General Laurent Nkunda has a rebel army, they're running riot in DR Congo; BBC- The recent rebel offensive - exacerbated by a spate of killing, looting and raping by retreating Congolese soldiers - has created what aid agencies have termed a "humanitarian catastrophe".
All sides are accused of carrying out horrific atrocities against civilians, in particular mass rape.
Yup that is some nasty shit, don't realy see what Miliband et al are going to achieve out there, increased U.N presence is probably going to be like a sticking plaster on a gunshot wound
The situation in the DRC has been an enormous problem for quite some time now. Unfortunately, with all the other conflicts going on in the world right now, the situation does not get any attention beyond a BBC article or a New York Times article. What is going on there is horrific and it needs to be stopped. Unfortunately there is no quick easy solution to the problems in the DRC. Just sending peacekeepers will not end the conflict.
What's to be done about it, though? Anything that would actually make any difference (a large, long-term UN presence, say) would seem like colonialism, all over again. I don't suppose anyone wants to go near that, but what's the alternative?
I'm inclined to pretend that Africa just doesn't exist.
It's so depressing, otherwise - you'd have to be totally shitfaced, 24/7, like Bono and Bob Geldof are, to think that there was anything you could possibly do.
