Article

2003-05-23 East/Subsaharan Africa

UN troops wait behind razor-wire as Congoâs streets run with blood

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Steve White 2003-05-23 01:18 am|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "Why? Why are we killing our brothers? When will it end?" he said, pissing on his dead neighbor's corpse. He then picked up his machete and slaughtered two people standing nearby.

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Vollot, the French commander of UN forces in Ituri also said "I've personally approached rebel leaders three times and attempted to surrender, but they laughed in my face and sent me back."

Lendu and Hema fighters mixed cheerfully across the frontline. "We don't have a problem anymore, we're Congolese brothers," declared one such group within metres of Nyambe's decaying bodies.
"We all like to kill defenseless civilians, it's easier than fighting among ourselves!"

Posted by Watcher 2003-05-23 01:42:19|| 2003-05-23 01:42:19|| Front Page Top

#2 Israel/Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan I don't have a problem with. But when I tried reading about all the different factions involved in the DRC was all I got was a splitting headache and a deeply pesimistic feeling about things improving there anytime soon.

Posted by Paul Moloney 2003-05-23 02:10:39|| 2003-05-23 02:10:39|| Front Page Top

#3 , Kofi Annan, called for a "coalition of the willing" to police Bunia and the surrounding hills of Ituri province.

Is Annan slyly poking the U.S. for involvement in Iraq, but not in Congo?

Posted by ColoradoConservative 2003-05-23 11:30:40|| 2003-05-23 11:30:40|| Front Page Top

#4 Yep, CC. Noticed that too. You can be sure it's intentional. Either for mocking purposes (big mistake) or because he thinks that this phrasing will get US on board. No, Kofi, we'll just scorn you more, if that's the case. I used to think the guy was talented and good for UN.

Posted by Michael 2003-05-23 11:35:20|| 2003-05-23 11:35:20|| Front Page Top

#5 I suggest, for the sake of the Congo, that we move the entire UN staff to Bunia - the folks in New York, Geneva, Vienna, Paris, and wherever else the UN has office space. That way, they can be intimately involved with trying to secure this "vital area". Kofi Annan should lead the way. They may have to live in tents, eat MRE's and do business in quonset huts for a few months, but that's just the price you have to pay for being "on top of things" in the Congo.

Posted by Old Patriot 2003-05-23 11:58:05|| 2003-05-23 11:58:05|| Front Page Top

#6 "Coalition of the willing"? Sorry, Kofi. We'd like to help but we're kinda busy ACCCOMPLISHING something right now. Wish we had time to bail your sorry ass out, but...we don't. Besides, I thought you didn't want the US to be the big, bad world policeman. Thought that was a bad thing! I might suggest you call up that EU Rapid Response Force but...oh, yeah...sorry.

Here's a quick question, while we've got you. When's the Golden Jubilee of those Pali "refugee camps" that the UN has done such a great job running? We'd like to send a cake or something.

Posted by tu3031 2003-05-23 12:28:08|| 2003-05-23 12:28:08|| Front Page Top

#7 I could be wrong, but arent all these countries now run by the blacks that didnt like the way the whites were doing things...??
Let them all rot....good riddance.

Posted by Fed UP 2003-05-23 13:26:41|| 2003-05-23 13:26:41|| Front Page Top

#8 Fed UP,
That is SO rascist and bigoted! (But there's no denying your observation totally on target.) I suspect that someday those colonial times will be looked back on as a Golden Age.

Heart of Darkness? Joseph Conrad, you ain't seen nothing yet!

Posted by Scooter McGruder 2003-05-23 14:23:09|| 2003-05-23 14:23:09|| Front Page Top

#9 Well, Kofi, we agree that things in the Congo are not conducive to human health. We will consider your request. Here is what we need from you:

1. Basic statement of the problem, laying out the different factions involved. You know, the givens.

2. Also include any assumptions that you make.

3. State your short term and long term goals and objectives. Be concise but very clear as to where you want to be in the short term and the long term. Do not omit or be fuzzy on these points!

We will then take up your request, study it, and tell you what can be done, how it can be done, and will tell you what resources you will need. Then you can start finding resources to do the job. Once that is done, we will talk about implementing it, and Voila! Your problem is solved. RSVP.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2003-05-23 15:08:41|| 2003-05-23 15:08:41|| Front Page Top

#10 Scooter--
If the truth is racist and bigoted, does that make it any less truthful? I think not....the facts are the facts...the way things are going over there does indeed make this the Golden age..now, if we could just get some of our locals to go over there and "help"...that would be Golden.

Posted by Fed UP 2003-05-23 17:09:13|| 2003-05-23 17:09:13|| Front Page Top

#11 Considering Euorpe's track record in Africa I am suprised if any African government would welcome Euorpean involvement.
While(on the surface)Fed up's coment does sound bigoted,it is no more bigotted than saying Crypts/Bloods are primarily African American gangs.

Posted by Anonymous 2003-05-24 07:13:45|| 2003-05-24 07:13:45|| Front Page Top

#12 Africa has much to teach us. Like "It takes a village to make it a massacre", "tribalism, don't knock it until you've tried it"

Posted by Lucky 2003-7-5 10:08:06 PM|| 2003-7-5 10:08:06 PM|| Front Page Top

22:08 Lucky
21:58 Lucky
07:52 Raptor
07:17 Anonymous
07:13 Anonymous
00:56 Watcher
00:54 Watcher
22:55 Fred
22:23 mojo
22:20 Alaska Paul
22:16 mojo
19:36 Anonymous
18:59 rg117
18:56 badanov
18:50 Secret Master
18:27 Old Grouch
18:07 Frank G
18:03 11A5S
17:54 Frank G
17:20 Scooter McGruder
17:09 Fed UP
17:07 Cyber Sarge
17:02 Korora
16:49 Katz