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http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/romeo-dallaire-senate-liberal-retiring-from-parliament-1.2656795
Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire says he's retiring from the Senate.
CBC News Network's Evan Solomon reports Dallaire is retiring because of a combination of issues: His desire to spend more time on post-traumatic stress disorder research and public speaking on international causes, ongoing struggles with PTSD, and frustration with the continuing Senate scandals.
Dallaire came to prominence after leading Canadian troops in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.
His repeated warnings to the UN and to Canada went seemingly unheeded as Rwanda went through 100 days of killings.
Dallaire has also spoken publicly about his struggles since 1994 with PTSD. He has publicly revealed his four suicide attempts and battles with alcoholism, all brought on from not only what he saw in Rwanda but by the sense of futility and powerlessness he felt after trying to bring world attention to the massacre.
In his book Shake Hands with the Devil, Dallaire tells a horrific story of having to walk over a bridge held aloft by bloated human bodies.
"On the far bank, soldiers were trying to pry them loose for fear that their weight would pull the bridge apart ... My stomach heaved and I struggled for composure. I couldn't bear the movement of the bridge, up and down on the slaughtered hundreds," he wrote.
Prominently displayed on his personal website are the words he wrote to describe the effect of the Rwanda experience on his psyche:
“Rwanda will never ever leave me. It’s in the pores of my body. My soul is in those hills, my spirit is with the spirits of all those people who were slaughtered and killed.”
Just before Christmas he fell asleep at the wheel of his car on Parliament Hill, jumping a curb and hitting a lamppost. Unhurt, he later explained to the Senate that he was unable to sleep as the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda crisis drew near.
At the time, he also said the suicides of three Canadian soldiers were reviving memories of his own hopelessness and despair after he left Rwanda.
Dallaire was named to the Senate by Paul Martin in 2005. He wasn't set to retire until 2021.
During his time in the Senate, he worked on his Romeo Dallaire Child Soldier Initiative, as well as being a voice for veterans. He is also an inspiring public speaker in huge demand, and his workload was becoming intolerable, he said.
He told Solomon he will retire on June 17, a significant date, he explained, as it is the day he learned the French intended to send in a force to stop the genocide in Rwanda.
Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire says he's retiring from the Senate.
CBC News Network's Evan Solomon reports Dallaire is retiring because of a combination of issues: His desire to spend more time on post-traumatic stress disorder research and public speaking on international causes, ongoing struggles with PTSD, and frustration with the continuing Senate scandals.
Dallaire came to prominence after leading Canadian troops in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.
His repeated warnings to the UN and to Canada went seemingly unheeded as Rwanda went through 100 days of killings.
Dallaire has also spoken publicly about his struggles since 1994 with PTSD. He has publicly revealed his four suicide attempts and battles with alcoholism, all brought on from not only what he saw in Rwanda but by the sense of futility and powerlessness he felt after trying to bring world attention to the massacre.
In his book Shake Hands with the Devil, Dallaire tells a horrific story of having to walk over a bridge held aloft by bloated human bodies.
"On the far bank, soldiers were trying to pry them loose for fear that their weight would pull the bridge apart ... My stomach heaved and I struggled for composure. I couldn't bear the movement of the bridge, up and down on the slaughtered hundreds," he wrote.
Prominently displayed on his personal website are the words he wrote to describe the effect of the Rwanda experience on his psyche:
“Rwanda will never ever leave me. It’s in the pores of my body. My soul is in those hills, my spirit is with the spirits of all those people who were slaughtered and killed.”
Just before Christmas he fell asleep at the wheel of his car on Parliament Hill, jumping a curb and hitting a lamppost. Unhurt, he later explained to the Senate that he was unable to sleep as the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda crisis drew near.
At the time, he also said the suicides of three Canadian soldiers were reviving memories of his own hopelessness and despair after he left Rwanda.
Dallaire was named to the Senate by Paul Martin in 2005. He wasn't set to retire until 2021.
During his time in the Senate, he worked on his Romeo Dallaire Child Soldier Initiative, as well as being a voice for veterans. He is also an inspiring public speaker in huge demand, and his workload was becoming intolerable, he said.
He told Solomon he will retire on June 17, a significant date, he explained, as it is the day he learned the French intended to send in a force to stop the genocide in Rwanda.
Lots of criticism regarding LGen (ret'd) Dallaire from members of this forum. In all fairness to the man, please substantiate your remarks (if you dare). Unless you walked in his shoes, or were in theater with him, or ever worked with him, you have no right to bash him. Additionally, you may be causing legal implications for Mr. Bobbitt (remember that guy of the unspecified newspaper). In a nut shell, please maintain a level of professionalism. 
