Word: mobuto
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...Mobuto is a staunch ally of the United States. Much like Marcos in the Philipines, Noriega in Panama, Pinochet in Chile and the leaders of many other banana republics, Mobuta has been an S.O.B., but he's been our S.O.B. Loyal to a fault, he has kept communism from becoming a force in Black Africa's second largest country...
Which brings me to Mobuto's fourth good point. With Mobuto in power, there's really never a dull moment in Zaire. As a Washington Post writer...
...Besides Mobuto and his family, only 80 people in the country count. At any one time, 20 of them are ministers [in the government], 20 are exiles, 20 are in jail, and 20 are ambassadors. Every three months, the music stops and Mobuto forces everyone to change chairs...
...more serious note, however, since Mobuto took power in 1965. Zaire's government has been stable. Zaire has not been wracked by the constant civil war that has plagued other African nations...
Perhaps without Mobuto's iron hand and corrupt body politic, Zaire would have fragmented long ago. Perhaps the blood Mobuto has shed is less than the blood that would have spilled were it not for his autocratic rule...