They Stand Aside
Here is part of a news report by Mike Pflanz, a journalist currently in Goma:
The United Nations has delayed sending reinforcements for its mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo which are urgently needed to curb violence against civilians.
More than 250,000 people have fled recent fighting and armed groups have been accused of rape, killings and looting despite the presence of the world’s largest peacekeeping operation, with 17,000 troops.
The UN’s chief of peacekeeping, Alain Le Roy, on Wednesday requested 3,000 more soldiers for the country’s volatile east to boost protection for ordinary Congolese.
But the Security Council failed to agree and instead deferred its decision until it receives another report on November 26.
The logic of this baffles me. What doubts can possibly be in the minds of those sitting on the Security Council? It seems very straightforward: if 17,000 troops are not adequately protecting the civilian population, we must send in more, and send them in now. And then we must keep sending in peacekeepers until a peace is established.
But the UN has not yet agreed to send in more peacekeepers. Worse, they have delayed making a final decision (they have, in a sense, already made a decision, for the moment; but games with words insist we say they simply “failed to agree”) until the 26th of November. Today is the 13th of November. A lot can happen two weeks.
The report continues:
“We are told that these people have the strength to fight against the rebels and to defeat them,” said Jean-Marie Kakuru, 38, by telephone from Kiwanja.
“But they do nothing, they stand aside while our people are being killed.”
We do nothing; we stand aside while their people are being killed. They are horrible, frightening, humbling words.