On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Rwanda’s president Habyarimana was shot down. Violence began immediately after and the Hutu extremists launched their planes to wipe out the entire civilian Tutsi population. Political leaders who could have taken charge of the situation were killed immediately. Tutsi were killed everywhere and the genocide began. It’s estimated 200,000 people participated in the genocide. 800,000 men, women, and children were killed in the Rwandan genocide. That is three-fourths of the Tutsi population. Thousands of Hutu were killed because they opposed the genocide and helped Tutsi civilians. The whole world sat back and watched. There was not a single country that stepped in and tried to stop it. The United States of America should have got involved to prevent the genocide from happening or stop it while it was happening. Countries view the United States as the world police when they do get involve and when they don’t the United States is viewed as the bystander. In 1994 the United States should have been the police to stop the genocide. Hundreds of thousands of lives were at stack. The United States could have been a huge force to stop the genocide and save lives. France, Belgium, United States, and the United Nations were aware of the build up for the massive slaughter and failed to take action to prevent it. They knew Tutsi were being targeted for elimination. They refused to recognize…show more content… If genocide is happening in a country the United Nations reports it. If reports are being leaked about a genocide it becomes well known internationally. Everyone knew the genocide was taking place in Rwanda but no one took action. If the United States did not opposed action in Rwanda other countries would have been more eager to lend troops, equipment or money. It was the United States refusal to contribute that set the tone for the