Word: mobutu
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...lesson we should learn from all this is that the French-Belgian intervention, which Newsweek called "a gallant rescue mission" for the Europeans in Kolwezi, was actually a rescue mission for the shaky, uniquely corrupt and autocratic regime of Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire. Even with the hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid that the U.S. has pumped into Mobutu's army, it broke and ran in the face of a few thousand Katangan rebels, and had to be bailed out by the French and Belgians. Mobutu's latest pronouncement on the subject was his call this week...
...Mobutu's regime is shaky because he has never represented nationalist aspirations for an independent Zaire. Mobutu came to power in the early '60s as a result of foreign intervention, and he has stayed in power propped up with U.S. aid, CIA backing and revenues from the foreign-run copper mines in Shaba province. He has consistently looked out for his personal interests, rather than the welfare of the impoverished majority of Zaire's peoples--reputed to be the wealthiest person in Africa, Mobutu owns the largest hotel in Dakar, Senegal, as well as a number of hotels...
...frankly they were not secessionists but an army of liberation whose aim was to take over the whole of Zaïre. All of us were told that if we were still here when they returned, it would be the end of us. We would then be considered pro-Mobutu. Last year when the guerrillas came in, they were welcomed by the people with joy and jubilation. But after a short time, they realized that things were going to be even worse than they were under Mobutu." The guerrillas, apparently, were abusive and rough with the local population; many...
...repelling last year's incursion, Mobutu's troops also behaved like soldiers -or worse. People suspected of helping the rebels were herded into huts, which were then doused with gasoline and set afire. Only the presence of the Moroccans, tribesmen say, prevented the death toll from rising into the thousands. As it is, the Lunda people are terrified of reprisals if the new rebel attack on Shaba is turned back. "We want to be left in peace," says Chief Lukama, leader of a Lunda contingent that sought refuge in Zambia. "We are eager to go back home...
...House was preparing to ask Congress to ease restrictions on U.S. support for friendly governments endangered by insurgencies. The invasion of Shaba turned out to be a good example of why President Carter wants some changes made. But even with present restrictions the Administration found a way to help Mobutu under terms of the International Security Assistance Act of 1977, which allows the President to provide certain aid to a foreign country-without congressional approval-if it is deemed "in the national security interests of the United States." Carter authorized $2.5 million worth of training for Zaïrian military...