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Genocide has been a sad fact of human history since recorded time. It has been present in every culture, ethnic race and in every epoch of the human experience.

The most brutal and efficient episodes of genocides have been when a people's own government turns against them. Just the recent 20th century history of the Turkish Government killing Turkish Armenians (1.5 million), the Soviet Government killing Ukrainians/Russian political opponents (20 million), the Nazi Regime killing German Jews/political opponents (20 million), the Chinese Government killing Chinese political opponents (35 million), the Khmer Rouge Regime killing fellow Cambodian educated persons (2 million) and the Rwandan Government killing Rwandan Tutsis (1 million) make this argument crystal clear.

How do governments kill so many of their own people? That is easy to answer. These governments had the power and the people, the victims, were unable to resist.

In all the above examples, the governments first disarmed their own people (usually for "crime control" and to "make the streets safer"). Once citizens can no longer be trusted with their own defense or arms, they are easy pickings when persons with hate take over that government. Unfortunately, we will repeat these lessons again and again. The U.N. Security Council, France or the United States of America can not prevent internationally recognized sovereign states from committing genocide to its own people until it is too late. As is so poignantly pointed out in Rwanda, the citizens of a state can stop genocide if they have the means to defend themselves.