The Lion, the Fox, and the Eagle: A Story of Generals and Justice in Rwanda and Yugoslavia

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University. He
is the author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable
Kingdom and The History of Fort St. Joseph, and the co-author of
Invisible and Inaudible in Washington: American

Carol Off, a well-known and highly regarded Canadian journalist, has
written an indictment of the United Nations, an institution that has
lost its “moral compass.” In the process, she reviews the actions of
her lion, the unfortunate General Romeo D’Allaire, whose career and
personal health plummeted because the UN failed to support him in
Rwanda; her fox, General Lewis MacKenzie of Sarajevo fame; and her
eagle, Justice Louise Arbour, who tried war criminals. All three were
employees of the United Nations.

Although Off offers one of the most clear and concise summaries of the
Hutu–Tutsi conflict in Rwanda, her strong criticism of General
MacKenzie has understandably generated the greatest controversy within
Canada itself. In 1992, MacKenzie appeared regularly on television from
Sarajevo, where he commanded a UN peacekeeping operation. His composure
under fire made him a national hero whom Conservative leader Jean
Charest attracted as a star candidate in the federal election of 1997.
By contrast, Off depicts MacKenzie as a heartless, self-promoting
television celebrity who did little for the Bosnian people while in
Sarajevo. She also depicts him as a collaborator of evil Serbs,
including the now imprisoned and indicted Slobodan Milosevic.

Off—who consistently misspells the surname of French President
Franзois Mitterrand—says (correctly) that after he left Sarajevo,
MacKenzie repeatedly warned Americans not to become involved militarily
in the former Yugoslavia. MacKenzie tolerated Serb wickedness on the
grounds that Croats and Bosnian Muslims were also wicked. Off notes that
during NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign in Serbia, MacKenzie was able to
report firsthand from Belgrade, the Serb capital, because the Milosevic
government—which NATO countries were attacking—regarded MacKenzie as
one of the friendliest reporters from a NATO country, a propagandist for
the cause. Off’s strong criticism of MacKenzie subsequently sparked
debate in the Canadian media.

Who is correct? Milosevic has been indicted as a war criminal and
arrested. Since MacKenzie’s tour of duty, Serbs have kidnapped and
humiliated Canadian peacekeepers. Other Serb atrocities provoked
NATO’s 1999 intervention. MacKenzie is correct to indicate that Serbs
were not the only villains in the former Yugoslavia. Croats victimized
Serbs as they “cleansed” Krajina, and they also face the wrath of
the international tribunal. Kosovar Albanians, who with NATO’s
assistance defeated the Serbs, now intimidate their former oppressors.

Take this book seriously, but on Yugoslavia and on MacKenzie, the jury
is still out.