Wednesday, December 12, 2012

U.S. must step forward to stabilize Congo

Government army FARDC soldiers are pictured. | Reuters

The authors say the Congo situation could threaten safety and stability across the middle of Africa. |

By MICHAEL O'HANLON and TONY GAMBINO | 12/11/12 9:38 PM EST

The troubled country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo again has come into the headlines as a new rebellion in eastern Congo shakes the center of Africa. The present situation has already displaced hundreds of thousands, with unknown numbers dead — and, as before, it could easily widen, threatening the safety of millions and stability across the middle of Africa.
Earlier this month, M23 rebels fighting the Congolese army withdrew from the eastern regional capital city of Goma, which they had seized 10 days earlier. Their withdrawal occurred after intense international activity, negotiations between M23 officials and Congo President Joseph Kabila in Kampala, Uganda, and an agreement signed there on Nov. 24 by the leaders of a regional African organization, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the chairwoman of the African Union, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, endorsed this agreement. However, the Kampala Accords and ICGLR role are grossly insufficient to respond to the underlying, interlinked crises in Congo and the wider region.

Congo is plagued by three interlocking crises. First, a local crisis in eastern Congo involving multiple groups has turned violent many times since 1991. Second, a national crisis of poor governance and state failure has stymied Congo for decades. Failed national elections in 2011 added an even deeper crisis of political legitimacy. Finally, an international crisis has existed between Congo and Rwanda since the Rwandan genocide in 1994. It remains unresolved, with Rwanda’s clear military support to the M23 rebels its most recent manifestation. All three intertwined crises must be tackled and resolved.

Ground zero of Congo’s three crises is found in its incompetent, brutal, corrupt army. Neither Congo’s leaders nor the international community have been willing to effectively confront this issue. The inability of the Congolese state to secure its own territory is embodied by rapacious, abusive commanders in senior positions, many of whom cycle in and out between the Congolese army and various militias, sometimes allied with the army, sometimes fighting it. For example, all the senior commanders now leading the M23 rebellion, including Bosco Ntaganda, an indicted international war criminal, were officers in good standing in the Congolese army just a few months ago.
Many senior international diplomats, including Clinton, have been willing to visit Congo and speak out strongly about the suffering of Congo’s civilians, particularly girls and women. However, in early 2009, after an outbreak of a remarkably similar round of fighting, Clinton and other leaders acquiesced in Congo’s decision to name Ntaganda as the key commander in the relevant theater of conflict in eastern Congo. The infamous formula articulated publicly by Congolese leaders at the time was that it was necessary to choose “stability over justice.” The flawed, weak March 23 agreement, from which the M23 rebels take their name, dates from this sad time. Diplomats, anxious for an easy fix to the deep problems of Congo, ignored the obvious and accepted Ntaganda, consigning hundreds of thousands of Congolese civilians to continued brutalization, suffering and, in too many cases, injury and death.

lakemedia.blogs.com

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

U.S. must step forward to stabilize Congo

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