The Congo, and Africa in general, have been a source for quite a bit of strife over the past decade or more and yet the USMil's involvement there has been very minimal. From state sponsored terrorism in the Sudan to genocide in Rwanda to roving militias in the Congo, Africa is in need of American military stomping power. Yet while literally millions of people die in Africa, we're more concerned with the few hundred-thousand that Saddam was killing in Iraq. While millions of Africans lose their lives, we're more concerned about stopping Saddam from using WMD against us. Which is funny since a whole mess of experts knew that Saddam had no WMD. If only Bush would have read the papers he'd know it, too.
So is this about the oil or race?
Hm... both probably.
Black oil, cool--black people? Not so much... apparently.
Check out the above reffed article at the ABC News website.From AP.org and ABCNews.com:
U.N. Peacekeepers Kill 60 Militia in Congo
U.N. Peacekeeping Troops Kill As Many As 60 Militants in Battle in Northeastern Congo
By BRYAN MEALER
The Associated Press
Mar. 2, 2005 - U.N. peacekeeping troops backed by an attack helicopter responded after being fired on and killed up to 60 militants accused of terrorizing villagers and killing nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers, officials said Wednesday. It was the largest number killed by a U.N. force since the Congo mission was created in 1999.
The firefight took place Tuesday near the village of Loga, 20 miles north of Bunia, the capital of the violent northeastern Ituri province, where the nine Bangladeshis were killed in an ambush last week.
"While on operation we were fired upon, so we immediately responded," said Col. Dominique Demange, spokesman for the U.N. forces in Congo.
The United Nations used an attack helicopter in the operation against the militia, Demange said. He said between 50 and 60 militia members had been confirmed dead.
The operation involved more than 200 Pakistani peacekeepers, two transport helicopters and armored vehicles, U.N. spokeswoman Eliane Nabaa said.
Two peacekeepers were wounded in the barrage of gunfire and evacuated to South Africa, Nabaa said.
The militia, which belongs to the ethnic Lendu political party Nationalist and Integrationist Front, has been terrorizing villages of the rival Hema tribe for months. Tribal fighters have killed dozens of people, looted and burned homes, and forced over 70,000 people to flee to the hills for safety since December.
The United Nations also suspects the same militia is responsible for slaying the nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers.
"This group continues to loot, kill and rape these people, making life miserable," said Nabaa. "It's time to put an end to this militia."
While most of the nation has eased into calm following a 1998-2002 war, fighting between tribal factions continues in Ituri, making the mineral-rich region the greatest challenge to the U.N. mission.
The United Nations vowed to continue to battle gunmen and seize militant camps deep in the remote hills.
"Our forces will keep putting pressure on the ground until these militia are dismantled entirely," Jean-Francois Collot d'Escuries, chief of staff for U.N. troops in Congo, told reporters.
Hundreds of peacekeepers were dispatched to several areas of the isolated, scenic territory to provide shelter, food and medicine.
However, following the slaying of the nine U.N. soldiers, the United Nations announced it was suspending humanitarian assistance to 54,000 people due to increased violence.
The operation Tuesday marked an aggressive shift in the way the United Nations is tackling its mission to shepherd Congo toward peace and stability.
For several years, U.N. peacekeepers in Congo have been criticized for being ineffective.
In May 2003, a small contingent of Uruguayan U.N. troops in Bunia were quickly overrun when Hema and Lendu militia fought for control of the town, killing over 500 people.
The United Nations drew stiff international criticism for allowing the deaths, many of which were execution-style murders carried out by teenage gunmen. The United Nations blamed a weak Security Council mandate that only permitted the peacekeepers to protect U.N. staff.
The 15-nation Security Council toughened the mandate months later, allowing them to protect civilians. However, they were criticized again in June 2004 when renegade Congolese troops seized the lakeside town of Bukavu in the east, mostly while U.N. troops stood by.
The fall of Bukavu sparked riots in the capital where U.N. vehicles were torched and burned.
The U.N. mission in Congo is also embroiled in a major sex scandal in Bunia after many young girls living in displaced camps accused peacekeepers of raping them, or trading sweets and money for sex.
The young Lendu fighters who often wear wigs and women's dresses in battle because they believe it will protect them from harm are accused of massacring thousands of Hema in village raids over the years.
Since 1999, fighting in Ituri has killed more than 50,000 and forced 500,000 to flee their homes, U.N. officials and human rights groups say.
Congo's five-year, six-nation war that killed nearly 4 million people ended in 2002 with the formation of a transitional government a year later, which has struggled to extend its authority to the long-ungoverned east.
Some 15,000 peacekeepers from 100 countries the world's largest peacekeeping deployment are overseeing a transition toward peace in the nation. The number will increase to 16,700 troops by March. About 4,800 U.N. forces are in Ituri.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
No comments:
Post a Comment