Rwandan Civil War

English Argumentative/Persuasive Essay

Rwandan Civil War

On July 16, 1994, the world watched the Rwandan Civil War finally end, 800, 000 lives later and after devastating a nation socially, economically and politically. It seemed as if the whole world watched, yet did nothing. Many Rwandans lives are very thankful to the UN's efforts but it wasn't nearly enough. Canada, among many other countries, should have been involved in the Rwandan Civil war. Canada should have especially for it has an obligation to sustain there status as a peacekeeping nation. Canada has the proud history of inventing the idea of peacekeeping with the Canadian Lester B. Pearson. More importantly, Canada could have and should have been involved in the Rwandan Civil war, to save many innocent men, children and women from death from the numerous rusty machetes.

Rwanda, a small, densely populated and landlocked country, is located in the heart of Africa. It has two main ethnic populations, the Tutsis and the Hutus. The Hutus represent 80% of the Rwandan population. Rwanda was once a Belgium colony. When Belgium withdrew from Rwanda,