Gusching,+Matthew

The Purpose of this investigation is to assess the extent of knowledge Bill Clinton had of the atrocities in Rwanda in 1994. The main body of this investigation will provide a context of American intelligence in regard to genocide in Rwanda, and the decision not to intervene. Two sources utilized in this investigation, the PBS documentary __Ghosts of Rwanda__ and __We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families__ will be evaluated according to their origins, purposes, values, and limitations. A conclusion will be reached on how much evidence was available to support reasonable suspicion of an African genocide. ** B. Summery of Evidence   ** · In 1994 hundreds of thousands members of the Rwandan Hutu majority sought out and killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsi minority. · Began by radio station instructing members of the Hutu population to rise up and kill Tutsi. Despite most victims being neighbors or acquaintances with their murderers. · Armed primarily with machetes or masus, mobs of Hutus would hold attacks in thousands of sites through out the small nation of Rwanda. · Such brutality in the attacks were demonstrated from disfiguring, cutting, and burning. Women were often raped before killed by the hateful mob. · During times of great crises, many Rwandan Tutsi conjugated at churches just for the pastors to join in the killings, murdering their parishioners  o One specific example listed in the book tells of a Tutsi seeking help and refuge from Pastor Ntakrutimana for the pastor to only reply with “your problem has already found a solution. You must die.”  · After killings, mobs would often loot the possession of their victims   · Many would ask why mobs behaved the way they did.  o It was described in the book that members of the mob not participating would be questioned by others and be forced to kill. After initial killings, murder became a sort of game continuing the cycle. · After the genocide, most participants in the mob immigrated to other countries to secape their wrongs and forget their actions. ** C. Evaluation of Sources  ** **  Gourevitch, Philip. //We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed Our// //Families//. New York: Picador, 1998. Print. **  The origin of this book is from 1998 by the author Philip Gourevitch. The purpose of the text is to inform the world of the atrocities which occurred in Rwanda so crimes against humanity will never again be repeated. The value of this source is that it describes in detail measures taken to inform the United States of the Rwandan genocide during the 100 days of killing in Rwanda, including news conferences with White House members and direct faxes to the president. This source goes on to provide value by giving apologies and reactions of the United States leaders after the conclusion of the genocide. One limitation to this novel is that we can never know for certain the level of intelligence received by the American government. **  "FRONTLINE." //Ghosts of Rwanda//. PBS. 1 Apr. 2004. Television. **   The origin of this documentary __Ghosts of Rwanda__ aired on PBS April 1, 2004, ten years after the genocide in Rwanda. The purpose of the documentary is to demonstrate the lack of action taken by most of the world, and to commemorate those few who stood up to the violence. The value of this documentary is that through interviews, world officials told what they knew of the situation in Rwanda and not being able to do anything about it. This source is also valuable because it interviews individuals who went against there organizations and did something about the genocide taking place around them. Due to the documentary having video pictures of the massacre and firsthand accounts with survivors, it is a primary document. Limitations to the documentary were that they were unable to interview Bill Clinton himself regarding his decisions during the genocide.
 * A. Plan of Investigation **

Research Question: To what extent was Bill Clinton's knowledge of the atrocities in Rwanda.

Research: In 1994 memebers of the Rwandan Hutu majority took part in a massive genocide

Researched gathered from the first 68 pages of We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families by Philip Gourevitch. · In 1994 hundreds of thousands members of the Rwandan Hutu majority sought out and killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsi minority. · Began by radio station instructing members of the Hutu population to rise up and kill Tutsi. Despite most victims being neighbors or acquaintances with their murderers. · Armed primarily with machetes or masus, mobs of Hutus would hold attacks in thousands of sites through out the small nation of Rwanda. · Such brutality in the attacks were demonstrated from disfiguring, cutting, and burning. Women were often raped before killed by the hateful mob. · During times of great crises, many Rwandan Tutsi conjugated at churches just for the pastors to join in the killings, murdering their parishioners  o One specific example listed in the book tells of a Tutsi seeking help and refuge from Pastor Ntakrutimana for the pastor to only reply with “your problem has already found a solution. You must die.” · After killings, mobs would often loot the possession of their victims · Many would ask why mobs behaved the way they did.  o It was described in the book that members of the mob not participating would be questioned by others and be forced to kill. After initial killings, murder became a sort of game continuing the cycle. · After the genocide, most participants in the mob immigrated to other countries to secape their wrongs and forget their actions.