Why didn't America help with the Genocide in Rwanda?

There isn’t any oil or gold there.
And there wasn’t a compelling puppet government option to chose to support.

@dabbler So I have heard…is that really the truth?

I think the oil theory may be right, but the truth is that the United Nations were negligent and ignored several warning signs. The act of Genocide was well organized and it was like a Blitzkrieg by the time the United Nations and African Union reacted the well planned Genocide it was almost over.
The sad part is the United Nations is still not reacting when signs of genocide start appearing. Like the systematic killings of white farmers in South Africa. Hundreds had been murdered and the government is covering up and the United Nations is still turning a blind eye.

Because of what @dabbler said + rough economy. Budget cuts, unfortunately.

My guess is because the government didn’t want to get stuck in another messym unwinnable situation. The nasty business in Somalia had just been a year before, and
@Eggie @dabbler‘s post smacks as much of sour grapes as bitter truth.

I wish people would make up their minds about whether or not U.S. intervention as a matter of foreign policy is OK.

Sour grapes? dunno…
Cynical, sure. Realistic I think… The U.S. really just doesn’t seem to get involved unless there is a compelling business reason on top of some humanitarian reason that might seem important to humanists.

The UN is gridlocked by the same infighting that plagues our own Congress.
The US is rather greedy and won’t do things solely for humanitarian reasons; there has to be something in it for us. That goes double now that we’re spread rather thin and any additional deployments would be a huge strain.

Rwanda was a mess that would have placed US forces in extreme danger. And there was no way to get a sizeable force in position, and it would have required thousands of troops.

@dabbler While it often seems that oil is the reason, I will point out that the Kosovo intervention was strictly peacekeeping. Yes, it took a while, but it too was a difficult situation to even resolve who to side with until the evidence of atrocities came to the forefront.

The reason why Uncle Sam was not moved to do anything was:
• Not in Europe.
• No oil.
• European or Asian markets were not in danger.
• It wasn’t going to help Israel.
• Al Qaeda wasn’t there.
• It was not in a strategic area for the US or her allies.

Would you guys call that action of the U.S right, I mean do you all think that they should have done something?

@Eggie What do you suggest the US could have done? And why the US as opposed to anyone else?

I agree with @dabbler, @antimatter and @Hypocrisy_Central. I also wondered where was the United Nations in all of this. They are quick to pull sanctions on countries they think may have nuclear arms but it seems each country has the right to kill millions so long as the country is of no real world monetary value or strategic value, or a threat to ally countries.

@zenvelo I am not particularly attacking the US ok, and when I say the US I also mean the UN as well. They could have sent in the marines and other soldiers to fight….thats my opinion. I am not hating on the US.

@Eggie The UN does not have its own troops, it needs agreement from the countries. Why didn’t the African Union intervene? And the US and the UN are very distinct from each other. And really, why would it be the jurisdiction of the UN to intervene in internal ethnic strife?

And “They could have sent in the marines and other soldiers to fight… shows a lack of understanding of the size of a force to quell violence which was all over the country, in a terrain that is mostly jungle. It would have taken tens of thousands of soldiers to effectively intervene. And you’d risk US lives for that?

@zenvelo Especially considering how we proved that we can’t really handle jungles back in the 60s/70s….

well the US wanted to intervene in other affairs, such as the 1990 coup in Trinidad and Tobago….

@Eggie So now you are spreading even more misinformation. You say you’re not attacking the US but you have attacked US policy through out this thread as if the US has done something wrong in these situations.

The US never intervened in the T&T coup attempt. Why do you spread falsehoods?

wanted to, wanted to, wanted to, wanted to, wanted to, wanted to, wanted to

And I love America and want to live there someday… hmph

Because all of the civilized countries failed and the idea of supporting African Union troops didn’t exist at the time. The AU troops are getting better and better.

That would make the diamonds expensive.

@whatisscrapbooking The diamond are already expensive, thanks to a cartel.