Well the war lasted for three months, from April of 1994 until the Tutsi army, the exiles as it were, gained control of the country and then it stopped.
quote by Tony Greig
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Related quotes
Not long ago, if you wanted to seize political power in a country you had merely to control the army and the police. Today it is only in the most backward countries that fascist generals, in carrying out a coup d'état, still use tanks. If a country has reached a high degree of industrialization the whole scene changes. The day after the fall of Khrushchev, the editors of Pravda, Izvestiia, the heads of the radio and television were replaced; the army wasn't called out. Today a country belongs to the person who controls communications.
quote by Umberto Eco
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It Sure Was
They said, "what do you think you would do
If she told you that she'd been untrue?"
I'd say, "i won't say i won't be sorry, no.
It sure was love while it lasted."
They said, "how will you feel deep inside
When the love you believed in has died?"
I ain't sayin' it won't hurt me
It sure was love while it lasted
I'll be livin off of the good times
That you've given me to face
I have had my share of the sunshine
I can stand a little rain.
So we don't give a damn what they say
We've go something they can't take away
'cause whatever comes tomorrow
It sure was love while it lasted
It sure was good while it lasted
It sure was love while it lasted.
song performed by by Kris Kristofferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No Secret: The Rwandan Genocide
A remote source of the Nile,
the Kagera River originates in Burundi.
On its way to Lake Victoria it flows
into a steep gorge along the natural border
between Rwanda and Tanzania.
Before entering the ravine,
the river cascades in a small waterfall
that swells in the rainy season.
As the Kagera sweeps down from
the highlands it carries within its currents
vast clusters of uprooted trees embedded
in gigantic dollops of elephant grass.
In the spring and summer of 1994
it was still much the same.
However, this time also thousands
of human corpses floated on the river.
Rwanda and Burundi
are two tiny African countries,
each with a territory somewhat smaller
than Belgium. Most of the population
belong to Hutu tribes,
who are traditionally crop growers.
But beginning in the 1300s
warrior herdsmen
from the highlands of Ethiopia
migrated to the region.
They originally spoke Somali or Oromo,
but in adopting the local Bantu language
and settling among the Hutus,
they became known as Tutsis.
The German colonists favoured
the Ethiopian look of the Tutsi minority.
They employed them as overseers
in the administration of Ruanda-Urundi,
as the colony was called then.
Then during the First World War Belgium
took over governing the territory
but continued to support the Tutsis
as the ruling class.
In 1919 Brussels received a mandate
from the League of Nations to administer
the colony. The Belgian colonists divided
Tutsis and Hutus on the basis
of cattle ownership, church documents,
physical measurements
and physiognomic appearance.
Basically, they had designated
the wealthy and tall as Tutsis,
and classified those poorer
and shorter as Hutus.
The Tutsis got used fast
to their privileged status
as Rwandan aristocrats.
They worshipped their king
as a god-like ruler and treated
the Hutus with disdain as peasants.
But the aristocratic Tutsi monarchy
came to an end in 1959
when Belgium allowed holding
universal elections.
King Kigeli V of Ruanda-Urundi
was forced to go to exile
and the majority Hutus
assumed control of the government.
These were turbulent times
that deteriorated into wide spread
communal violence.
In 1962 two independent countries
emerged from the former colony,
Rwanda and Burundi.
But the transition from colony
to independence was not
a peaceful one.
At the time that Rwanda
became independent,
Hutus comprised more than 80 percent
of the country’s seven million people.
Nevertheless, the Tutsi minority
was reluctant to give up
its privileged ruling status.
Consequently, Hutus and Tutsis
were at each other’s throat
in the power struggle
for governing the country.
In Rwanda hundreds of Tutsis
were killed while thousands of others
fled to neighbouring Burundi and Uganda.
In the aftermath of the atrocities,
President Grégoire Kayibanda
made the Hutus the governing majority
of the nation. Yet the leaders
of the new regime did not choose
a policy of national reconciliation.
Instead, they opted for oppression
and discrimination.
They blamed the problems of Rwanda
on the Tutsis. In the 1970s
the Hutu-led military
continued to murder Tutsis in Rwanda.
They excluded the Tutsis
from the governmental administration,
the armed forces, even from schools
and universities.
Yet meanwhile Tutsis had their share
in violent ethnic cleansing as well.
In 1972, in response to a Hutu rebellion,
the Tutsi controlled army
in the Republic of Burundi
killed over 100,000 Hutus.
Similarly to Rwanda, over 80 percent
of the population in Burundi
consists of Hutu tribes.
Harking back on the shame and humiliation
of the past, the Hutu leadership in Rwanda
intensified their hateful propaganda,
inflaming bitterness and hostility
against the tall, aristocratic Tutsi.
They claimed that the Tutsis
intended to restore a feudal system
to enslave the Hutu population.
They recruited writers and teachers
to travel the country to raise Hutu pride
and to create a pan-Hutu consciousness.
They sowed the seeds of spite,
unfurled the propaganda of hate
and prepared the hurricane of genocide.
However, in the neighbouring countries
the Tutsi refugee Diaspora organized
militia forces to overthrow
the Hutu regime in Rwanda.
In 1990 civil war broke out
as the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)
of the Tutsi minority
invaded the country from Uganda.
Then on April 6,1994, an airplane
carrying the Hutu presidents
of two African nations,
Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda and
Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi,
had been shot down.
The fanatic Akazu organization
of the Hutu Power ideologists
immediately blamed the Tutsis
for the shooting down of the plane.
They spread hate and hysteria.
By radio and word of mouth
they told Hutu civilians that it was
their patriotic duty
to “fill the half-empty graves”
with the bodies of Tutsis.
They called for the slaughter
of all Tutsis, as well as of Hutus
who sympathized with the Tutsi.
They even incited Hutu wives
and husbands to murder
their own spouses.
Although throughout the centuries
both Hutus and Tutsis
unleashed violent actions
and slaughtered each other,
the tragic events of 1994 culminated
in one of the most horrible atrocities
of history.
The Rwandan radio exhorted people
to fight for Rwanda and to kill
the Tutsis like ‘cockroaches’
and sweep them from the country.
The radio inflamed the Hutus
to massacre the Tutsis,
urging them to use
every kind of weapons;
if not guns and grenades,
then arrows, spears,
machetes, knives and clubs.
And so they did.
Frenzied Hutu squads killed
Tutsi men, women, children
and babies by the thousands
in the streets, in churches,
schools and in their houses.
In the countryside the murderers
covered the dead with banana leaves
in order to screen them
from aerial photography.
In about100 days,
between April 6 and mid-July in 1994,
approximately one million people
were killed. The victims also included
Hutus who refused to participate
in the massacres or were
on friendly relations with Tutsis.
The cold blooded murderers
who perpetrated these heinous crimes
were fuelled by fanatic dedication
to a pan-nationalist identity politics.
The killers were often not strangers
but familiar faces to the victims,
neighbours and workmates,
even relatives or former friends.
The December 1993 issue
of the Hutu Kangura magazine shows
a picture of the Rwandan President
Grégoire Kayibanda next to a machete.
Adjacent to the picture appear the words:
“Tutsi: Race of God”, and then
the magazine poses the question:
“Which weapons are we going to use
to beat the cockroaches for good? ”
The genocide
that followed was no secret!
It occurred uninterrupted
by United Nations forces
that were in place
monitoring a ceasefire.
And journalists and TV cameras
from all over the world reported
the massacres.
Viewers in cities and villages
on different continents
sat in front of their television screens,
sipping coffee or eating popcorn,
and watched in shock
the horrible mass murders.
The genocide ended in July 1994
when the Tutsi rebels of the RPF
defeated the Hutu military forces
of Rwanda. Fearing retributions,
two million Hutus fled
to neighbouring Burundi, Tanzania,
Uganda and Zaire. Many of them
participated in the massacres.
Conditions in the refugee camps were
dreadful and thousands died
in epidemics of cholera and dysentery.
The international community
could have intervened in order to stop
the Rwandan genocide, but governments
lacked the political will to do that.
And, indeed,
the United Nations Security Council
accepted responsibility
for failing to prevent the massacres.
The unchecked brutality
of the perpetrators of this genocide
“made a mockery, once again,
of the pledge ‘never again’”,
said the Canadian Foreign Minister,
Lloyd Axworthy.
He was referring to the promise
made after the Holocaust.
poem by Paul Hartal
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I joined the Army and was sent to the MIT radiation laboratory after a few months of introduction to electromagnetic wave theory in a special course, given for Army personnel at the University of Chicago.
quote by Jack Steinberger
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Lady April
This day…awoke April
In a terrible mood
If months had bad hair days
Then this one certainly could
This day dawned early
With cold and grouchy demeanor
Obviously having awakened
On the wrong side of her bed
With un-April like winds
That sliced like a knife
And had all the bad manners
Of moody March instead
I like to ascribe to the months
Their own personalities and ways
From the surreal colors of September
To the mild, merry manners of May
But I also respect, and know when to stay
Inside, cozy, warm
and totally out of her way
When lady April is having a bad ‘air day'
I know that the morrow will likely dawn warm and showery
She'll dawn with a yawn and ne'er admit
That she's e'en the slightest bit sorry
April's snits, as you know, ne'er last very long
She beckons us out to warm breezes
To tease us, (and a few sneezes maybe)
And just like the lady she is, and pleases to be
Will never admit she was wrong
poem by David Whalen
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Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles.
quote by Pat Paulsen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Just One Of Those days
I'm so tired I dunno why..
I feel like I been working like a dog.
It's funny cus I haven't done
anything the whole day,
but sit lazily on this chair.
Its the weather, there's so much pressure
Its draggin me around
I really hate it.
September and April are the worst months of the year
transition months
I wish i could sleep those two months,
you know, writing a notice that goes like,
'wake me up when October comes' and
sleep all the way through September.
The same goes for April, but change the October to May.
The internet connection is awfully lazy today.
Maybe it is the weather again.
It's not worth downloading anything during the day
Funny how the weather is ruining everything.
I feel like doing something else
besides sitting on the computer
and writing this.
The weather is again to blame.
poem by Arsiema Berhane
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April, Dear April
April, dear April, I beg you come soon –
And bring your sweet primroses too.
Let them join in with the daffodils’ play,
As skies offer sunshine anew.
April, dear April, my blessed spring child,
Ornate in your yellow and white,
Teasing the birds into trilling their songs
And dancing to music of flight.
April, dear April, come enter my dreams
And rid me from cold winter chills.
Banish the rain and those blustery winds
And warm up our countryside hills.
April, dear April, I know you can’t stay -
You have to move on ‘till next year.
And though I shall cherish the glory of summer,
You’ll always be my month most dear.
From: Succumbed to Thinking by Mark Raymond Slaughter, lulu.com
Copyright © Mark Raymond Slaughter 2009
All rights reserved
April April April April
April April April April
April April April April
poem by Mark R Slaughter
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A Nation Must Stand Firm
If openly they commit misdeeds,
Then the country shall remain,
And the nation exceeds
In the number of troops again.
The army has pain all abhorrent,
Many strike fear and retaliation
For they do not know who is absent,
The army or the law? Whose acceleration?
I guarantee the spread of health,
Active are the infantry in their strength,
May the legion carry its stealth
And let radio the wavelength.
We exceed the enemy in power
And we declare a truce;
What do we do as we are abler?
Abduct the foe with no abuse.
Let the nation stand firm against enemy control,
And let ages pass sweeter than charcoal.
poem by Naveed Akram
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The Day Of Liberation
Once again the spring's in the Victory Gardens,
Once again the 10th of April to Odessa's come,
The memory of that day hardens
This wonderful feeling of freedom without alarm.
About 30 months the occupation of Odessa lasted
The streets and houses by fascists were blasted.
But the nation with sense of humor no one can kill,
The defense of the city was everyone's freewill.
In the sea of sunlight is the blue and free sky,
The wings of the seagulls soared into skywards,
The glory to Odessa city is in the seagulls cry,
Wind orchestras play celebrations chords.
The southern sunny city today looks so pretty
And the faces of odessites as usual are so witty.
Their spirit of freedom is light as the sea breeze,
An odessite will never bend the knees.
The second birthday, the day of celebration,
The day of spring, the day of liberation.
©Larisa Rzhepishevska (Odessa, Ukraine)
The 10th of April,2012
poem by Larisa Rzhepishevska
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April Glory
April glory
Is coming home soon
But we still have to wait another 3 more months
For April glory to arrive
poem by Aldo Kraas
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Joe Kennedy isn't in the habit of having incompetents around. I wouldn't have lasted three months if I didn't have some ability.
quote by Sargent Shriver
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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April Notes
O April!
You are the cruelest of
all months!
You know April,
love is a silent killer!
Comes like a sniper,
fires cannonballs into
silent hearts!
Changes them like
erupt volcanoes!
Transforms
every mind,
every moment cancerous
which multiply in
unknown progressions,
chain reactions
and I am sinking like Titanic!
O April!
Please don't torment me
with your flowers yellow,
stop your big bangs!
Kiss my soul
with your warm lips
and let it be one among
your everlasting flowers!
10.04.98
poem by Premji Premji
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It seems as if everybody in the country was getting impatient to get his or her particular soldier out of the Army and to upset the carefully arranged system of points for retirement which we had arranged with the approval of the Army itself.
quote by Henry L. Stimson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Flower for April in June
As I was
slipping down
those stony roads,
this red April
flower
caught my eye.
It stood apart
like a general
among the army
flowers.
I looked again and thought,
Red was not accurate.
It was more
crimson.
Like blossom blood.
A speck drowned
in green.
Bathed in
golden noon,
this red April
flower was
dancing in
June.
poem by Angelica Dela Cruz
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Control
Control control
control control! !
Too many times a day
control!
Control the sleeping
time, the wake!
Control amount
of coffee, milk,
sugar intake!
Control breakfast,
lunch and dinner's time,
Also the calories
and vitamins to come!
Control your words
control your thoughts
control the sitting
straight out pose
Control own look
from head- to toes!
Forget not those
that count
the most:
Feelings! !
Control them!
Out not to let
controlling self
to not became a threat
to whom or what
to ask I wouldn't dare
right now, I wouldn't
even care..
No more control!
No keeping sane!
FREE! ! !
as the Wind who's
messing up my hair
I - Want - To- Be! ! ! !
Let others have control,
not me! ? !
Control..control control
control? !
Oh, pardon me! -bull s..!
I had enough:
-I'M OUT OF IT! ! !
poem by Elena Sandu
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Home Thoughts from Abroad
April in England–daffodils are growing
By every wayside, golden, tall and fair;
April–and all the little winds are blowing
The scents of springtime through the sunny air.
April in England–God, that we were there!
April in England–and her sons are lying
On these red fields, and dreaming of her shore;
April–we hear the thrushes' songs replying
Each unto each, above the cannons' roar;
April in England–shall we see it more?
April in England–there's the cuckoo calling
Down in her meadows where the cowslip gleams;
April–and little showers are softly falling,
Dimpling the surface of her babbling streams;
April in England–how the shrapnel screams!
April in England–blood and dust and smother,
Screaming of horses, men in agony.
April–full many of thy sons, O Mother,
Never again those dewy dawns shall see.
April in England–God, keep England free!
poem by Norah M. Holland
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Always Marry An April Girl
Praise the spells and bless the charms,
I found April in my arms.
April golden, April cloudy,
Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy;
April soft in flowered languor,
April cold with sudden anger,
Ever changing, ever true --
I love April, I love you.
poem by Ogden Nash
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Young William And Young April
Young William and young April
Met in the park one day.
Young William said to April,
'Why did you come this way? '
Young April said to William,
'I thought I might see you.'
Young William, then to April,
'It's funny, what you do.'
Young April gave to William
A sweet, young childhood kiss.
Young William said to April,
'Don't bother me like this.'
Young April stood in silence,
Not knowing what to do.
Then young William turned away.
Young April, torn in two.
Young William said, 'Don't follow me.'
Away from her he fled.
April then, sat down and cried,
And wished that she was dead.
William never came again.
At least, for many years.
Fearful that young April still,
Might be there shedding tears.
William walked the park again.
It seemed just like before.
Wondering if he might see her.
Young April, there once more.
Young William never noticed.
The roses hid it well.
The place they found Young April.
The place she used to dwell.
poem by Greenwolfe 1962
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Grafted Into the Army
Our Jimmy has gone for to live in a tent,
they have grafted him into the Army,
he finally puckered up courage and went,
when they grafted him into the Army.
I told them the child was too young, alas!
At the captains forequarters, they said he would pass,
they'd train him up well in the Infantry class,
so they grafted him into the Army.
Oh, Jimmy, farewell! Your brothers fell way down in Alabammy;
I though they would spare a lone widder's heir,
but they grafted him into the Army.
Dressed up in his unicorn, dear little chap,
they have grafted him into the Army;
it seems but a day since he sot in my lap,
but they grafted him into the Army.
And these are the trousies he used to wear,
them very same buttons, the patch and the tear;
but Uncle Sam gave him a bran' new pair
when they grafted him into the Army.
Now in my provisions I see him revealed,
they have grafted him into the Army;
a picket beside the contented field,
they have grafted him into the Army.
He looks kinder sickish -- begins to cry,
a big volunteer standing right in his eye!
Oh, what if the ducky should up and die,
now they've grafted him into the Army.
poem by Henry Clay Work
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