Stan,

So you worked with Mobutu? I actually think that the Cold War was a wasted period in Africa. The US pursued very narrowly defined goals (Soviet containment), missed the forest for the trees, hastily withdrew when the Soviet Union collapsed, left a vacuum and raced back when the Chinese and Al Qaeda appeared to be exploiting that vacuum.

(Your history makes me wonder when next you'll head for the exit. Anyway, I digress...)

Please what really are America's long-term goals in Congo? Is it to contain Chinese influence or create a sustainable environment for trade and prosperity or is it merely to satisfy the expectations of NGO crowd or the fear of regional destabilisation?

I suspect your policy is more driven by threats (China, Regional Destabilisation) and managing the expectations of Jeffery Sachs. These are great, but the Congolese will be eternally grateful to America if it could craft a bolder policy driven more by opportunities than fears and threats.

Congo DRC needs to be shaken up. The people of Congo have had a raw deal since King Leopold and the Force Publique, they lack the internal capacity to reform themselves and no one in Africa (Nigeria included), has the resources or diplomatic capacity to do that.

I am told that 5.4 million have died between 1998 - 2008. Those numbers are staggering. Those numbers tell us that the political architecture of Congo needs to be renegotiated. Let's stop the pretense and break the country into component parts, starting with Katanga.