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(TALKZIMBABWE) British troops in Congo questionable

British troops in Congo questionable
Tendai Maneruke - Opinion
Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0000

DEAR EDITOR - Excuse me for my pessimism. The British government has pledged to send troops to the Democratic Republic 0f Congo (DRC). Lord Malloch Brown told the BBC Today Programme that the UK could not stand back if the fighting between government and rebel forces in the country.

It is very interesting that the British government sees urgency and the need to send troops to the Southern African region and not Somalia or Sudan (Darfur) - some hotspots deserving of intervention.

We all know that there have been people who were flirting with the idea of setting up an American military base in Botswana and generally the West would like to have some military presence in that region in close proximity to Zimbabwe.

I feel that the conflict in the DRC presents an opportunity for the British to maintain some military presence in the region and that they are using the DRC conflict as a pretext to enter its forces into the region.

The sudden British interest in the DRC conflict is interesting, to say the least.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has refused to rule out sending British troops to Congo apparently "to avert a looming humanitarian disaster and feared bloodbath". Why are the British not in Somalia or Darfur?

Contingency plans are currently being drawn-up for a rapid deployment with 500 men from the 4th Battalion, The Rifles set to be the first deployed, even though the British army is already over-stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan and there are calls for withdrawal from the British public. I am slightly concerned that the Labour government can risk its political fortunes by engaging in another conflict.

My recommendation will be to bolster UN troops rather than sending British soldiers who might not withdraw immediately after the conflict.

Tendai Maneruke
New York

Labels: DRC

posted by MrK @ 5:09 PM