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difficult to deal with. Last time, the rebels, remnants of the old
Katangese units that fought the Central Congolese government in 1961,
were trained but apparently not led into battle by their Cuban
advisors. This time they are openly accompanied by Cuban soldiers
along with Libyans and Algerians.
As in "round one" over a year ago, the invaders have struck from bases
in Angola, which is the staging ground for attacks not only upon Zaire,
but South West Africa. A huge training camp has been established in
the former Portuguese colony, run by Cubans, East Germans, Czechs and
. other East bloc member states.
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Zaire's President Mobutu has called again upon the West to help prevent
the dismemberment of his country, which would lead to its collapse.
Will France and Morocco again save the day as they did last year when
French planes airlifted in 1500 Moroccan troops to turn the tide of the
battle? Mobutu knows from experience not to depend upon America. Last
year the U.S. dispatched some "nonoffensive" military supplies and
also, curiously, a C-130 cargo plane loaded with cases of Coca-cola.
France is turning out to be the Western "gendarme of Africa" in the
absence of U.S. and British action. French units are also fighting
Libyan-backed guerrilla bands in Chad and supporting the Mauritanian
cause in the Western Sahara dispute against Soviet- and Algerian
backed guerrillas. The French state that they have an obligation to
defend the Afircan member-states of the French Cormnunity. But another
reason is that Paris believes it alone has the political will to block
the expansion of Soviet-Cuban influence in Africa.
Certainly America no longer has the will to do so -- or even the
perception, apparently, of what the enemy is up to. In a speech
recently in Spokane, Washington, for example, President Carter down
played the obvious grab for geopolitical advantage in Africa on the
part of Moscow. Instead, said Mr. Carter, the "innate racism that
exists toward black people within the Soviet Union" figured in Soviet
support for military adventures in Africa. He predicted this attitude
would work to Moscow's disadvantage. The President added that he
thought "we are holding our own in the so-called peaceful competition
with the Soviet Union in Africa."
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau
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