The New York Times has these beautiful photographs from Eastern Congo.
There's more I want to write about but I just got back from a business trip to New York and need to finish follow up...so weapons trafficking will have to wait a bit (though with my luck, it's probably actually work to look at it).
In the meantime, go take a look at those photos.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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Vivid photos. An RGP launcher as a tentpole? Thanks for the link and the reminder that there are places in the world other than Central Asia and the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI was sort of shocked to see Nkunda wearing what I can only assume are surplus U.S. Army ACUs (Army Combat Uniform, or what would in other services be called cammies or utilities). This wasn't so jarring back when the old-style woodland pattern had proliferated worldwide, but it's strange to see now when the ACU camo pattern is so distinctive.
ReplyDeleteAntoinette--thanks for the feedback. I'll keep them coming as I find them.
ReplyDeleteGulliver--I agree, I was a bit surprised by that too but then I realized they're pretty easy to get your hands on, particularly when you're as rich and organized as Nkunda.
then I realized they're pretty easy to get your hands on, particularly when you're as rich and organized as Nkunda.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to hijack this thread, but there's been a lot of discussion over the last year or so about controlled items being available overseas, to include the Infrared Friend or Foe (IFF) patches found on the ACU. Those patches reflect light and are used to identify U.S. troops through night vision devices. The GAO did a report where they found that these things were readily available on eBay and Craigslist, and if I remember correctly there was some discussion of a Congressional inquiry into the fact that at least some of these patches were manufactured overseas.
If anyone's interested in the story, you can check out more details in media reports here or here, or look at the GAO report here (.pdf).
I’m not a conspiracy theorist, as most of my fellow Congolese are who believe Rwanda and Nkunda were unleashed on the Congo by the US, but I wonder where Nkunda and his men really got those fatigues… But Secretary Clinton urges us to forget the past and our dead (life's cheap in the Congo, after all); to get a grip, and to move on!... Beautiful place though: "Switzerland of Africa," as the Belgians dubbed it. Someone said the forest round Treblinka was strikingly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAlex -- but I wonder where Nkunda and his men really got those fatigues…
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can tell, you don't need an end-use certificate to buy from here.
@ Gulliver:
ReplyDeletePoint taken. Thanks...