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JegElskerGud t1_j2wyvb6 wrote

Wouldnt the Rwandans be directly responsible? The French may have stood around and done nothing to stop it but ultimately the people doing the killing are the most responsible.

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Narf-a-licious t1_j2xhrin wrote

The French held significant influence within the old Rwandan (Hutu nationalist) Government who went on to commit Genocide. At any point in the month long massacre that killed nearly a million people they could have put their foot down in order to, at the very least, tamp down some of the killing. Going beyond inaction, there have been an abundance of accusations that France actively participated by shuttling Hutu nationalist to cities, villages, or dwellings where Tutsi (or moderate Hutu) citizens were hiding and subsequently murdered. As the Genocide began to slow down and the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front, the rebel army who fought the Hutu Nationalist government both before and after the Genocide) began to gain control, the French helped to evacuate many of the genocidaire's (mostly of upper government position) out of Rwanda and into the DRC or abroad. The French were some of the first on the ground in the DRC to provide aid and create refuge encampments for the fleeing Hutu Nationalist who were now on the run after having murdered their neighbors. The French media blasted on about the dangerous RPF and the poor Hutu who were fleeing an unprovoked army who wanted them dead for no reason; don't mind the million dead Tutsi and Hutu brothers and sisters those Hutu Nationalist left behind them. And the reason for it all, essentially, is because French policy was to side with whoever spoke French. That's it. Seriously. They just didn't care about what was happening and they desperately wanted to keep French speaking leadership in control.

Check out the Wiki on Rwanda and do some source clicks, it has plenty of places to start on this topic, but really you need to find books and media written about the subject, of which several good ones have been mentioned in these comments.

EDIT: further to add, the French being found "complicit" is not the same as the French being found responsible (what you wrote). They helped further the cause of genocide in ways that go beyond simple inaction (inaction being the flavor of diplomacy the rest of the world adopted). The Hutu nationalist are the ones ultimately responsible and no one denies that, but while the rest of the world turned a blind eye the French were doing deals with the devil under the table.

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JegElskerGud t1_j2yxigg wrote

I was responding to OP who used the phrase "directly responsible for".

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arandomcanadian91 t1_j2zlsqu wrote

The French due to allowing the coup plotters and genociders to meet in the embassy with the military attache means they are directly an actor of the genocide therefore responsible. Much like the Belgians were directly responsible for the Congo Crisis because they ordered the murder of the Prime Minister of the Congo which directly lead to the crisis.

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Mtothe3rd t1_j2xdmz3 wrote

They did the killing with weapons and training provided by the French.

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JegElskerGud t1_j2yx6sb wrote

So is America directly responsible for the Taliban, Al Qaeda and 9/11?

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arandomcanadian91 t1_j2zkam1 wrote

America didn't train the Taliban, that was the ISI. AQ had backing from many people in the Arab world, and their tactics weren't taught by them AQ hooked up with multiple other terror networks to actually build their doctrine, AQ was associated with the Chechens who had used AQ's tactics aside from flying planes into buildings against Russia during the 90's.

Pakistan though supported both AQ and the Taliban, the TTP (Pakistani taliban) was only founded in 2007 as a result of the US, and Pakistan cracking down on AQ in Pakistan.

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arandomcanadian91 t1_j2zl9ax wrote

>Also the French knew about the coup that was occurring which kicked off the Genocide

I think you need to reread my entire comment, and then go do some reading.

The RPF (The current leaders of Rwanda) tried to prevent this from happening by fighting back against the government for years. The genocide was just the peak of the entire civil war.

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fvb955cd t1_j39htz8 wrote

They are, but you're discounting the tactical implications of a modern, western army force stationed in the enemy capital, and allied to that enemy. The RPF was superior to the Rwandan army, but it wasn't superior to the French army. The french had the effect of making Kigali like an impenetrable castle that the RPF had to work around until the military situation was so favorable towards the RPF, and international condemnation of the Rwandan government so strong that France could no politically act as a major force multiplier, except to evacuate the perpetrators of the genocide.

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aqueezy t1_j2xddm2 wrote

Not when the French are expressly financing millions for the weapons used

If I give a suicide bomb to a jihadi Im not exactly blameless for what happens next

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Moon_Man_00 t1_j2xyqeg wrote

> If I give a suicide bomb to a jihadi Im not exactly blameless for what happens next

That’s a bad comparison. A suicide bomb is designed specifically to kill innocents, whereas basic weapons and training are not.

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