Sunday, November 02, 2008

Congo: Time for France to Redeem Itself

I'm glad David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner have spent the last two days in the Congo and Rwanda. They can't provide instant solutions to the growing crisis in the Congo but it demonstrates a recognition that it is becoming more serious by the day. Some would say it is a rather belated recognition. Although Rwanda has, on the face of it, done remarkably well in recovering from the traumas of the 1994 genocide, the wounds still run deep between the Tutsies and Hutus.

But what can be done? Seventeen thousand United Nations troops are already attempting to police the Congo, but it is such a massive country that their task is almost impossible. It is clear that the UN force needs to be dramatically strengthened if there is not to be a humanitarian disaster, let alone another genocide. There is another problem though. While manpower is important, so are logistics. There are virtually no tarmacked roads in the Congo so transporting troops so getting troops to the most troubled areas is a huge issue.

As Patrick Mercer has said in the papers today, it is difficult to see Britain providing many troops to strengthen an international force - we just don't have the resources. Even if troops are pulled out of Iraq in schedule, they will be needed in Afghanistan. It's time the EU countries, especially France and Belgium, pulled their weight. Let's face it, after it's shameful role in ignoring the Rwandan genocide France has a lot to make up for.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

And what business is it of ours to get involved? Oh, I see. Business as usual.

Anonymous said...

partrick vessey

Exactly - what business is it of ours.

Oh, I forgot, to ensure that the pipsqueak Foreigh Secretary (yep, that one with 3 'A' levels at B,D,D who went to Oxford)and his esteemed leader look 'statesmanlike' and 'world leaders'.

But they've forgotten a few things - Afghanistan, Iraq and the massive decay in the UK economy over the coming weeks and months.

Anonymous said...

As the former colonial power, surely it is morally incumbent upon Belgium and its army to restore law and order to the DRC and take the lead.

Anonymous said...

Since they all speak French in the former Belgian Congo, it is pretty obvious who should be on watch.

However rest assured that nothing will happen, except that the Great Helmsman will hand over more of our money (that he will borrow) and Brit soldiers will be deployed.

General election due soon - Gordon needs the British Congo vote (every little counts!). Belgian MPs cannot form a goverment never mind take action in the Congo. Sarkozy needs dead soldiers like a hole in the head (even if they are the Foreign Legion)

Man in a Shed said...

Lets not forget that France and Germany had troops in the Congo to help with the elections. ( I seem to remember some mishaps then ).

Is this another definite priority like Gordon Browns bluster about Darfur ?

Anonymous said...

Surely all would agree Miliband is doing a good job
however he should stay and ensure that genocide doesnt kick off

never mind the French !
What did we do over Rawanda

what anger, march, rally, press release

we all failed Rawanda and we said it could never happen Bosnia, rawanda, Sudan

yes we politicos really do speak out at lot...not

Unknown said...

Given the French performance over rwanda to which you allude I would of thought that the deployment of French troops, which you seem to be hinting at, would only inflame the situation. After all it is the other side of the coin, the Tutsis, who are now the agressors and the intervention of the French to, once again, protect their former tormentors would be like a red rag to a bull.

Anonymous said...

The problem is that most of the E.U. countries are socialist basket-cases - who'd rather spend their money on welfare programs than get a defence budget of their own.

Anonymous said...

What on earth makes any sane person think we have to get involved with the Congo?

The Belgians f****d it up shamefully, let them take some responsibility.

The Africans wanted the white man out, let them take some responsibility.

We are involved in an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, let the Prime Minister take some responsibility for the welfare of the UK and its troops and keep us out of Africa.

North Briton 45 said...

The huge problem of relying on France and Belgium to try and solve the problem in Congo and Rwanda is that they hold the responsibility for so much of this.

Belgium's brutal legacy hangs over Congo. It was they who classified precisely the racial divide between Hutu and Tutsi, they who reduced Hutus to the status of peasants while lording the nobility of Tutsis.

And they instilled much of the violence that exists in the country, with their record of cutting off hands, widespread terror and murder.

And it is the French who allowed the genocidaires, the Interahamwe and other extremists, to flee Rwanda at the end of the 1994 genocide. Mitterand was a friend of former Rwandan leader Juvenal Habyarimana, the man whose government plotted the genocide.

So neither the Belgiums or French are trusted by the main protagonists in this conflict, so it would seem highly unlikely any major intervention by those countries would succeed. Too much hatred and mistrust exists.

Anonymous said...

It beggars belief that Miliband thinks we have any role to play in the Congo. We are already engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan because the Americans told us to. We are also engaged in numerous UN-led escapades elsewhere. We are paying tens of millions of pounds to the UN so that their senior staff can retire as millionaires. Let the UN sort this one out too. We are doing and paying enough!

The Remittance Man said...

Time will Tell

What Belgian Army? The only globally deployable troops they have are the 3 battalions of the Para-Commando Regiment. Nominally these are part of a Brigade but thanks to defence cuts there are no engineers, loggies or others permenantly attached. The troops may be good but they aren't strong enough or properly equipped for a long peacekeeping deployment.

As for the French; their actions in Africa have been even more self-centred than the other European nations. I'd be surprised if the Congolese even let them into the country.

That being said, Britain has enough problems of her own. Distressing as it may seem, let some other buggers take the rap for this looming disaster.

Anonymous said...

I propose we try an experiment, which will be ghastly but may be ultimately necessary -

we stop treating Africa and the Africans like children or basket-cases, and make them sort out their own problems.

If their murderous dictators want to cohabit with the Chinese, so be it.

Guthrum said...

the DRC is absolutely nothing to do with the UK, we are a small country with an economy that has mysteriously just gone bang, an army that is treated with utter contempt by nulab in terms of equipment.

It is also nothing to do with France, Belgium or Germany. The DRC is a massive artificial construct of King Leopold. It will eventually break up.

Mothing has to be done, whilst the warlords fight each other and the west feeds the population, the wars will go on and on

Anonymous said...

TRM 10.55

I was being sardonic.

Belgium is the root cause of the DRC problem thanks to King Leopold.

But it will turn its back and deny any responsibility, probably it will plead its forces are too small. Its troops are absent from international peace-keeeping operations. Oh, it has, or funds, one and a half Eurofighters while Luxemburg has the other half!

Very slightly off-topic, it refused to sell us ammunition during the first Gulf War.

Surely it would be best for all if the country without a government disappeared completely with the Dutch and French borders coming together. This would make western Europe a bit tidier and also help resolve the racial disputes between the Walloons and Flemish