late July.)
***
1) ICGLR Merry-Go-Round all over again
If the DRC even bothers to attend the gatherings of the band of grim
clowns called the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region
(ICGLR) could only mean that the country is militarily exhausted.
The ICGLR heads of states are to meet in Kampala on Tuesday, August 7
to bloviate on the "Congo Crisis" while hundreds of thousands of
Congolese have been turned into IDPs.
Here's the scoop: Nothing--absolutely zero!--would come out of this summit.
President Paul Kagame, if he attends the meeting, will hijack the
summit, "dwell much on the
root causes of the armed conflict in Eastern DRC and seek solutions to
the unfettered atrocious activities of the Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)," and lambast MONUSCO (for exposing him),
according to the preview courtesy the Kigali daily New Times put out
on Monday, August 6.
And in case anyone forgot: Kagame is denying every single finding of
report by the UN Group of Experts.
Not even cutting off millions of euros and pounds of aid money to
Rwanda would make Kagame flinch.
(Well, maybe he's got other sources of monies: Congo for example.
Kagame is after all a military entrepreneur, like medieval warlords
who laid siege on cities.)
He's even laughing out loud at being threatened by the US.
Kagame is one of those few world leaders who's personally on Twitter.
And here's an exchange he had on Twitter on July 25 with @CleanPolitics:
***
"Clean Politics @CleanPolitics_ 25 "Jul
"Rwanda's Paul Kagame warned he may be charged with aiding war crimes bit.ly/
Mm8j13 @coldtusker @mmnjug
@PaulKagame @alykhansatchu
"Paul Kagame @PaulKagame
@CleanPolitics_ laughable and only display of gross ignorance&being
irresponsible-those saying that
are the ones responsible fr the crimes
"10:50am Wed Jul 25 via Twitter for BlackBerry®"
***
Eerily, President Yoweri Museveni, the host of the summit, has also
come under suspicion of supporting the M23 insurgency.
Which makes the whole gathering a reunion of backstabbing goons. (With
the music score of The Godfather.)
This whole ICGLR thing is a merry-go-round all over again.
2) Dr. de Mérode's Impassioned Plea for Donations: $6 buy 10 sandbags
that save 2 Rangers' lives
In the meantime, there are serious matters of life and death at ground
zero to contend with.
Dr. Emmanuel de Mérode, chief warden of the Virunga National Park,
posted this Monday afternoon on the Park's blog an impassioned plea
simply titled "Sandbags."
It reads:
"Sandbags cost 60 cents each in Goma. They are what seperates a ranger
from death or serious
injury when we come under attack.
"I was in Lulimbi yesterday, and I came to realise that our two
rangers who were injured during the attack on Friday morning suffered
because our defences were inadequate.
"It has become painfully obvious over the past few weeks that we have
to do better in Rumangabo, Lulimbi, Ishango, Rwindi and elsewhere.
"In twenty years in Congo, I've never known the violence of the past
three weeks.
"Unfortunately, it looks set to last, but our rangers have decided to
stay and protect the park and it's wildlife.
"They'll continue to suffer the attacks that we experienced in
Rumangabo and Lulimbi.
"I don't have a military background, but I've lived through these
attacks and gunfire comes from all sides, shrapnel tears at
everything.
"The only place our staff are safe is behind a sandbag formation.
"We've run short of sandbags, and our resources are terribly stretched
because our tourism revenues have run dry.
"6 dollars will buy 10 sandbags, enough to protect 2 rangers during an
attack. Over time, they will probably save a rangers' life."
*
So people of good will out there and able to spare a few bucks, please
do something by visiting the website of the park at: gorillacd.org
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