Editor, Allow me to react to the article, “Disarming FDLR militia: Kabila holds key” (The New Times, January 18). The FDLR continues to exist, to sow death and destruction and every other mayhem imaginable for the Congolese civilian population in eastern DRC only because it is in the interest of too many powerful parties, both Congolese and non-Congolese, that it be so. And as Morton Stanley’s Congo looting expedition for King Leopold of the Belgians was sold to bleeding heart liberals of the time as a mission to protect the poor natives from Arab slave raiders and to also civilise and Christianise the savage African, today’s expeditions to continue to loot the Congo is sold to the world’s humanitarians as aimed at protecting the civilian population against illegal armed bands when the reality is something else altogether. If the real goal of all these forces operating under cover (this word is chosen with great care) of the UN flag was security for the people of eastern DRC and regional stability, then the priority would be to turn all their efforts towards the total elimination of the FDLR and all its allies and support systems from the area. It is this that is the root cause of the insecurity and the reason for the mushrooming of ethnically-motivated self-defence militias. But that isn’t really the reason for the creation and perpetuation of Monusco and its recent reinforcement with the Tanzanian, South African and Malawian forces. As with Stanley’s real mission, protecting civilians and contributing to regional stability is an only convenient pretext. Mwene Kalinda
