In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

260฀ |฀฀ ฀ CHAPTER 8 War Clouds Gather O nce฀again฀it฀seemed฀strange฀to฀be฀going฀back฀to฀Rwanda.฀I฀had฀ ฀ been฀there฀a฀year฀on฀a฀ninety-day฀assignment.฀I฀mulled฀over฀ ฀ the฀changes฀in฀my฀life.฀I฀had฀lost฀a฀marriage,฀and฀I฀was฀looking ฀at฀retiring฀in฀six฀months.฀The฀latter฀sparked฀the฀realization฀that฀ this฀was฀my฀last฀trip฀overseas฀as฀a฀soldier.฀In฀October,฀1995,฀I฀could฀ remember฀the฀excitement฀I฀had฀felt฀in฀August,฀1982,฀on฀my฀way฀to฀ my฀first฀overseas฀assignment.฀Where฀had฀the฀time฀gone?฀A฀glance฀in฀a฀ mirror฀told฀me฀the฀time฀had฀gone฀to฀the฀same฀place฀as฀my฀once-brown฀ hair.฀It฀also฀seemed฀strange฀to฀be฀going฀back฀without฀Mickey,฀in฀a฀way฀ worse฀than฀saying฀goodbye฀to฀Stan.฀Mickey฀and฀I฀had฀lived฀together฀ for฀almost฀a฀year฀like฀brothers.฀He฀watched฀my฀back.฀His฀last฀words฀ to฀me฀were฀“Remember,฀machetes฀don’t฀click฀on฀empty.” Iwawa Island Not฀long฀after฀I฀got฀back,฀Karenzi฀called฀me.฀“Have฀you฀heard฀about฀ the฀fighting฀in฀the฀west?”฀he฀asked.฀“We฀are฀just฀finishing฀up฀clearing฀ an฀island.฀You฀are฀invited฀to฀take฀a฀look฀tomorrow.” ฀ He฀then฀provided฀the฀details.฀On฀November฀11,฀the฀RPA฀had฀seized฀ Iwawa฀Island฀inside฀Rwandan฀territorial฀waters฀and฀cleared฀it฀in฀a฀day’s฀ fight.฀With฀his฀tip-off,฀I฀headed฀straight฀to฀UNAMIR฀headquarters฀ and฀the฀intelligence฀section.฀The฀Canadians฀had฀provided฀a฀professional ฀intelligence฀officer฀and฀a฀warrant฀officer฀to฀staff฀the฀section.฀ We฀cooperated฀whenever฀possible,฀and฀I฀told฀him฀what฀was฀going฀on.฀ I฀also฀stopped฀in฀and฀briefed฀the฀force฀commander฀on฀the฀situation.฀ It฀was฀news฀to฀him,฀and฀he฀agreed฀to฀provide฀a฀helicopter฀to฀Gisenyi฀ the฀next฀day.฀I฀later฀found฀out฀the฀UNMOs฀in฀the฀sector—under฀the฀ same฀Russian฀I฀had฀known฀in฀Sinai—already฀knew฀of฀the฀operation฀ and฀had฀briefly฀visited฀the฀island.฀They฀had฀not฀notified฀UNAMIR฀ war฀clouds฀gather฀ ฀ |฀ ฀ 261 headquarters,฀saving฀the฀information฀for฀the฀weekly฀brief.฀Tousignant฀ was฀a฀gentleman,฀but฀he฀was฀also฀a฀soldier.฀He฀blistered฀the฀UNMO฀ commander฀for฀incompetence.฀His฀closing฀shot฀was฀something฀to฀the฀ effect฀of,฀“It฀says฀something฀about฀our฀abilities฀when฀the฀U.S.฀defense฀ attaché฀has฀to฀come฀tell฀me฀what฀is฀happening฀out฀there฀when฀we฀ should฀be฀telling฀him.” ฀ The฀next฀morning฀Ron฀and฀I฀headed฀out฀to฀the฀airport฀to฀rendezvous ฀with฀our฀group.฀The฀UNAMIR฀intelligence฀officer฀and฀his฀warrant ฀officer฀were฀coming.฀Karenzi฀and฀Muheri฀were฀due฀to฀meet฀us฀ as฀well.฀The฀vice฀president’s฀office฀sent฀Charles฀Dusaidy฀as฀a฀special฀ representative฀to฀go฀along฀on฀the฀mission.฀The฀flight฀to฀Gisenyi฀went฀ quickly฀and฀a฀small฀convoy฀of฀RPA฀and฀U.N.฀vehicles฀drove฀us฀to฀the฀ Meridien฀Hotel.฀The฀RPA฀colonel฀who฀had฀replaced฀Colonel฀William฀ as฀the฀sector฀commander฀met฀us฀on฀the฀terrace.฀He฀gave฀us฀a฀thumbnail ฀brief฀of฀what฀had฀gone฀down฀over฀the฀past฀couple฀of฀days. ฀ Ex-FAR฀and฀militia฀cross-border฀operations฀had฀increased฀steadily฀ over฀the฀past฀six฀months฀all฀along฀the฀western฀border฀with฀Zaire.฀The฀ greatest฀number฀of฀those฀incidents฀had฀taken฀place฀in฀the฀middle฀of฀ the฀border฀where฀Lake฀Kivu฀was฀at฀its฀widest฀points.฀Just฀as฀Colonel฀ William฀had฀said,฀the฀RPA฀was฀justifiably฀concerned฀with฀security฀ operations฀to฀control฀the฀lake.฀Unbeknownst฀to฀us,฀the฀RPA฀had฀ turned฀to฀its฀erstwhile฀supporter฀to฀partially฀answer฀the฀problem.฀We฀ had฀heard฀but฀not฀confirmed฀that฀something฀had฀come฀down฀from฀ Uganda฀as฀part฀of฀Museveni’s฀visit฀that฀August.฀The฀something฀had฀ been฀two฀high-speed฀patrol฀boats฀built฀in฀Canada.฀Powered฀by฀nearly฀ seven฀hundred฀horsepower฀present฀in฀twin฀outboards,฀the฀boats฀were฀ nearly฀twenty-five฀feet฀in฀length.฀Long฀and฀pencil-shaped฀for฀speed,฀ the฀boats฀had฀an฀inflatable฀stability฀ring฀around฀the฀hull฀for฀hauling฀ troops.฀The฀front฀decks฀and฀sides฀were฀rail-lined฀to฀hold฀fourteen฀ soldiers.฀A฀tub-mounted฀machine฀gun฀turret฀was฀mounted฀one-third฀ back฀from฀the฀bow฀with฀the฀boat฀commander’s฀position฀just฀aft.฀The฀ boats฀had฀GPS฀and฀radar฀for฀direction฀and฀tracking. ฀ Later฀General฀Tousignant฀tried฀to฀pin฀the฀delivery฀on฀me.฀After฀ I฀returned฀from฀Iwawa,฀he฀mentioned฀he฀had฀heard฀the฀RPA฀really฀ liked฀the฀boats฀the฀United฀States฀had฀provided.฀I฀laughed฀as฀I฀replied,฀ “General,฀those฀boats฀were...

Share