The facts are mangled

Canadians are accustomed to other countries (the U.S. and U.K. in particular) ignoring this country, even when it is central to the events in a book, movie, play, whatever. Witness the current movie "Argo," with writer-director-actor Ben Affleck assuming the heroic role of saving a group of Americans from the Iranian army in 1979. In real life, it was Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor who was the hero. He saved the lives of six Americans by sheltering them in the Canadian embassy.

In "Shooting Dogs," it shows a bunch of Brits, some French troops, and a Belgian, one Captain Delon (played by Dominique Horowitz) trying to stop the savagery in Rwanda in 1994.

In the real events surrounding the Rwandan massacre, the Brits had no significant role to play. Captain Delon is depicted as apparently the commander of the U.N. contingent, when in reality it was Canadian Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, a most heroic Canadian soldier, who was the commander. Dallaire was assigned by the U.N. in October 1993 to lead the 2,300 U.N. contingent in Rwanda. It was an impossible job. The U.N. abandoned him and his few remaining ragtag U.N. soldiers, who stayed behind in April and May 1994. The genocide that killed more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Tutus (in less than 100 days) almost caused Dallaire to lose his mind.

Despite Dallaire's well-documented role in Rwanda and his amazing courage (he refused to leave the country in the midst of the savagery), he is not even MENTIONED in "Shooting Dogs". What an insult.

Dallaire desperately pleaded, again and again, to get the U.N. to send reinforcements, but was repeatedly denied. He appealed to the U.S., which refused to get involved and even questioned whether the massacres were taking place. Most of the U.N. troops left, but Dallaire and his Canadian assistant stayed on. They are credited with saving up to 30,000 Rwandans by hiding them in various locations around the country.

This movie, as good as it was, really irritated me for what it DIDN'T tell us.