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The Hypocrisy of Rushing “Democratic” Elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sending Logistical Support to Sudan

As the world turns and we go on with our daily lives, we all too often forget the people who are less fortunate than us, the countries where war has ravaged, killed, and maimed so many, and the commitment that we as human beings/members of the human race have to one another. Just because we may be American and our allies may be Europeans and our countries may be more developed and prosperous than most of the nations on the African Continent, we do not have the right to sit idly by and allow further humanitarian crisis to strike an already stricken region of the world. With new developments and support now being turned to the situation in Sudan, after years of pleading from activists, concerned citizens, concerned nations, and concerned international aide organizations, with about 400,000 proclaimed dead to boot, the United States and its allies (NATO) are finally getting involved by sending minimal support, but at least its support no less.

The inklings of the international system to continue to ignore and pass the buck in other areas of Africa where the humanitarian situation is just as bad or even worse, continues however because literally, no one cares and no one is making a stand. Simply supporting elections is not going to solve the problems faced by the citizens and the operating transitional government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Creating a lasting, peaceful settlement between all of the players and actors in the convoluted and increasingly violent situation raging in the DRC is a must before any elections can be held.

It has been nearly 40 years since free and fair elections were held in the DRC. When elections were held, right after the country was granted independence, the meddling of the Cold War ended the democratic future of the country with the CIA backed assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the original Prime Minister of the country, close to 40 years ago, and the installation of the African version of Yugoslavia’s Marshal Tito, Sese Seiko Mobutu. Granted Mobutu played for the United States, while Tito played for the Soviets, both were still thugs, dictators, and horrible rulers, who were able to keep their respective countries in their death grips until Tito’s death and Mobutu’s health deprivation and eventual outing in the mid-1990’s with the help of the Ugandans and the Rwandans.
What would ensue in the DRC would be a proverbial Genie being let out of the bottle. With no figure head in control, ethnicities and political dissidents that had been long suppressed began to riot and demand autonomy, just like in Yugoslavia. As NATO and the Developed World rushed to stop things in their “own back yards,” they left Africa and the DRC to its own devices. By 2003, the riots would be culled and the people settled back into a working or semi-working society under a transitional government that began to rebuild society. In all the regions violence was suppressed and the people began to become invested in peace, except for the initial region that provided for the original support and staging area for the outing of Mobutu, the Kindu region. This region in the remote north eastern border lands of the DRC, has become a hold out for the worst of the worst in the DRC, but also for dissidents, particularly members of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) fleeing Uganda and the once powerful Hutu Power regime and its many genocidaires who inflicted so much pain and anguish on the nation of Rwanda in the Spring and Summer months of 1994.
Since 2003, the world has stood by. A dismal force was established by the United Nations to over see, verify, and maintain the peace, but none the less a humanitarian crisis looms as the transitional government slowly looses control over the situation in the Kindu region. The world responds by first throwing aide at the situation, hoping a transitional government that is still working out the kinks and trying to move from an extremely centralized and authoritarian state, to a fledgling democracy, can solve the problems it faces from within itself. Now the world is calling for elections to be held in June of this year, again pledging troops and money, none of witch will probably be seen by the parties being forced to hold elections by third party implementers who think an election means you have a democracy.

Simply having elections does not guarantee you a democracy. Having a democracy that is held together by 15,000 troops from here, a contingent of troops from there, and a gaggle of peace keepers from somewhere else, just to keep your government running and the basic civilian needs fulfilled is not truly having a democracy. State building takes time. It cannot be done over night and it cannot be rushed at all. Third Parties and on lookers need to commit fully and stay committed for the long haul if they hope to fix the problems they seek to correct.

In Sudan, where 400,000 have died, we are just sending logistical support. In the DRC we are sending aide and again logistical support and election monitors. Why aren’t we committed to solving their problems? Why isn’t another super power/militarily capable country committed?

What is the value of a human life on the world stage? If a person dies in an automobile accident here, of hunger from rebel raids on supplies in the DRC, or from the bullets fired by the government sponsored Junjaweed in the Sudan because of there skin color, isn’t just one more person dead? One more family put into grief? One more future extinguished?

Why are we involved in Iraq today? Is it because of Oil? Are we really there for Humanitarian reasons and are we really involving ourselves just because Saddam was a “bad guy” who violently oppressing his people? What about all the other “bad guys” oppressing their people? What about all the other people dieing of basic humanitarian needs?

The Western World needs to take a cold hard look at itself in the mirror. The Hypocrisy of our use of force, the blatant disregard for one human life over another, and the basic instinct of national interest keeps the world from being a safer, happier, nicer, and more peaceful place. Maybe a good, hard, cold look, at ourselves in the mirror will change our policies, maybe it won’t, but at least it will get us thinking, it will get some of us motivated, it will get some of us talking, some of us yelling, and some us crying out for a change.