire |
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e378660
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The reason why we believe that change is possible is not because we are idealists but because we believe we have made it, so other people can make it as well.
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optimism
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Roméo Dallaire |
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98873b6
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If we don't harness their potential for good, their societies will continue to reap their capacity for evil.
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good
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Roméo Dallaire |
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43c1a9e
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If I decide to make a career in the army, he said, I would never be rich, but I would live one of the most satisfying lives there was to be had. Then he warned me that satisfaction would come at a great cost to me and any family I might have. I should never expected to be thanked; a soldier, if he was going to be content, had to understand that no civilian, no government, sometimes not even the army itself, would recognize the true nature o..
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Roméo Dallaire |
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2993742
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Money follows interest, and interest is largely driven by media attention, which is more easily captured by the drama of conflict than by peace.
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peace
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Roméo Dallaire |
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5a7472d
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Though many desperately and relentlessly cling to old, divisive ideas in the face of a future that looks complex and uncertain, no one can legitimately portray themselves as members or practitioners of the one true faith, the superior race, the best culture. No one can say, with the image of the blue and green Earth floating in their heads, that others don't count as much as "we" do, that others don't hold the same status as we do, are not ..
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Roméo Dallaire |
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73bcd70
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I think that one of the benefits of optimism and idealism is that they lead you into things you would never have tried if you'd let yourself imagine how hard it was going to turn out to be.
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optimism
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Roméo Dallaire |
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4e903c8
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The global village is deteriorating at a rapid pace, and in the children of the world the result is rage. It is the rage I saw in the eyes of the teenage Interahamwe militiamen in Rwanda, it is the rage I sensed in the hearts of the children of Sierra Leone, it is the rage I felt in crowds of ordinary civilians in Rwanda, and it is the rage that resulted in September 11. Human beings who have no rights, no security, no future, no hope and n..
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Roméo Dallaire |
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b6a10e0
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I have often been criticized for being an 'emotional' leader, for not being macho enough, but even during this early stage in my career, I believed that the magic of command lies in openness, in being both sympathetic to the troops and at the same time being apart, in always projecting supreme confidence in my own ability and in theirs to accomplish whatever task is set for us.
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Roméo Dallaire |
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8d762b8
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I was on the ground, I was in command, I had been given the mission, and I took the decision.
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Roméo Dallaire |
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b23f943
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Still, at its heart the Rwandan story is the story of the failure of humanity to heed a call for help from an endangered people. The international community, of which the UN is only a symbol, failed to move beyond self-interest for the sake of Rwanda. While most nations agreed that something should be done they all had an excuses why they should not be the ones to do it. As a result, the UN was denied the political will and material mean to..
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Roméo Dallaire |
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5da743a
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Still, I did not regret for a moment leaving the bright lights of Manhattan behind in favour of night skies so dark the stars seemed close enough to be street lights. In the recycled cabin air of the long flight back, I physically longed for Rwanda, its rich red earth, the smell of its wood fires and its vibrant humanity.
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Roméo Dallaire |
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1478ed3
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The people of Rwanda were not an insignificant black mass living in abject poverty in a place of no consequence. They were individuals like myself, like my family, with every right and expectation of any human who is a member of our tortured race. I was determined to persevere.
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Roméo Dallaire |