Congo needs help
United States can provide assistance and push for more U. N. peacekeeping
In lawless eastern Congo, violence that began with a war in 1998 and has essentially continued — despite an “official” end in 2002 — and an escalation in fighting now threatens the region again. The United States can help by pushing for sufficient peacekeeping missions, aiding in elections and boosting environmental protection and health.
These are but a few recommendations made by Anthony W. Gambino, former USAID mission director for the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a report to the Center on Foreign Relations. Action should be swift and decisive to avoid a full-blown humanitarian crisis. Recent violence resulted in tens of thousands being displaced in and around Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, bringing the total displaced to around 250,000 since August.
The rebellion leader, Gen. Laurent Nkunda, has threatened to break a fragile cease-fire unless President Joseph Kabila of Congo agrees to participate in direct negotiations — an unlikely outcome, given that it already has been ruled out by Kabila. Meanwhile, Goma is under a curfew.
The Congolese government has consistently demonstrated its inability to control territory in the eastern portion of the country, and its own military has been blamed for atrocities. Gambino reasons that the only plausible force to ensure territorial security is that of MONUC, the U. N. peacekeeping force. But as long as eastern Congo, with all its riches and easily exploitable minerals, remains lawless, the incentive for these rogue groups to continue fighting for control is high.
The fundamental problem with the U. S. approach to the Congo is that the government has been satisfied with small steps, constantly looking for minimal action to staunch hemorrhaging during any crisis, Gambino said. This emergency in Congo is not new. The eastern portion of the Congo has been lawless for most of the last 15 years. Nkunda is also well known, as is his argument that he is defending his people — ethnic Tutsi — from the FDLR, a group of ethnic Hutus that fled Rwanda in 1994.
The United States must provide leadership and strong support to the U. N. peacekeeping mission. The U. N. Security Council recently received an urgent request from MONUC for 2,000 additional troops, a call that warranted an immediate positive response. Instead, the Security Council agreed to consider the request at some point in time.
There are steps the United States is able to take, short of sending in its own troops, that focus on the maintenance of the globally important Congo forest, providing elections support, and helping private sector growth and agricultural development.
A country with vast natural riches, tropical forests, hydroelectric potential and resources ranging from diamonds to zinc has become a humanitarian disaster. International intervention is needed, now, and the United States can and should push for that action.
