BY ANJAN SUNDARAM
One of Congo's biggest eastern cities fell to a powerful rebel force on
Tuesday, Nov. 20, in a war that may redefine the
region but has produced little political action by the United Nations,
the United States, and international powers that heavily support neighboring
governments -- notably Rwanda, a Western darling and aid recipient -- that are
backing the violence, according to
U.N. experts. The fighting has displaced nearly 1 million people since the
summer, and the battle for
the city of Goma marks the latest episode of a long struggle by Rwandan-backed
rebels to take control of a piece of the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- a
struggle the rebels are now decisively winning. The fighting has also
highlighted the ineptitude of the United Nations mission, one of the world's
largest and most expensive, charged with keeping Congo's peace.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Rwandan
President Paul Kagame on Saturday "to request that he use his influence on
the M23 [rebels] to help calm the situation and restrain M23 from continuing
their attack," as the U.N.'s peacekeeping chief put it. And French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius affirmed that
the rebellion in Congo was supported by Rwanda, expressing "grave
concern." But the violence has only escalated since. The U.N. Security
Council called an emergency session over the weekend, but its condemnation of
the violence, demanding that the rebels stop advancing on Goma and insisting
that outside powers stop funding the M23 rebels, have all simply been ignored.
The Security Council announced it would sanction M23 but did not even mention
Rwanda, the main power behind the rebellion. And even as the fighting has
intensified, the U.N. mission in Congo has been making public pronouncements about
new access to drinking water for people in eastern Congo -- producing a surreal
image of the war.