Shake Hands with the Devil

The dilemma of moral culpability—or who is responsible for preventing atrocity and to what degree—extends throughout Shake Hands With The Devil. In addition to interrogating the scope of responsibility of the UN and foreign powers with the means to intervene, Roméo Dallaire questions whether he himself bears any responsibility for the Rwandan Genocide. As Samantha Power notes in her foreword, Dallaire felt “guilt,” mainly for the deaths of the troops under his command. One striking incident was the demise of 10 Belgian soldiers, who were captured and killed in the initial riots and mass killings that began the Rwandan Genocide. Dallaire wonders:

My troops had died, not in the defence of their respective nations and citizenry but in the defence of decency and human rights. Was this the true price of peace? Was it an expense that the families, friends and governments of my blue berets were prepared to pay? (261).

Here, Dallaire parses the difference between what an individual or organization can do and what they are ethically compelled to do. Although Dallaire feels a personal moral conviction to apply manpower and resources to stem the bloodshed in Rwanda, he allows for the possibility that foreign powers and individuals may not feel that their lives should be the currency with which that peace is bought.