Rwanda 'supporting DR Congo mutineers'

[muriel_volestrangler]

Last edited Mon May 28, 2012, 04:20 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: BBC

The UN says it has evidence that a rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being fuelled by recruits and support from neighbouring Rwanda.

An internal UN report seen by the BBC cited defecting soldiers, who said they had been trained in Rwanda under the pretext of joining the army, before being sent over the border to fight.

The conflict broke out in April after a mutiny by some Congolese army officers.

Rwanda's foreign minister told the BBC the UN report is "categorical lies".

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18231128

[Scootaloo]

1. Africa's nationalities don't match the nations on the map of Africa

That's really all there is to it. Tribal nationality transcends nation-state borders wherever you go, and in Africa, the border-drawing was apparently intentionally done with that fact in mind.

[naaman fletcher]

4. And it continues to hold back africa

The fact is that some random white dudes drew some borders on top of complex african tribal relastionships. Now, for some reason, everyone agrees that Africa should still be governed along those lines.

Take a look at Nigeria. it's all Tribal. Whichever tribe is in power treats the other tribes like shit. Africa should be broken up into much smaller nations.

[Scootaloo]

8. The trouble is getting "those guys over there" to split their borders

Say for instance, the Tutsis, who are split between Rwanda, Burundi and Congo. It would make sense for them to have a nation defined by their own territorial borders - it might have been a big help back in the 90's, for instance. But that would require the Hutus to give up a chunk of Rwanda and much of Burundi, and the Luba and Kongo to give up an eastern portion of "their" country.

It's all situated so that you can't have a sensible map patterned by actual allegiances, because someone else was invariably given control over that territory and all of its resources. In some cases - Kenya and Sudan, for instance - colonial magistrates gave dominant authority to peoples who traditionally had little territory or wealth, which goes a long way towards keeping things just the way they are.

The nation-state - like agriculture - is simply one of the biggest mistakes our species has made, but it's so utterly ingrained now that there's probably no good way to "fix" it.

[naaman fletcher]

9. of course..

but meanwhile the west always says "don't split countries up". That was the wrong advice in former yugoslavia, and it is also the wrong advice in Iraq.

[Scootaloo]

10. The west's #1 priority in international relations is "stability"

It's why all these nations that like to buff their little silver stars labeled "democracy" - France, the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada, etc, still prefer murderous tyrants, petty dictators, and fascist structures over anything like a people's revolution.

It's why the US dragged its feet for so long on Egypt, and why we actively opposed the movement in Bahrain. It's why the media throughout the Arab spring was sending a singular message of "better the devil you know."

[naaman fletcher]

11. yup. nt

[hedgehog]

5. I think that there are many French, Blegian, British and German

interests screwing around with the former colonies to this day. Think of what the United Fruit Company and CIA did in Central America, and cube it!

[may3rd]

2. what is the oil output of Democratic Republic of Congo

What stake does Rwanda hold in the oil futures ?

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. It's minerals rather than oil that's at stake in that area

In March, Congolese Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu approved sales from 11 tin-ore and coltan mines in the Masisi territory in North Kivu, where Congo’s army is now battling a breakaway faction of soldiers loyal to former rebel General Bosco Ntaganda. Both minerals are used in the manufacture of electronics ranging from mobile phones to jet engines.

“We were hoping to start exporting from green-lighted sites in Masisi, mostly coltan, but unfortunately the trouble we’re seeing is in Masisi,” Emmanuel Ndimubanzi, the head of North Kivu province’s Division of Mines, said in an interview in Goma, the provincial capital, on April 28. “It won’t work.”

For more than a decade, armed groups and some members of the Congolese army, including Ntaganda, have funded their rebellions and enriched themselves through the sale of minerals found throughout the region, according to the United Nations.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-02/congo-clashes-thwart-plans-on-conflict-free-minerals

This kind of mining also typically needs far less technology, and stability, than oil extraction - just armed guards, and workers so desperate they'll work in any conditions for a pittance. So any armed faction can get themselves an income.

[Alamuti Lotus]

7. oil is a significant part of the Congo economy, but it's mining in the east at the heart

At various points in time, Rwanda and Uganda are heavily involved with direct occupation and occupation by proxy of large sections of the eastern areas of Congo -- enormous mineral interests at stake and there's a complicated(*) web of proxy armies, state armies, and greedy companies struggling over it all.

(*)--not actually complicated if one uses the premise of money alone being more important than any firmer loyalties

[okali]

6. All lies???

No surprise Mushikwabo said it's all lies lol!
The same guys who were denying having troops in Congo until they fund
themselves fighting with Ugandan troops in Kisangani, more than 1000 km
from their border.
Make me think to that guy, to not name Pean, who said it's a culture, a culture
of lies. They can accuse the UN of lies but we know who's lying.