Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Le Phare: Rwandan Troops Posing as CNDP to Infiltrate FARDC

Le Phare says that Rwandan troops are infiltrating FARDC under the guise of being ex-CNDP militia seeking to integrate into the national army.

Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, Alan Doss says that the Congolese army is set to launch a second wave of strikes against the FDLR in South Kivu, while MONUC forces maintain control over the areas already seized by the joint Rwandan-Congolese operation in North Kivu. He wouldn't deny or confirm whether Rwandan troops would be involved, but a Rwandan army spokesman said they would not be.

Curiouser and curiouser. Why would Doss believe FARDC capable of launching an effective counter-insurgency operation against the FDLR? Why would he believe MONUC capable of holding territory the Rwandan army briefly seized by scaring off the FDLR? Given that neither force has ever demonstrated anything like the capacity needed for these missions, why embark on them now--unless you had some reason to believe that they've suddenly gotten substantially more competent?

But soyons raisonnable. The idea that the UN would conspire with Rwanda to keep its soldiers in eastern Congo to help maintain the peace strikes me as ludicrous. First, they wouldn't do that, and second, they couldn't possibly keep something like that a secret.

So once again, I'm just baffled.

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