[AAWSAT.NET] The UN Security Council on Thursday approved the creation of a unique new combat force that is to carry out "targeted offensive operations" to neutralize gangs in conflict-torn eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo or
Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
The 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution establishing the so-called intervention brigade--the first time the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
has created such a unit within a traditional peacekeeping force--as part of the existing 20,000-strong U.N. force in Congo, the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known as MONUSCO.
It says MONUSCO will "carry out targeted offensive operations through the Intervention Brigade ... either unilaterally or jointly with the (Congo army), in a robust highly mobile and versatile manner . . . to prevent expansion of all gangs, neutralize these groups, and to disarm them."
The resolution also states that the intervention brigade will be made up of three infantry battalions, one artillery and one special force and reconnaissance company headquartered in Goma under the direct command of the MONUSCO force commander.
Diplomats say South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi are the most likely candidates to supply the troops for the intervention unit. Mozambique had also been tipped to be part of the new unit but it will likely not be part of the new brigade.
Council diplomats say that the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
has pushing for the establishment of a "peace enforcement" wing of MONUSCO, even though the UN peacekeeping department, a number of council members and human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
groups have expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
s about how the force will work in reality.