Hotel Rwanda

Last night, I went to see Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of the movie "Hotel Rwanda", and after seeing him in person my admiration for him is even greater. When he entered the room, I was struck by his humility and diminutive appearance. His story, told in a thick Belgian/African accent, was told directly and without flourish, and yet this made it all the more compelling. What struck me most about his story was that it was an example of an ordinary human being placed in an extraordinary circumstance, with nothing but conscience guiding his actions. When asked "why did you do it?" he stated humbly, "because I could not live with myself if I had done otherwise".

No doubt the Western powers failed Rwanda, but what should be done now (or even done then) is a far stickier situation. The utter powerlessness of the UN was particularly appalling (though not surprising to most of us conservatives). I do believe that the West should do something now, however, and not just in Rwanda but in Africa and the Middle East in particular. From his comments, Africa's biggest problem (and I agree) is a lack of a rule of law - it seems even the concept that there are universal laws (in the Declaration, these are bestowed by the Creator) is foreign to these people. The solution is some sort of imposition of these concepts on these people - and quite possibly the only way is through empire, as suggested several years ago by Jonah Goldberg here and here. The neoconservative vision of a different kind of empire, an American empire that promotes truth and justice is the only real solution. We are already doing it in Iraq, primarily because of the confluence of this ideal with the interests of our self defense. As soon as we can spare the resources, however, we must turn our attention to this bleeding continent. The heartbreaking stories from Rwanda in the 90s and Darfur now demand it.