Retired General Romeo Dallaire, famous for his UN command in Rwanda and his book about the Rwandan Genocide, "Shake Hands With the Devil", has finally emerged into public view again now that a genocide is being inflicted upon Palestinians - with open Canadian complicity in arming Israel's death squads.
As it turns out, Dallaire does not say a damn thing about today's genocide. There isn’t a single mention of Palestine or Israel, although the Holocaust and "never again" is cited in the first paragraph after Dallaire reminds us he was in Rwanda in 1994.
Perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise. What possible parallels could there be between a genocide in Rwanda and genocide in Palestine? Colonialism and imperialism are other words left out of this ink spill.
It is certainly not surprising how much bluster and bullshit is stuffed into this huge Saturday Globe feature. And thus, it becomes clear why Dallaire has been brought up to the public stage again: to use his "torment" to proffer humanitarian justifications for Western imperialism.
After the Cold War, Russia "has since become a giant rogue state" which is "attempting to gather allies wherever U.S. influence has ebbed, namely Syria, the Middle East and parts of Africa." Is Dallaire completely unaware of what the American Empire has done since the Soviet Union folded up shop?
The answer is yes, Dallaire has, like all imperialists, created a fictional reality to justify more imperialism. You see, had we learned anything like Dallaire claims he has, "as soon as Russia edged its toes up to the border with Ukraine, NATO or the UN member states or both would have reinforced the line with boots on the ground."
Dallaire is the same Cold Warrior lunatic he was before his cook's tour in Rwanda. NATO expansionism is nowhere in this analysis. Who edged to whose borders?
And if you're not convinced your kids will be speaking Russian in a few years, "China's true ambitions are still murky, but clearly beyond its current borders." Turns out your kids will be learning Russian through TikTok.
After his meandering display of basic training indoctrination, we are subjected to Dallaire's pretentious and narcissistic gag-inducing columns citing Danté's famous The Divine Comedy:
"This poem almost literally conveys the arc of my own life's journey."
You see, Dallaire has lived through Danté's purgatory.
"Today I feel I am travelling a path to peace that has previously eluded me."
Dallaire concludes that it is not walls and nationalism and state power that will make the future safe for humanity, but "strategic local and global leadership to actively predict and prevent problems before they turn into catastrophes."
Dallaire concludes: "Only in this way can we prevent suffering and insecurity and look toward a state I call The Peace."
Having been unable to address the genocide in Palestine or admit NATO's reckless expansionist provocations, we can reasonably assume The Peace is a NATO jackboot, bullet or bomb.
Dallaire is no Dante. He has no Virgil. His descent continues...
