What an awful mess.......

[Denverdave]

It has not even scratched the US news reports at all, but all hell is breaking loose in Congo in central Africa. A rebel army is about to capture the capitol of Goma and the government army is in full retreat. Right now there are about 1,000,000 displaced people in the region (just the region around the capitol) and that number is growing rapidly. In the last decade or so the civil war in Congo has claimed almost 6 million lives. There are UN Peacekeepers in the area, but we all know how effective they have been in the past.

I have a couple of good friends that are about 100 miles from this right now, and some of our workers who lived in Goma just had to leave the country and hunker down in Rwanda for now. The rebel army will probably be taking aim at Rwanda next, so this whole part of central Africa is about to explode and we could have another genocide on our hands in the next year if things progress as they appear to be happening now.

 

[Mark Wein]

But they don't have oil so our country has to be discreet as to where we spend our "democracy war" dollars... facepalm0

 

[Denverdave]

But they don't have oil so our country has to be discreet as to where we spend our "democracy war" dollars... facepalm0

No oil, but Congo is one of the most mineral rich countries on the planet. They are the worlds biggest producer of tantalum, which is an element crucial to the production of cell phones and computers and is very valuable. The US really has very little presence there, thus the silence.

But yeah - if they had oil we would be there. If they had oil this would be even worse than it is already. The mineral wealth is why they have had nearly non-stop fighting since the 60's.

And actually I was wrong - Goma is just a regional capitol, not the national capitol...

 

[Mark Wein]

I don't think we get very involved in anything as far as sub Saharan Africa is concerned...I can't remember anytime in history that we've sent troops into that area (does Somalia count?)

 

[Denverdave]

I don't think we get very involved in anything as far as sub Saharan Africa is concerned...I can't remember anytime in history that we've sent troops into that area (does Somalia count?)

It's hard for anyone to get too involved down there because the region is in near constant chaos. Outside of South Africa most of the governments rule in name only. Somalia would be it for us as far as I can remember. The French have a military presence in a few countries in sub-Saharan West Africa, but the rest have very nominal UN or League Of African Nations observers if anything.

 

[Chihlidog]

Is the current government decent? I dont pretend to know anything about the Congo. Is the rebel army better than the current regime? Or is it a bad thing for them to take control?

I realize I sound like an idiot, but as I said I will not pretend to have even a tiny bit of knowledge about the area.

 

[Denverdave]

Is the current government decent? I dont pretend to know anything about the Congo. Is the rebel army better than the current regime? Or is it a bad thing for them to take control?

I realize I sound like an idiot, but as I said I will not pretend to have even a tiny bit of knowledge about the area.

The current government is bad, but could be worse. The general feeling of the people in the area (according to an email from my friend) is that they really do not care who is in charge as long as they can bring peace to the region. They just want stability. There really are no good guys in this mess...

 

[Phil513]

The atroceties that happen in that region are just horrific.

That movie Hotel Rwanda was heartbreaking, and that stuff just seems to keep going and going there.

 

[Psychotronic]

But they don't have oil so our country has to be discreet as to where we spend our "democracy war" dollars... facepalm0

That's not it, Mark. It's because they pose no threat to anyone outside of their region - they're not interested in international terrorism, therefore there is no direct threat to the US. Once it gets biger than it is, and peaceful neighboring countries become threatened, you'll see US military involvement. I think we'd all agree that our military are spread a bit thin at the moment.

 

[Denverdave]

The atroceties that happen in that region are just horrific.

That movie Hotel Rwanda was heartbreaking, and that stuff just seems to keep going and going there.

Some people I know actually dropped people off at the real Hotel Rwanda during the genocide. The stories I have heard about what happened their from eyewitnesses would chill your blood. Stuff that seems unthinkable. The company I work for is heavily invested in that part of the world (Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia, Kenya) so we hear a lot about what is going on out there.

 

[Mark Wein]

But they don't have oil so our country has to be discreet as to where we spend our "democracy war" dollars... facepalm0

That's not it, Mark. It's because they pose no threat to anyone outside of their region - they're not interested in international terrorism, therefore there is no direct threat to the US. Once it gets biger than it is, and peaceful neighboring countries become threatened, you'll see US military involvement. I think we'd all agree that our military are spread a bit thin at the moment.

I realize that but it just seems like that part of the world gets forgotten about while a place like Iraq gets leveled.

You'll have to forgive me today...I'm just horrible grouchy embarrased0 facepalm0