Congolese massacre

As long as we are on the subject of the Belgians (see entry below) . . . it is worth knowing that the NY Times today reports that 966 villagers were slaughtered last week in the Congo. While it is not clear who did it you can be sure it will not go down anywhere in the annals of history. No one seems to care enough to do anything or say anything. You can bet that there will be no UN resolution, no big investigation, no blue-ribbon panel investigating this, and no minute-by-minute account a la Thomas Friedman, like we had with the massacres of Sabra and Shatilla.

("Why not?" you ask. The answer lies in the unfortunate historical fact that there are no Isrealis near the Congo. Had there been an earthquake inthe Congo last week and Israel would have sent a few troops or rescue workers to the country to help out, I am certain that the UN would be there trying to figure out how to tell the world that since Israel was in the region, she is responsible for this. But for the poor Congolese who have no one to blame but their own pitiful civil war, they will have to settle for a mass obituary of about 5 column inches in the New York Times.)

It is rather sick that massacres are only good as political cash. If there is nothing to be gained from exploiting their deaths, 966 people will die, and the world will barely notice. The biggist exploiter is of course the UN. They are charged with the responsibility of dealing with this. Failure to adequately deal with this will be yet another stain on their already filthy image.

Where are the Rachel Corries of the world? Where is the ISM defending the Congolese? Why are their lives worth less than the home of a weapons smuggling terrorist?