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Carl,
Actually, although use of lethal force is very new to blue helmets, their mandate and a UN-brokered accord supported by 11 nations and 4 international organizations were key.

Hey M-A,
Indeed correct my friend. Without a means of escape and also save face, they will never reach the negotiation table. There is a reason that the DRC does not have a lot of prisoners. They...

Mike,
The only thing I could add to this is that the vast majority of civilians in the DRC do not actually possess firearms (at least not this past April).

With some very limited examples such as...

In an attempt to respond to Matt, David managed to point out a significant error in producing anything in Africa.



Our Guinness with the widget in the cans came straight from Ireland. I did...

Nice catch, Adam. Sadly, the authors have never "been there and done that", or that article would have been slightly different.

Primus, as a pale lager, was and still is the lowest on the...

Carl,
Couldn't agree more. What are we doing there ? For that matter, if 20,000 peacekeepers can't do anything, what are (ahem) a few AFRICOM experts and 60 democrats and republicans going to...

Don't get us wrong, and we do invite your insight and questions. We all come from very different backgrounds and there should be room for "lost in translation". If we all spoke French together,...

Hey M-A,

It seems to me that Kinshasa, even under Mobutu's rule, never controlled anything to include Lubumbashi. Back then there was no internet nor cell, and what took place there never mattered...

Taking a look at the UN website, it's no wonder most think of this as the first ever offensive UN force. Heck, it says so right here :rolleyes:



As most of us already know, this is Bravo Sierra...

Seems not all are happy with the new mandate

Hey M-A,



Agreed. But, not just Mobutu style thought, rather, what to do with a huge and unpaid military ? Yes, we can change the regime and 200 different ministers as did Mobutu every year,...

Hey Mike,

Where to start ?

Sent you a PM as some of my views are not exactly suitable herein.

What has changed since my time and recent sporadic trips to the region; little to nothing....

Carl,
I can only speculate but based on what is already in print about him, “not very well liked nor educated, and feared by most locals”, I would agree with you and better to hang out in The Hague...

M-A,
Indeed good news for the entire region !

According to a State Department press briefing yesterday, the USG intends to honor Bosco's request :)

M-A, Salut !

Why do we continue to have peace agreements and ceremonies in the DRC when we know that a signature means absolutely nothing ?



Do we really believe that an African leader's...

Hi Angie and welcome aboard !

It is important to note that the training course held from December 2009 was in fact a Train the Trainer Course preparing commanders, officers, non-commissioned...

Hey Kingjaja,

According to this, a lot of money went into specific training and looks great on paper.



But then, similar to what all Western powers witnessed as far back as 1985, hungry...

Carl,
My personal opinion is total stalemate. Even back in the 80s when we gave the DRC USN swift ships to patrol lake Kivu, supposedly against Rwandan trade, all the Zairian government in Kinshasa...

David,
Not sure if this is what you were looking for regarding UN data

Regards, Stan

Hey M-A,
I may not have made myself clear with the above post. I wanted to say that no amount of paper or money will bring about what the Congolese have ever yet to have. They did enjoy such...

Carl,
If you mean the return of the AFDL with Zairian political assistance to oust the Pres, then yes. But the DRC has come too far for a repeat performance and I doubt the greedy politicians want...

It was a mere compromise in 94 when the UN was purportedly in charge. It took some fancy footwork to keep that going.

Not even the Western powers could come to terms all the while the Zairois were...

It would be far cheaper and simpler to remove any military entity in the DRC to include their civil guard and police. Their functions and means are clearly not helping.

The only way I see a return...

Adam,
Was kinda hoping you got my strange sense of humor :)



Thanks... been reading and also directly witnessing. Carl is right, the DRC is a weird place and most agree that it is also a great...

I'd worry about anything Mende Omalanga (DRC Minister of Communications) had to say. This is what the rest think!