Hope for D.R.C.

So you guys should know by now that I try to talk about events in the news that aren't quite "mainstream." The conflict I want to talk about in this post deals with the ongoing violence that has taken place on the eastern border of the DRC for the past year now. What I am talking about is the M23 rebellion that began in early April 2012 in which army deserters (reportedly funded and backed by Rwanda and Uganda) marched against the DRC. The movement seemed unstoppable for the majority of the year, as it swiftly and decisively took control of Goma (the largest city in Eastern Congo) as UN peacekeepers idly stood by.  The conflict was devastating to the region as it displaced over 800,000 people and killed many more thousands. The rebellion also highlighted the ineffective nature of the UN peacekeeping core as its 18,000 strong force in the DRC only could defend against themselves "once fired upon"-a tactic highly criticized by the international community especially during the Tutsi Genocide of Rwanda.

So, to even think about possibly taking over the M23 "capital" and dispersing over 10,000 rebel soldiers in less than a year would have probably given you crazy looks and odd faces all across the DRC and UN offices around the world. But yet, that is exactly what took places late monday afternoon as UN and government troops ended the shelling of the town and began moving into the the city of Bunagana on the Ugandan border. Wait, UN troops shelling rebels...? Isn't that not allowed? Well what was influential about this conflict was the clamor and raucous that ensued about the current makeup of the UN peacekeeping forces and whether or not they actually were effective. All of this finally culminated in a new UN division within the peacekeepers: the intervention force. The force, backed and funded by the UN, contains the same makeup of peacekeeping soldiers, except they are allowed to actively engage and fight in conflicts. With full international support, the campaign against the rebels was revamped and with International forces, the Congolese army was able to take back much of the territory that was seized earlier in the year.

While I do not see this particular conflict ending in the region (the leader of the movement fled to Uganda, and Uganda and Rwanda have been actively supporting the M23 rebellion) I do see improvements in how the UN and international community operates. Its high time a division like this in the UN was created to fully wage war on those who mistreat and cause chaos. The force has been so effective that it currently is working with AU troops in Somalia in hunting down Al-Shabaab fighters. I do see hope in a once pathetic and useless organization that drew many parallels towards the shambled "League of Nations." Hopefully the UN and the international community can continue making such useful developments.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24744548

The UN intervention brigade

Congolese and UN Troops moving on Bunagana

M23 rebels taking Goma