tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209670742820403516.post3135321321990314797..comments2024-02-24T06:10:42.255-08:00Comments on Congo Siasa: An intimate look at US government policy toward the Congo - Interview with Tony GambinoJason Stearnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11454449854081540397noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209670742820403516.post-32888061753463031222010-12-23T19:43:03.231-08:002010-12-23T19:43:03.231-08:00TIM,CHAMP and DAVID ARONSON, THANK YOU SO MUCH.con...TIM,CHAMP and DAVID ARONSON, THANK YOU SO MUCH.congoleses people thank you. We (congoleses) have been facing this lies about us for so long, from the so-called congo experts(jason,gambino or enough project).The problem in congo are:<br />1.HYPPOLITE KANAMBE aka JOSEPH KABILA, incompetent and impostor rwandan.H.KANAMBE aka J. KABILA is not from congo. He is not L.D KABILA and MAMAN SYFA's son. He is an ex FPR what is known to everybody in congo and in rwanda. That why in 2006 sham election, JP BEMBA( the true winner ) was called "MWANA MBOKA"by congolese people what means COUNTRY'S SON.<br />H.KANAMBE aka J.KABILA intentionally refuses to rebuild a strong congolese army to protect congoleses people against rwandan and ugandan. He takes orders from P.KAGAME, that was once again proven in JUIN 30 of this year during the celebration of 50th anniversary congo independency . the celebration was delayed for 2 hours to wait for his mentor and boss P.KAGAME. H.KANAMBE aka J.KABILA has incorporated ten of thousand rwandan soldiers into congolese army through CNDP and RCD so now they can kill , rape, loot congolese minerals and occupy congolese land under congolese uniform.<br />2.Rwanda and Uganda.<br />3. so called international community guy has destroy all congolese structures, the army,public and security services,to help.<br />PLEASE GUYS , YOU CAN CONTACT US. janzko@gmail.com<br />once again thank you TIM,CHAMP and DAVIDUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12281078074950469823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209670742820403516.post-42965906570144821702010-12-22T12:25:09.849-08:002010-12-22T12:25:09.849-08:00Thanks, Jason, for posting this, and thanks to Ton...Thanks, Jason, for posting this, and thanks to Tony Gambino for talking with you. I agree with many of Gambino's proposals: We should focus on IMF/IBRD government conditionality (something some of us have been arguing for since 1997, when Laurent seized power—government transfers and debt repayments are critical to a government’s ability to function). To that I would add that we should be prepared to use the same sort of stringent personal travel and banking sanctions on members of Kabila and Kagame's government that we are on Gbago's. Second, we should use our influence to make sure that elections take place on schedule, plus ou moins--not only on general principle, but because (Gambino can’t say this, but I will) we know that the country is unredeemable under Kabila. Third, it's going to take a hell of a lot more than appointing a special envoy to make a meaningful impact on the ground. However, there were a few ambiguities in this interview I couldn't help but wonder about. 1) You ask Gambino about US responsibilities vis-a-vis its early embrace of Kagame. He acknowledges that there were some figures in the US who gave Kagame rhetorical support in 1998, and admits that this was perhaps unfortunate. But most of us are much more curious about the role of the U.S. during the 1996 war, and I wonder if Gambino would care to discuss that. 2) I'm not sure from the wording of the last paragraph if Gambino is endorsing the specific program of Enough regarding conflict minerals or whether he's simply praising them for bringing the region to the attention of the public and policy makers. If the latter, then what other policies should agitators be promoting? If the former . . . . Well, look, I want to believe that minerals can be a way to solve the conflict, if for no other reason than that I and many other observers of the region been saying that minerals (and not the FDLR) are at the root of the conflicts since 2000 or 2001. But I have yet to hear a clear, step-by-step, explanation of how we “operationalize” minerals for peace. If we start—as we all agree we should—with the notion that we are not proposing to boycott the minerals, because the cost in livelihood to vulnerable artisanal miners will almost certainly exceed whatever leverage we might gain over the situation, then where do we go from there? 3) Gambino recommends that we help secure the east. But how should we do that? Through increasing our effort to professionalize Kabila's army? Is that feasible, as long as he’s in charge? by reinforcing Monusco—almost certainly against Kabila’s wishes? How else? 4) Finally, Gambino lays out what he thinks the Obama administration should be doing—much of which, as I said, I agree with. But listen, at what point does waiting for the US to do the right thing for the Congo start to become a fool’s game? Is there—can there be—a Plan B for the Congo that doesn’t entail waiting for that particular Godot? And what would it look like? Finally, I want to express my own dismay at Gambino’s claim that “much of the violence came about because of actions by the FDLR.” There are a number of ways to read that statement, but assuming the most straightforward, I think it’s not only wrong on the facts, but morally objectionable, in the manner of the innumerable dreary apologia credulous Westerners cooked up last century on behalf of their darlings abroad. But rather than rehash that argument here, let me close by extending to Gambino an offer to debate that proposition in a forum of his choice.David Aronsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09530153464205125811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209670742820403516.post-19582545105942246182010-12-22T08:42:51.102-08:002010-12-22T08:42:51.102-08:00I am in agreement with Tim. The US didn't just...I am in agreement with Tim. The US didn't just stand by, they instead continued to welcome and support war criminals, genocidaires and the architects of this whole humanitarian catastrophe such as Kagame and Museveni into the US and into UN institutions. To secure Eastern Congo will require getting hold of Rwanda and Uganda as well as their proxies that have evolved from RCD to the ruthless CNDP and holding them accountable as well as cutting off support to those countries until they discontinue destabilizing the Congo. General Bosco Ntaganda, leader of the CNDP has been indicted by the ICC. Until that happens, you can pump millions and even billions into the "elections" and the humanitarian crisis will remain. <br /><br />Anyone who is genuinely interested in peace and security in Congo will address the issue of Rwanda's and Uganda's interference and atrocities in Congo. The US has continued to cover up for Rwanda and Uganda by not implementing its own law Public law 109-456 that gives the secretary of state the ability to withhold aid from countries that destabilize Congo. Holland is doing the right thing by cutting off aid from the Rwandan government due to its well known crimes Congo. Unsavory as the FDLR is, they are a product of the invasion and the conflict and not the cause. They are also not a strong enough force to prolong the conflict. Rwanda and their proxy forces however can prolong the conflict as long as they are receiving millions of dollars of US Tax payers.<br /><br />The correct US policy will go a long way helping restore peace in Congo. A good starting point would be to hold accountable authors of crimes against humanity, war crimes and possible genocide in the Congo documented in the UN Mapping Exercise report. Has Tony read this report by any chance?Champhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04100201775573067765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1209670742820403516.post-34035377684195003342010-12-21T21:25:51.058-08:002010-12-21T21:25:51.058-08:00I like Tony, but he is being either disengenuous o...I like Tony, but he is being either disengenuous or dazed and confused about the US responsibility for the crisis in the DRC and in the region in general. Not only did they fund over 70% of Rwanda's budget while it was creating all the child soldiers and rapists in the DRC, several academics have claimed that they helped to plan and maybe even provided black ops support. <br /><br />One could also mention their support for hiring Rwandan war criminals to run other UN PKOs. The same clowns responsible for implementing these criminal policies are still around: Cindi Courville, Gen William Ward [signed a military co-op agreement the day after Rwanda announced one of it "re-invasions"...], Jendayi Frazer [pushed for re-appointment of indicted war criminal Karenzi Karake as DFC for UNAMID...], etc. etc.<br /><br />Furthermore, it is not the FDLR which has been the main source of all the violence in the Eastern DRC, but the Rwandan run and US tax dollar financed destabilization by the CNDP and the ham fisted attempts to squash the FDLR without putting any pressure on the apartheid regime in Kigali...<br /><br />As they say, "insanity is doing the same thing time after time and expecting a different result"...yet that is what Tony is proposing.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01512193405607855499noreply@blogger.com