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The U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994 The Assassination of the Presidents and the Beginning of the "Apocalypse" U.S. Department of Defense, Memorandum from Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict through Under Secretary of Defense...   [Plus]

The U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994

The Assassination of the Presidents and the Beginning of the "Apocalypse"

U.S. Department of Defense, Memorandum from Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict through Under Secretary of Defense for Policy to the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense, "Rwanda: Current Situation; Next Steps", April 8, 1994 (Freedom of Information Act release; previously published here in "Information, Intelligence and the U.S. Response")

This memo informs Secretary of Defense William Perry and Deputy Secretary of Defense John Deutch of talks between the rebel RPF and Rwandan government under the auspices of UN Force Commander Dallaire. Pentagon officials see "a glimmer of hope that this crisis is waning." Pentagon officials describe the Presidential Guard as "Hutu-extremists who probably shot down the President's plane".

With regard to the U.S. response to the crisis, Pentagon officials inform Perry and Deutch that that the State Department and National Security Council have not sought Pentagon input for their response to a Belgian request for airlift-the first evidence of policy disagreement and bureaucratic infighting on Rwanda that would continue throughout the crisis. Finally, the officials report that "the French, Belgians, and the UN are all discussing evacuation of citizens/PKO forces" and that U.S. military planners are "meeting with Belgian and French military". Within 10 days, almost all Western officials and Western citizens will have left Rwanda to its fate.
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