Date: May 26, 1994
Author: Valentina Krčmar, Thornhill, Ontario
Addressed to: Letters to the Editor, The Toronto Star
View the Original Letter: krcmar book 3_Part2_Part96.pdf
About This Letter
In this letter dated May 26, 1994, Valentina Krčmar responds to The Toronto Star article “Rwandan Situation Highlights Need for U.N. Force” (May 24, 1994). Her message, though brief, is forceful — a scathing indictment of the United Nations and its repeated failures to prevent human catastrophe.
Krčmar begins by affirming the need for a standing UN force, yet swiftly turns her focus toward demanding accountability from the organization’s leadership.
“Although we all agree with the notion about the U.N. force, shouldn’t we demand the answers from the U.N. top officials about the horrific situations all over the world?”
Her voice carries the weight of bitter experience — that of a witness to war, betrayal, and political paralysis. She invokes the League of Nations, the UN’s predecessor, reminding readers that the world once replaced one failed institution with another, believing in the promise of “never again.” That promise, she asserts, has long been broken.
“When the League of Nations was replaced with the United Nations we all hoped that never again any tyrant would be allowed to get away with carnage or territorial gains through sheer murderous strength.”
From Cambodia to Afghanistan, Somalia, Angola, Bosnia, and Croatia, she lists a tragic litany of nations where UN inaction allowed suffering to flourish. Each name becomes an indictment — a testament to the futility of resolutions without resolve.
“Killed people in Cambodia, in Afghanistan, in Somalia, in Angola, in Bosnia, in Croatia and other places all over the world are mute testimonies to the U.N.’s policies of appeasement.”
Krčmar’s tone crescendos into open condemnation of UN leadership, particularly Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, whom she blames for embodying weakness in the face of tyranny.
“The U.N. standing military force is absolutely necessary, along with a new Secretary-General who will be able to withstand the pressure of the tyrants and protect those in need. Didn’t we have enough of this weak Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali that has brought only misery to the world?”
Through her letter, Krčmar transforms outrage into a moral demand — not just for reform, but for courage. She calls for a United Nations with both conscience and conviction, one that acts decisively rather than watches history’s tragedies unfold from afar.
