It would seem that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is totally out of touch with the reality of what happened in Rwanda under the watch of Canadian General Romeo Dallaire.

In a recent Twitter post, Ignatieff praised Dallaire for his defense of human rights. Nothing could be further from the truth than saying that Dallaire is a “defender” of human rights.

Why do I say that?

Because not only did Dallaire NOT do anything to prevent the genocide in Rwanda, he sat passively on the sidelines and watched it unfold right before his very eyes.

On Human Rights Day, we salute Canadians like Arbour, Dallaire, Kirsch and Humphrey. We fight on, inspired by their example.

Inspired by their example?

Not me.

It will be a very cold day in a very hot place before I’ll look on Dallaire as anything but a complete coward.

He had the opportunity to make a difference, and instead of doing that (and saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the process), he sat on his hands and wrung them pitifully as the genocide unfolded before him.

He was more concerned about “following orders” than he was about doing the right thing.

This is the kind of man that Michael Ignatieff looks up to?

God help us all…

Now, before you get all cranky about my crapping all over Romeo Dallaire, go read his book Shake Hands with the Devil.  Read for yourself how his cowardice got the better of him.

Did Dallaire have huge emotional and psychological problems after that.  Absolutely.  But what Dallaire has never faced is the fact that those problems were brought on by his absolute failure to do the right thing.

Who cares that the UN ordered him to do nothing.  I certainly don’t.  It takes courage to do the right thing.  In war and in life.  Always.  Is doing the right thing easy?  Almost never.  There will always be someone telling you not to do it.  Who cares.  Grow a pair and do it anyway.  At least then you can look yourself in the eye each morning and know you’re not a failure.  That alone should be enough reason for most of us.

As the timeless Edmund Burke quote says, “All that is required for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  General Romeo Dallaire is one of those so-called good men who did nothing, and then cried about the fact that evil triumphed.

He gets no sympathy from me.