Jason Stearns
Jason Stearns
Jason K. Stearns is an American writer who worked for ten years in the Congo, including three years during the Second Congo War. He first traveled to the Congo in 2001 to work for a local human rights organization, Héritiers de la Justice, in Bukavu. He went on to work for the United Nations peacekeeping mission. In 2008 Stearns was named by the UN Secretary General to lead a special UN investigation into the violence in the country...
again ballot box concerned counting elections government grown improve lifting personal population turn weary
The population has grown weary of a transitional government that is more concerned with personal enrichment than lifting them out of misery, and they are counting on the ballot box to improve their lot. If the elections go awry, they will turn once again to violence.
high operations people risk
These are high risk operations and unfortunately sometimes people get killed.
army army-and-navy calm force fulfills neutral
There's a need for a neutral force to calm the population. The Congolese army is a nascent, fledgling force. MONUC fulfills the task.
leadership senior way
Senior members of the security establishment have not been entirely cooperative - let's put it that way - with the operations and still maintain contacts with FDLR leadership.