Warlike Tutsis from Rwanda are baffling their traditional Bantu foes, who in 1994 slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis in Burundi. Central Africa's two most pro-US nations, Uganda and Rwanda, are at war against three old marxist dictatorships from the Cold War. Zimbabwe and Angola are paying a heavy economic price for the war, but their generals and senior officials are amassing fortunes by plundering Congo's mines and forests. This is not a war in the usual sense. Small bands of undisciplined soldiers baffle for dilapidated towns and mining centers, raping and pillaging as they go.
Congo is so vast, and so lacking in roads, opposing forces are virtually swallowed up by bush.
Neither side appears likely to win without more outside support. In the old days, President Mobutu used to rent the tough Moroccan Army whenever he had to fight rebels from Katanga or Cuban invaders. During the early 60's, a handful of white mercenaries led by the legendary Mad Mike Hoare and Bob Denard almost took over Congo. Today, white mercenaries have been replaced by Africa's newest colonialists, Zimbabwe and Angola. Savimbi, in spite of being demonized by western liberals, is a remarkable leader, one of Africa's very best, and adored by his people.