Ever since fighting escalated around Goma, a city east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Congolese government has tried to drag Rwanda into the conflict but in vain.But the level of provocation displayed by the DRC this month has tested Rwanda’s restraint to the limit. This month alone, 34 artillery shells have been lobbed on Rwandan territory under the indifferent gaze of the United Nations.Yet again yesterday, the DRC fired eight rounds of heavy caliber bombs in Rubavu killing a mother and her child and injuring scores others.Is DRC trying to gauge how long Rwanda’s restraint can last? If so it is barking up the wrong tree and it will not be long before it realises that restraint has its limits. The UN is on the ground, but it has buried its head in the sand yet it is partly to blame for the latest trend of events.Rwanda has learnt over the years that it’s not worth putting its expectations in the international community’s basket as it did in 1994; it learnt the hard way and it is difficult to imagine it will repeat the same mistake again.It does not need a nuclear scientist to deduce that DRC is not alone in this ongoing provocation, it has its backers who think they have an ace up their sleeve that will break Rwanda’s resolve, but they are mistaken.They tried several times and failed; it is not today they will reinvent the wheel.
