Female Biopolitical Nonautonomy: French pundit Audrey Pulvar fired for being Minister's girlfriend

Last year, well before the kick-off of the French presidential

campaign, Martinican-born assertive political pundit and radio and TV

show hostess Audrey Pulvar, 40, was fired by Canal+, a French media

conglomerate partially-owned by COMCAST.





Canal+ called the firing a "suspension" and explained it as a

"cautionary" move motivated by "professional ethics."





A convoluted way to say that Pulvar's analytical "objectivity" had

been impaired beyond repair for being the live-in girlfriend of Arnaud

Montebourg, 49, one of the rising stars of the socialist party.





Well, that was only the beginning of Pulvar's professional troubles.





During the socialist primaries of last year, Pulvar raised eyebrows

for appearing at campaign stumps and events at the side of Montebourg

(photo above)--who was vying for the socialist party's presidential

nomination as one among François Hollande's 5 rivals.





And state-owned Radio France Internationale (RFI) quickly yanked

Pulvar from her morning political show.





Pulvar triggered renewed ethical questions during the presidential campaign.





She continued to appear as one of the cohosts of Laurent Ruquier's

weekend TV show "On n'est pas couché" (on state-owned France 2)--a

seemingly innocuous program whose guests include movie stars, writers,

and, occasionnally, political figures.





Last March, she "destroyed" (to use one media observer's phrase) on

that show Jean-François Copé, the pugnacious Secretary General of

Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party, who querulously shot back that Pulvar was

a politician masquerading as a journalist and that her airtime ought

to be counted down like any other politician, as mandated by the media

authority during political campaigns.





With the appointment of Montebourg at the helm of the Industry

Ministry (now fancifully renamed "Ministry of Productive Recovery"),

the ethical quandary of Pulvar turned from bad to untenable--what with

her blatant "conflict of interest," as the guild of journalists

charged.





The daily Le Monde reported on Monday, June 4, that Pulvar had just

tweeted that she's leaving the show "On n'est pas couché."





Le Monde adds that this announcement on Twitter occurs "a few days

after the president of [state-owned media group] France Télévisions,

Rémy Pflimlin, asked her to stop conducting political interviews."





This polite firing comes on the heels of yet another cancelation of of

her political radio program by France Inter.





Pulvar's Monday tweet was rancorous:





"Audrey PULVAR @ Audrey_PULVAR

Thanks y'all. I don't doubt that the honor of journalism has

henceforth been restored and the media have become neutral again. Ciao

viva!"





In a column that appeared in the daily Libération in November of last

year, Pulvar's response to her firing by Canal+ was more cogent:





"Thus, beyond my case today, a woman would still be condemned to think

as and through her male companion. She'd always be incapable of

freeing herself not only from her companion's thought, but also from

the feelings she has for him."





All the employers of Pulvar want her to come up with proposals for

"cultural" shows. In effect, they are killing her career of political

punditry.





She's not alone in that predicament.





Valérie Trierweiler, President Hollande's girlfriend, has just been

reassigned by the privately-owned weekly Paris Match from political

coverage to the "cultural events" section.





People are now remembering with a grain of sarcasm that Trierweiler

famously exclaimed to fellow journalists when her boyfriend won the

presidency: "There's no way my role would be that of a figurehead!"





Now, as it turns out, she's just what she vowed not to become because

of her association with her presidential boyfriend: a "potiche"

[figurehead] all the same.





Incidentally, Pierre Salviac, a rugby commentator tweeted on May 9,

advising other French female journalists to follow in the footsteps of

Trierweiler--derisively dubbed "rottweiler" by the Sarkozy campaign:





"fuck for success you'd get a shot at becoming France's First Lady ;-)"





Salviac was promptly fired on the same day by the commercial radio RTL

and the sports channel L'Equipe TV.





Anyway, Trierweiler already lost a political TV show last year for her

personal involvement with Hollande.





By contrast, former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's

Belgian-born girlfriend Chritine Ockrent, not only continued to be a

political reporter on French television after her partner's

ministerial appointment, but she was also elevated by Nicolas Sarkozy

to managerial positions overseeing French and Francophone radio and TV

channels.



Way to go, girl!





Ockrent meteoric rise was deemed scandalous by French journos, who

gave her the moniker of "Reine Ockrent," no doubt in reference to her

Belgian roots!





Turning back to the case of Pulvar--and to that of France's

default-First Lady--it seems to me that sexism is lurching behind

these selective and stifling professional ethics.





In her column in Libération, Pulvar posed a serious theoretical issue

on the French female biopolitical nonautonomy.





Which would beg the following question: what if the woman in question

is from a different political sensibility than her male

companion--say, as Democrat James Carville used to spar with his

Republican wife Mary Matalin on the now-defunct CNN's Crossfire--would

she still be fired too, regardless?





Do these Parisian Cartesian pedants from Sciences Po seriously

consider politics and political punditry as objective sciences?





Maybe someone ought to tell them that "political science" could be

construed as an oxymoron!





In any case, Audrey Pulvar will be sorely missed by Kinshasa viewers

of TV5MONDE--the channel jointly owned by big Francophone countries

(Belgium, Canada, France, and Switzerland)--on which "On n'est pas

couché" is syndicated.



***



PHOTO CREDITS: www.actualites.fr

Read More

French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira: the new lightning rod for rightists

Among the 17 women in the 34-member cabinet of French Premier

Jean-Marc Ayrault, 60-year-old Justice Minister Christiane Taubira

leaps out at you as very special.





As a divorcee, Taubira had raised 5 kids as a single mom while

pursuing a demanding dual academic and political career.





A former professor of economics, Taubira is a published author who has

penned 5 books, including the best-seller "L'Esclavage raconté à ma

fille" [Slavery explained to my daughter].





Taubira has been representing French Guiana in France's National

Assembly since 1993 up to her appointment as Justice Minister on May

17.





But prior to being an MP, Taubira had a stint in the European

Parliament where she was a Rapporteur of a committee dealing with

cooperation with African countries.





In 2002, Taubira was a presidential candidate.





A 2001 French law bearing her name (Loi-Taubira) holds that the

Atlantic slave trade and slavery are crimes against humanity.





But until the win of the presidency by socialist François Mitterrand

in 1981, Taubira was an independantist pasionaria, fighting for the

independence of the French South American territory of Guiana.





At Taubira's appointment, rightists screamed that it was a "casting

error in Hollandie."





(Just as there was "Sarkoland" or "Sarkozie," Hollandie is what the

French are now calling the "universe" of President François Hollande.)





In anticipation of the legislative elections to be held on June 10

(1st round) and June 17 (2nd round), both former President Sarkozy's

center-right party UMP (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire) and Marine

Le Pen's far-right FN (Front National) now showcase Taubira's

appointment as emblematic of the derelict character of the new

administration.





While Marine Le Pen focuses on the independantist past of Taubira,

UMP's de facto leader Jean-François Copé castigates her "laxity"

towards criminals.





(One of the first major decisions Taubira is intent on taking is to

scrap criminal courts for minors introduced in 2011 by UMP-controlled

National Assembly and to reinstate juvenile courts.)





But those tactics don't fool anyone. It seems Taubira is simply a

target for being black.





At a campaign meeting held in a conference center in Paris on June 1,

Marine Le Pen told hundreds of her supporters that Hollande's choice

of Taubira--an independantist--was erratic, "nonsensical" and

"mind-boggling."





If this kind of vicious attacks against Taubira from the far-right is

understandable, those coming from the center-right are astonishing,

and smack of desperation as polls show that Hollande might slightly

tighten his grip on power with the aggregate win of the left in the

upcoming legislative election.





In 2007, Taubira turned down an offer by Nicolas Sarkozy to be a

minister in his first so-called "consensus government" that featured

some emblematic members of the left--such as Bernard Kouchner.





Besides, tough from the left, Taubira is a maverick who isn't even a

member of the Parti Socialiste (PS) and who, some in the entourage of

Holland fear, could turn out before long to be a thorn in the side of

the new president.





Maybe the closest that the racism underlying the vicious attacks

against Taubira came to the fore was when she announced she'd

reintroduce the bill recently scrapped by the Constitutional Council

on sexual harrassment.





Reacting to that decision, Eric Zemmour, a controversial radio and TV

commentator, said:





"Christiane Taubira has chosen her boogeymen. The youths of the

suburbs are in the good camp. White men are in the wrong one."



***



PHOTO CREDITS: Le Télégramme

Read More

The FARDC pulled a no-show at the second biennial African Land Forces Summit (ALFS) in Kampala

The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (acronymed FARDC)

pulled a no-show at the second biennial African Land Forces Summit

(ALFS).





The ALFS was co-hosted by the United States Army Africa (USARAF)--the

army component of AFRICOM--and, for the first time, the Uganda

Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF) at Speke Resort & Conference Center, at

Munyonyo, Kampala (May 14-18, 2012).





The first biennial ALFS was held in in Chantilly, Virginia , in 2010.





Besides USARAF Commander, Major General David R. Hogg, top AFRICOM

indefatigable fieldworker and Africa-trotter, Gen Carter F. Hand, also

attended the event.





As Lieutenant Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, UPDF Commander of Land

Forces, put it in the ALFS booklet, this kind of summit is a unique

venue where top brass of African infantry could share "experiences

during the formal and informal settings

provided" with senior officers of the world's most formidable land forces.







That's why USARAF Gen Hogg also advised that as the gathering was

primarily meant to "encourage candid dialogue with free exchange of

ideas, the summit [had to be]

closed to the public."





Land forces chiefs, top brass, technicians and civilian security

experts of the following 36 African countries (including those from

the African Union) intermingled and exchanged with their American

counterparts:





Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon,

8Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros,

Congo-Brazzaville, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia,

Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger,

Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan,

Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.





Yeah, that's right, even Zimbabwe was there!





Reading that list, I was baffled by the absence of the DRC, given that

US military advisors have trained Congolese battle-ready battalions,

and that on his fairly recent visit in Kinshasa Gen Ham promised a

continued training program for the FARDC .





Plus, with all the security woes besetting the Congo, you'd think the

FARDC top brass would jump at the first opportunity to rub elbows with

the best land forces officers the world and Africa could offer.





Queried by email for this blog post, a USARAF public affairs officer

told me that, "The DRC was invited to participate but declined the

invitation, and we did not ask for a reason."





"Perhaps your question has to be directed to the Minister of Defense

of the DRC," she further suggested. "All countries in Africa are

invited to attend. They do not have to apply. Some choose to attend

and others do not."





Hell! I'll then speculate about this no-show, sparing myself the grief

of looking around for an elusive Public Affairs Officer at the the DRC

Ministry of Defense who wouldn't even know the first thing about the

absence of Congolese officers at the ALFS--let alone what ALFS is all

about.





I'd then assume that the Congolese government might have wanted to be

spared a double humiliation.





Humiliation Number 1.





The FARDC's own chief of land forces, Major General Gabriel Amisi

Kumba aka Tango-Four, would have been out of his league among the

topnotch officers and guest speakers arrayed at the Kampala Summit.





Tango-Four got his commission when rebel groups merged with and were

integrated into the national armed forces. What possibly could he have

been talking about at lunch breaks with highly trained officers (many

of whom with university degrees and impressive resumes) who attended

the Summit?





Additionally, the theme of the Summit was: "The Strength of an Army

for the Nation and its People"--with all kind of complex topic

discussions, presentations, and grueling Q&A sessions.





Tango-Four might have been up to his ears!





(The solution could have been to

send instead the Congolese equivalent of the chairman of the Joint

Chiefs of Staffs, Gen Didier Etumba, who was trained in the Belgian

Royal Military Academy. The problem was that Gen Etumba was in eastern

Congo overseeing counterinsurgency operations.)





Humiliation Number 2.





Besides the staggering incompetence of the FARDC land forces

commander, there is also the fact that the current UDPF Land Forces

Commander Gen Edward Katumba Wamala worked under the late Gen James

Kazini as Operations Commander of the infamous and plunderous

"Operation Safe Haven" in DR Congo between 2000 and 2001.





An operation denounced by the UN that obtained countless of Congolese

civilian deaths and scandalous ill-gotten gains by corrupt Ugandan

military top brass--including Gen Kazini who President Yoweri was

compelled to fire in 2003.





Be that as it might, the DRC needs to get its act together by training

and appointing competent and meritorious officers in key positions.

Also, things ought to start from a clean slate somewhere, despite past

atrocities and injustices. Who could have imagined, as I think

President George W. Bush once remarked, that Gernany would today a US

ally?





After all, things had seemed to be moving in the right direction with

joint military operations with Uganda (against the LRA) and Rwanda

(against the FDLR).





Regional armed forces could only be strengthened by gatherings such as

the ALFS or by integrated maneuvers that have still to be designed and

implemented. For the mutual benefit of all involved, in enhanced

security and improved economies.



***

PHOTO CREDIT: USARAF

Read More

No comment: MP Lindiwe Mazibuko spears Zuma in Parliament

"The president's attention has been diverted from his duties.

Energy spent on organizing a march to an art gallery and a legal

challenge to a work of satire has distracted from the serious work of

government. Representatives of the ANC and some of its ministers are

attempting to close down the space for freedom of expression through

bullying and intimidation."



--MP Lindiwe Mazibuko, 32

Opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party Caucus Leader

To Jacob Zuma, 70, sitting in Parliament

Cape Town, South Africa

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

PHOTO CREDIT: The New Age (SA)

Read More

Doozy Wednesday in National Assembly: Opposition boycotts closed-session interpellation of Defense and Interior Ministers over alleged secret accords with Rwanda

Wednesdays are usually devoted to current affairs issues in the

National Assembly.





Ordinarily, those Wedneday sessions are dull affairs where one MP

after another would take to the floor to deliver long-winded

monologues--no doubt to impress, surely not other fellow MPs who then

take that opportunity to talk on their mobile phones or flick through

their newspapers; but most certainly viewers of RTNC-3, the

parliamentary TV channel that carries live sessions of both houses of

Parliament.





But this Wednesday, May 30, was different, as for the first time two

important cabinet members of the new government were interpellated by

the opposition.





The two ministers interpellated are government heavyweights whose

purview is the country's critical security sectors: 1) Deputy Prime

Minister and Defense Minister Alexandre Luba Ntambo; and 2) Interior

and Security Minister Richard Muyej.





Two vocal opposition MPs had lodged the "oral questions with debate"

to the ministers:





1) Former Kinshasa provincial MP and current national MP Martin

Fayulu, leader of the party ECIDé (Engagement pour la Citoyenneté et

le Développement); and





2) South-Kivu MP Jemsi Mulengwa of PANADER (Parti National pour la

Démocratie et la République).





Deputy Premier Alexandre Luba Ntambo had to explain the nature of the

alleged recent secret security accord the DRC government entered into

with its Rwandan counterpart, without first informing the National

Assembly; whereas Interior Minister Richard Muyej had to respond to

questions over insecurity in South-Kivu Province, particularly around

the locality of Fizi.





But shortly after opening the plenary session, with the two cabinet

ministers in attendance, Speaker Aubin Minaku, invoking Article 60 of

the Rules and Regulations of the National Assembly, ruled that, given

the sensitive and classified nature of the issues, the debate had to

be carried out behind closed doors.





This ruling didn't sit well with opposition MPs--especially with the

two MPs who had fielded the oral questions.





Claiming that not the Speaker alone but all the MPs present could

decide on holding a closed-door plenary session, and accusing the

parliamentary majority and the government of dissembling about the

alleged security treaty with Rwanda, opposition MPs stormed out of the

National Assembly.





Paradoxically, Deputy Premier Alexandre Luba Ntambo and Interior

Minister Richard Muyej made their responses in a closed-door session

in the absence of the authors of the oral questions.





Talking to the press outside the Congress Hall of the National

Assembly, MP Martin Fayulu charged:





"It's a move against the Constitution and against the rules and

regulations [of the National Assembly]. The Speaker of the Assembly

can't decree a closed-door session. It's the plenary session that

should do it. The minister [of defense] had signed accords in Rwanda

without informing the Parliament."





Well, the second paragraph of Article 60 the rules and regulations

merely states:





"Sessions of National Assembly are public except if, exceptionally, a

closed-door session is pronounced."





As nothing in that title clearly identifies who should "pronounce" the

necessity of a close-door session, Speaker Minaku rightly assumed it

was his privilege to do so.





MPs have only themselves to blame for this gaping loophole in the

rules and regulations of the National Assembly.





Kinois in the streets and sidewalk bars were outraged and were fuming

yesterday afternoon over Speaker Minaku's procedural gimmick that

prevented them from witnessing their hero Fayulu embarrass two

cabinet ministers in what had been billed by the opposition all along

the previous days as a live TV event.





Most Kinois I spoke to claimed that Congolese leaders were a bunch of

dissemblers in cahoots with Rwanda and Ntaganga.





"They're mocking residents of the republic big time," one woman

exclaimed. "They are Rwanda's accomplices in the plunder of our

mineral resources."





Her boyfriend mocked the preposterous idea of holding a closed-door

session on classified matters "with five hundred Congolese big mouths

in attendance."





"I could've believed Minaku's explanation if it was a small committee

hearing," he added. "Not with the full house. He's a liar! He thinks

we're his gullible fools!"

Read More

KEITH HARMON SNOW's name is being used by a Filipino scammer in "Friend Stranded in Foreign Country Scam Emails"

Keith Harmon Snow, a prolific American "Africanist" blogger, is the

latest victim of "Friend Stranded in Foreign Country Scam Emails"

originating in the Philippines.





(Are Nigerian con artists now operating from the Philippines?)





I don't know whether this scammer got into one of Snow's email

accounts (by phisting) or just stumbled upon his name, which is about

everywhere on the Internet on matters relating to Africa--and

particularly the African Great Lakes Region and East africa.





I think this scammer might have gotten into Snow's account, for how

would he pick me out as his sucker? (I've exchanged tons of emails

with Keith Harmon Snow over the years, though I never met him in

person.)





Or this crook, who is mass emailing to an "undisclosed number of

recipients," just hit my email address at random?





So, Keith, if you are reading this, maybe you'd what to do with this low-life.





Anyway, below is my exchange with the Filipino crook otherwise

identified as: alll.things.pass.1@gmail.com





(Initiating this kind of exchange as I did is in itself a big mistake,

as debunkers of Internet scams would tell you, for it can lead to your

account being hacked into. But Keith is my buddy and I couldn't just

let this pass without leading on this crook before crushing him. And I

barely ever use my AOL email account. Besides, as the leitmotiv in The

Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night claims, if this meaningless

tale were to be written with a needle in the corner of the eye, it'd

still serve as a warning to the circumspect.)





***



Subject: Emergency help please; It's very urgent





Date: Sun 27/5/2012 11:45PM





From: Keith Harmon Snow <alll.things.pass.1@gmail.com>





Reply to: alll.things.pass.1@gmail.com





To: undisclosed-recipients:;







How are you? I hope all is well. I'm writing to ask you for a favor.

I'm presently in Philippinesbut I'm in a fix; I was mugged and lost my

money & cards. Would have called but I lost my mobile phone in the

course of this attack. I'm so glad I wasn't hurt. Can you please

assists me with some money[ $3100] or any amount you can afford. I'll

pay you back the money immediately I return back home next weekend.

Kindly let me know if you would be able help me with this or any

amount you can afford to lend me. I'll forward you the transfer

details upon your response. Thank you very much for your effort.

Looking forward to read from you.

Thanks,

Keith Harmon Snow.



*



My reply:





So where are you exactly? Manilla? Mindanao? And how would I send you the money?





*





The Filipino Scammer:





Re: thanks a lot; transfer details





Thank you so much for the quick response and eager to help me out. I'm

so grateful and reallyappreciate your concern. In fact, It was a bad

experience but I'm so glad I wasn't hurt. I'll be so happy to accept

any amount you could afford to lend me and I'll definitely refund you

back upon my arrival next weekend.

I've been to the nearest bank just to find out the fastest and easiest

way for me to receive money; so the Western Union Money Transfer

Service or the Money Gram Service will be easier and faster since I

can not use my personal account now. So you can make the transfer

using my name below at any western union money transfer office/outlet.

The Western union money transfer offices/outlet are usually at the

post office or any banks. You can also go to the Western union money

transfer website [ www.westernunion.com ] to find and locate a

Western union agent/office. So you can go to the western union office

with cash and make the transfer on my name.

Below are the details you will need to complete the "Sending Form" at

the western union office. Kindly help me out with the transfer as soon

as you can.

Name: Keith Harmon Snow

Address: 26 Kamias Rd Quezon City, National Capital Region

Country : Philippines.

After the transfer, you will have to scan a copyof the receipt to me

or you can just email me back with the following transfer details from

the transfer receipt. 1.*Money Transfer control number (MTCN). 2.*The

full name the sender (Your full name); 3.*The transfer amount ;

Kindly email me back as soon as you receive this email so as to

confirm you receive the transfer details. I will expect your response

soon. Thanks a lot for your effort and kindness,

Thanks,

Keith.





*





My reply:





Keith,

I only got 500 bucks. I checked with the neighborhood Western Union

outlet. They told I'll have to pay at least $20 for money transfer.

So, buddy, you'll get $480. I don't know whether that'd help you out.

But, before I go ahead and transfer the money, could you attach in

reply to this email

a picture of you taken from a mobile phone so that I'd it's really you?





*





The Filipino Scammer:





Re: Re: thanks a lot; transfer details





Yes you can make the transfer. Oh no, this is not a scam. My email

wasn't compromised and I sent you this email myself. I'll try my best

to find an internet cafe to scan and email you a copy of my passport.

Please I really need your help.

Anyway, I can understand your concern and security consciousness but

I'm not going to take your money away. I will definitely refund you

back upon my arrival just as I have explained to you in my previous

mail.

Thanks.



*



My final reply:





Re: Re: Re: thanks a lot for your effort





Fuck you, buddy! I know Keith Harmon Snow and you are no Keith Harmon

Snow. Keith is a prolific writer who writes excellent English. Not

your gibberish. Keith is from a well-to-do family and has good friends

with lots of money. I'm the last person Keith would turn to for money.

Had Keith been in narrow straits as you claim, he'd have walked into

the nearest American consulate or Embassy in Manilla to have things

sorted out! YOU ARE A LOW-LIFE THIEF AND CROOK. BACK OFF, ASSHOLE!!!

Read More

Radio-Trottoir proved true by leaked new classified UN Report: Rwanda's saber rattling in eastern DRC by proxy of warlord Ntaganda

The Congolese grapevine of Radio-Trottoir is once again proved true.





Radio-Trottoir had it, since the new

round of violence broke out in North-Kivu in early May, that Rwanda

was behind Jean-Bosco Ntaganda and his militia.





According to Radio-Trottoir, the Rwandan regime, which once thrived on

the windfall of its bloody experiment in military entrepreneurship on

Congo resources, will forever be a clear and present danger to the

DRC.





Rwanda is being helped in this enterprise, still according to

Radio-Trottoir, by the inane and incoherent security policy of the DRC

government.





Radio-Trottoir points for instance to the fact that that proving

grounds and training centers for artillery, airborne, and commando

regiments shut down more than a decade ago at the fall of Mobutu have

still to be reopened. Moreover, the Congolese Air Force that once

boasted well-trained combat pilots and French Mirage fighter planes is

in a sorry state today.





Radio-Trottoir and some opposition politicians have even gone as far

as to accuse the Congolese government of being in cahoots with Rwanda

and warlord Ntaganda.





Now, a new classified UN report leaked to the BBC and The New York

Times alleges that Rwanda has been arming, recruiting Rwandan citizens

(including kids), training them, and incorporating them into the

militias of the Rwandan-born warlord Ntaganda.





And this destabilization of eastern Congo has been planned and

implemented since February of this year, the classified UN Report

charges.





Last Wednesday, Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo--

uncharacteritically for Congolese officials who are usually fearful of

provoking Rwanda, but still shying away from calling a spade a

spade--said that Ntaganda's militias have a "rear base in a

neighboring country" and called on "all concerned states [in the

region] to avoid" backing up "negative groups."





As per usual, Rwanda has dismissed the UN Report as either "rumors" or

as "false and dangerous claims."





Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo lashed out at the United

Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO),

whose military intelligence helped gather intelligence on Rwandan

involvement for the confidential UN Report.





Said Rwandan Foreign Minister Mushikiwabo:





"This billion-dollar-a-year operation [MONUSCO] makes up one quarter

of the UN's entire peacekeeping budget, and yet it has been a failure

from day one."





Mushikiwabo went on to say:





"Instead of pursuing its mandate to eradicate the FDLR menace and help

stabilize the region, MONUSCO has become a destabilizing influence,

primarily concerned with keeping hold of its bloated budgets and

justifying its ongoing existence. Rwanda has received several refugees

who are severely wounded and traumatized as a result of the UN's

failure to protect civilians in eastern DRC."





Well, heaping insults on MONUSCO won't do. And Louise Mushikiwabo can

continue to scream her denials on behalf of her government till her

voice gets hoarse.





The fact remains, however, that:





1) Rwanda had occupied for 5 long years the very same Congolese

territory where the FDLR still operates today, and "failed to

eradicate the FDLR menace."





Rwanda failed because its occupying focused instead on plundering

mineral and forest resources of the Congo--a plunderous military

entrepreneurship that resulted in the deaths of more than 5 million

Congolese civilians!





2) Already in December 2008, when then Ntaganda's boss, warlord

Laurent Nkunda, with the same militiamen, was putting to fire and

sword the same region, Daily Telegraph war reporter David Blair

uncovered what he called "a long-standing tradition" of Rwanda

recruiting its own "demobilised" soldiers and officers, re-training

and arming them, and having them join Laurent Nkunda's CNDP militias

on Congolese soil.





(See David Blair's article, titled "DR Congo rebels recruited from

Rwanda army," Telegraph, 18/12/2008.)





In the meantime, Radio-Trottoir offers this invaluable piece of

conventional wisdom to the powers that be in the Congo:





Don't blame Rwanda for taking advantage of your own failure to build a

dissuasive army able to ward off Rwanda and its proxies in the Kivus.





As long as Congo will remain THE weakling in the tough neighborhood of

the African Great Lakes region, callous bullies like Rwanda will

continue to trample on its sovereignty!

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