The US pressured the Congolese government into working with its other allies (Uganda, Rwanda, and South Sudan) in the Great Lakes. Africans solving African problems with the US' help.
DR Congo outsources its military
The Democratic Republic of Congo - a country with the trappings of sovereignty but not much modern government or control outside the main cities - is waking up to its limitations.
DR Congo has invited in foreign armies to help deal with its lawless regions. It is a joint military operation that is highly unusual in Africa.
The militaries of three foreign countries - Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan - are now operating in or around the edges of DR Congo.
But unlike in previous times, the foreign armies have not invaded against the will of the authorities in the capital Kinshasa.
They were invited in by the Congolese government to deal with rebel movements that Kinshasa admits it - and the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world, in DR Congo - cannot handle.
To be accurate, the word "invited" is not quite right.
Kinshasa was persuaded by United States pressure to accept the foreigners.
The US is allied to Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan - all of which, in various ways, are opposed to the US bogeyman in the region, the Islamist regime based in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. (South Sudan is de facto quasi-independent from Khartoum after winning control of the south after a long war.)
Comments