Flash Back, Le discours de Gbagbo Laurent le 22 septembre 2002.

Le président Gbagbo : On nous impose une bataille, menons-la avec courage.

J?étais au travail pour la Côte d?Ivoire. J'ai rencontré le président de la République italienne, le président du Conseil des ministres, Sylvio Berlusconi, le maire de la ville de Rome? Et je m'apprêtais à continuer mon travail quand j'ai été informé de graves événements qui se dérouleraient en Côte d?Ivoire. Je ne pouvais pas rester plus longtemps dehors. Je suis donc rentré pour reprendre ma place à la tête del'Etat et à la tête des forces armées de Côte d'Ivoire. Ce qui s'est passé et qui continue de se passer, nenous y trompons pas, c?est une tentative de coupd?Etat. Ce n?est pas une simple manifestation decolère de quelques soldats. C?est une tentative decoup d?Etat. Parce qu?effectivement nous avons héritéd?un certain nombre de problèmes dans l?armée commed?ailleurs dans tous les secteurs d?activité de la viede la Côte d?Ivoire. Dans l?armée, nous avons héritéde trois problèmes principaux. Le premier problème,c?est qu?en 1990, quand les soldats se sont rebellés,pour les calmer, le président Houphouet-Boigny leur aconcédé que les soldats pouvaient rester dans l?arméejusqu?à 55 ans. Ce qui a été une mauvaise mesure car,elle a renversé totalement la pyramide des âges dansl?armée. On ne peut pas être soldat à 55 ans. Noussommes obligés de prendre les mesures pour revenir surcette question et remettre la pyramide dans le sensnormal : faire en sorte qu?il y ait plus desous-officiers que de soldats. Dans une armée normale,il y a à peu un sous-officier pour quatre soldats.Aujourd?hui, avec cette mesure, nous avons unsous-officier pour un soldat et demi. Nous ne pouvonspas continuer comme cela, si nous voulons avoir unearmée performante.Le deuxième problème dont nous avons hérité dansl?armée, c?est le problème des ?zinzins? et des?bahéfouê?. C?est-à-dire que quand le général RobertGuéi est devenu chef de l?Etat, chef de la junte, à lasuite du putsch de décembre 1999, n?ayant pastotalement confiance dans les officiers de l?armée etdans les soldats, il a rappelé dans l?armée, pour sagarde personnelle, environ 500 personnes, d?anciensmilitaires qui avaient déjà été démobilisés. Ce sontceux-là qu?on appelle les zinzins et les bahéfouê. Ilsne sont même pas inscrits régulièrement en tant quesoldats. Le général leur donnait avant environ 50 000F par personne.Il nous faut rétablir les finances publiques. Il nousfaut rétablir l?armée. Ce sont des pères de famillequi étaient habitués à toucher ces 50 000 F. Donc,nous ne voulons pas les laisser sortir dans la rue.Nous sommes en train de discuter avec eux et denégocier. Nous avons dégagé 4 milliards FCA pour leurfournir des situations de formation, d?insertion et detravail.Enfin, le 3ème problème, c?est la classe 98 2A qui,après le service militaire de 18 mois, ne veut paspartir. Parce qu?ils ne veulent pas retrouver lechômage. Là encore, il nous faut discuter. Et nousdiscutons depuis que nous sommes là en vue de trouverdes voies et moyens pour les faire partir. Mais enleur disant que tous ceux qui veulent devenirmilitaires de carrière doivent, après leur servicemilitaire normal, faire une demande. C?est la mêmechose pour les gendarmes et les policiers.On ne peut pas aujourd?hui, depuis deux ans que noussommes là, prétexter de ces problèmes qui existent etque nous connaissons pour dire qu?ils sont la based?un soulèvement. Ces problèmes ont été récupérés pardes politiciens véreux qui ont peur de la voie desurnes et qui se sont mis à voir se rebeller ces gensqui sont dans l?armée. Nous disons non. Ce qui s?estpassé est un véritable coup d?Etat. Les terroristesqui ont attaqué la Côte d?Ivoire n?ont pas attaquén?importe qui. Le colonel Yodé s?est retrouvé nez ànez avec eux. Ils l?ont descendu froidement. Mais endehors du colonel Yodé, ils ont tué les officiersDally Oblé et Dago Loula. Ces deux officiers sontceux-là mêmes qui les avaient empêchés de progresserlors du coup d?Etat manqué des 7 et 8 janvier 2001. Enles tuant, ils savaient qui ils tuaient. Donc, ilsn?ont pas visé par hasard. Ils ont ensuite visé lesdomiciles de Lida Kouassi Moïse, ministre de laDéfense, et de Boga Doudou, ministre de l?Intérieur.Parce que pour eux, ce sont eux qui tiennent lerégime, et que s?ils ne sont plus là, le régime vas?écrouler. Ils sont venus délibérement pour tuer BogaDoudou et Lida Kouassi. Avec des armes lourdes etsophistiquées, ils ont massacré les gens au domicilede Lida. Il a pu s?échapper grâce à la garderépublicaine. Ils ont abattu froidement Boga Doudouqui ne faisait que son travail de ministre del?Intérieur.Dans cette bataille que les terroristes et les hommesdu mal nous ont imposée, nous avons fait front et nousavons perdu des hommes. Je salue leur mémoire. Lors duprochain Conseil des ministres, nous déciderons de lanature des funérailles que nous allons offrir à noshéros. Je salue leurs familles. Je passerai danstoutes leurs familles pour apporter le témoignage etla compassion de la République.Ils ont ensuite attaqué les structures de l?Etat. Ilsont attaqué l?antenne d?Abobo, celle de la télévisionet de la radio pour que la Côte d?Ivoire soit isoléedu reste du monde. Vous savez, les télécommunicationscommandent non seulement la télévision et la radio,mais aussi le téléphone, le fax et l?internet. Non,nous ne sommes pas en face d?une mutinerie. Noussommes bien en face d?une tentative de coup d?Etat.Les armes lourdes, nouvelles pour la plupart, desarmes dont ne dispose pas notre armée -donc on ne peutpas dire que c?est l?armée de Côte d?Ivoire qui serebelle - des armes utilisées dans des arméesétrangères ou achetées nouvellement, ces armes etleurs cibles montrent bien que c?est la nature durégime de Côte d?Ivoire qu?on a voulu changer.Chers amis, ne vous y trompez pas, c?est la Côted?Ivoire qui est attaquée. Mon pays est attaqué. Mondevoir est de faire front. Je suis donc rentré pourcontinuer la bataille que les forces de l?ordre, dedéfense et de sécurité ont entamée. Nous avons réussià neutraliser tous ceux qui s?étaient infiltrés àAbidjan. Et nous allons continuer le travail enpoursuivant systématiquement tous ceux qui se sontretranchés dans les quartiers précaires. Nous allonsles nettoyer. Enfin, nous allons continuer notreprogression vers le Nord.Chaque fois que la Côte d?Ivoire fait des progrès, ily a des personnes qui se battent pour empêcher sonprogrès. Quand je prêtais serment le 26 octobre 2000,ce pays était à -2,3% de croissance économique. A lafin de l?année 2001, nous avons réduit le déficit enle ramenant à 0,9%. Aujourd?hui, le gouvernement, toutcomme nos partenaires, pense que pour la fin del?année 2002, nous allons atteindre 3%, pourrechercher 5 à 6% en l?an 2003. La Côte d?Ivoire avaitrompu ses relations avec toutes les institutionsfinancières du monde. Nous avons rétabliprogressivement les relations afvec l?Unioneuropéenne, la BAD, le Fonds monétaire international,et la Banque mondiale. Nous venons d?entrer dans laBanque islamique de développement. Nous négocionsaujourd?hui pour obtenir l?annulation de notre detteextérieure qui est trop lourde. Ceci est aussi unautre héritage.Quand aujourd?hui, nous nous trouvons dans unesituation qui est plus favorable que celle d?hier,quand la Côte d?Ivoire cherche à sortir sa tête del?eau, il faut encore que les terroristes foncent surnotre pays pour le faire reculer. Je ne peux pasaccepter cela. Et je n?accepterai pas cela. Jen?accepterai pas du tout qu?on s?efforce à fairereculer mon pays. Quand nous sommes arrivés, nous avons tout fait pourrétablir la paix, la sécurité et la démocratie. Jesuis allé voir le chef de la junte à Yamoussoukro. Jevoulais qu?ils entrent dans la République. Après cela,pendant trois mois, j?ai organisé le Forum pour laréconciliation nationale. A cette occasion, tous ceuxqui avaient quelque chose à dire ont parlé en direct àla radio et à la télévision. Cela nous a fait 218heures de télévision. Cela nous a fait des dépensessupplémentaires, et pour la radio et pour latélévision. Mais nous avions voulu que le peuple deCôte d?Ivoire sache ce que chacun pensait de son pays.Pour partager les propositions des uns avec celles desautres.Au moment où des pays étrangers nous demandaient depoursuivre un tel ou un tel à cause de son passé, nousavons dit non. Nous ne pouvons pas appeler des genspour négocier, pour nous réconcilier et en même tempslancer des mandats d?arrêt. Nous avons fait en sorteque tous ceux qui étaient en exil, rentrent en Côted?Ivoire. Et que tous ceux qui étaient en exil àl?intérieur, reviennent dans la République. Et nousavons reçu les leaders à Yamoussoukro. En Conseil desministres, nous avons adopté un projet de loi pouraméliorer la situation des anciens chefs d?Etat etanciens présidents d?institution. Nous avons fait ensorte que les journalistes ne soient jamaispoursuivis. Et nous avons à cet effet adopté un projetde loi sur la presse supprimant la peined?emprisonnement. Ce n?est pas parce que nous sommesfaibles. Mais c?est parce que nous avons souffert detous ces faits que nous voulons les corriger.Malgré toute notre bonne volonté, on engage la guerre.Contre notre bonne foi, on engage la guerre. Eh bien,je vous le dis aujourd?hui : quiconque vient vers moiavec un rameau d?olivier à la main, je lui donnerai unbaiser, et je l?embrasserai. Mais quiconque vient avecune épée, je sortirai une épée, et nous nous battrons.J?engage toutes les forces de défense et toutes lesforces de sécurité à se tenir mobilisées à toutinstant. J?engage toute la population à se tenirmobilisée à tout instant. Dans quelques jours,j?inviterai d?ailleurs toute la population à un grandrassemblement pour montrer que les démocrates et lesrépublicains sont débout. Parce que dans ce pays, ilfaut qu?une fois pour toutes, on sache qui est qui, etqui veut quoi. Il faudra qu?on mette d?un côté ceuxqui sont pour la démocratie et la République, et del?autre côté ceux qui sont contre la démocratie et laRépublique. Et que la bataille s?engage.Je félicite le chef d?état-major des armées, lecommandant supérieur de la gendarmerie, le directeurgénéral de la police nationale. Je les félicite, euxet tous leurs collaborateurs. Je me rends compte queje n?ai pas eu tort de les mettre à la place où ilssont. Je félicite tous les officiers supérieurs ettous les officiers subalternes, tous lessous-officiers et tous les hommes de rang. Et je leurdis, l?heure du patriotisme a sonné. L?heure ducourage a sonné. L?heure de la bataille a sonné. Onnous impose une bataille. Menons-la avec courage, avecdétermination et honneur. Vive la Côte d?Ivoire

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La suite on la connait.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Scavenging for food in rubbish tips

COTE D'IVOIRE: Scavenging for food in rubbish tips

Photo: Alexis Adele/IRIN

A rubbish heap in the Treichville section of the commercial capital Abidjan

ABIDJAN, 13 January 2009 (IRIN) - Seven-year-old Ali Sangaré held up two unopened packages of biscuits as if he had just won a prize.

“This will be our breakfast tomorrow,” he said gleefully.

Then he shoved his hands back into the rubbish pile to search for more edibles.

The mounting piles of rubbish in Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial capital Abidjan are a health hazard, but many children told IRIN they are also a daily source of food.

Scavenging in rubbish tips is nothing new - plastic bottles and other saleable items abound and can yield cash. But the children IRIN spoke to said that more and more they are sifting through the rubbish in search of food.

“We bring it all home to sort out among the family,” 12-year-old Mamoudou Traoré told IRIN. “We do not have money and we have to eat.”

Poverty is on the rise in Côte d’Ivoire. Slightly under half of the country’s 20 million people are now below the poverty threshold, living on less than about US$1.25 per day - up from 38.4 percent in 2000 and the highest in 20 years, according to survey results released by the national statistics institute in November.

“Up to a few months ago we begged at the big intersections,” Traoré told IRIN. “We used to be able to bring some money back to our families to buy food. But this no longer provides much because people are not so generous any more.”

He said he and his friends used to be able to find plenty of leftovers at restaurants. “But for a long time now, it is rare to see people leaving much on their plates. So we have had to look elsewhere.”

Photo: Alexis Adele/IRIN

Youths seeking recyclables and food at a municipal dump in Abidjan

Traoré and his friends said they often find in the rubbish stale or expired foods that shop- and restaurant-owners throw out, as well as produce like carrots, onions, oranges and bananas.

Risk

One hygiene expert told IRIN the health risk from the mounting trash heaps is greatest for the poorest groups.

“These children are absolutely at risk of getting sick,” said Adeline Aka of the NGO Villes Saines [healthy cities].

“We all know that the increased poverty has changed families’ habits. But the situation can only become more critical if the rubbish around the city is not cleaned up. If people do not have enough money to feed themselves, they certainly do not have enough to get medical care.”

Statistics from the Ivorian Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene show that in 2007 two-thirds of patients coming to public hospitals for consultations suffered illnesses linked to poor hygiene, including typhoid fever and cholera.

Serges Eholié, a specialist in infectious and tropical diseases at the main hospital in the Treichville section of Abidjan, recently told a local newspaper that health workers have been sounding the alarm for a long time about the dangers of rubbish dumps all over the city.

Arrears

The accumulation of rubbish is due largely to the government’s failure to pay collection companies, according to industry officials. In the past couple of years the companies have launched strikes over arrears.

An official with the Ministry of Cities and Urban Health told IRIN that talks with the rubbish collection companies have so far gone nowhere.

“It is not possible right now to pay them 10 billion CFA francs (US$20 million) [the amount the companies say they are owed],” Guy Désiré Alébé, the ministry’s director of health and environment, told IRIN. He said the ministry is committed to making cities clean and healthy.

He pointed to the formation of a national agency for urban health, created in late 2007, saying “you will see convincing results in the coming weeks.”

Luiz Felipe Scolari tells Didier Drogba to fight for Chelsea cause

Didier Drogba has been left out of the Chelsea squad to face Stoke City on Saturday, with Luiz Felipe Scolari having openly challenged the Ivorian, or any member of his squad, to leave the club if he is not fully committed to "fighting together" until the end of the season.

By Jeremy Wilson
Last Updated: 11:47PM GMT 16 Jan 2009

Tough talk: Luiz Felipe Scolari has challenged Dider Drogba to earn his place.

The Brazilian also admitted that he did not know what had happened to the spirt of his underperforming players and, while repeatedly thumping his chest, he declared that he only needed players with "heart" and a "love" for Chelsea.

It is thought that his remarks were largely aimed at Drogba, who was omitted f rom the squad that beat Southend 4-1 in the FA Cup on Wednesday because of both his "physical and mental" condition. He must prove in training that he is worth a recall to the team and, yesterday, he stayed on alone to practise his free-kicks.

Scolari said that it was time to "open this space" in Drogba's head and instil it with confidence. Any suggestion that Drogba had been victimised for the 3-0 defeat against Manchester United was also flatly rejected. "It is my job to choose 11 players, it's his job to play," he said. "I am the victim, I lost 3-0, me and the club. No one player is more of a victim than me and the club. He was left out [against Southend] because of all his conditions.

"We started training with him after Southend and we started to change his technical condition and his mind because sometimes arriving in front of goal he is not the same as before.

"Sometimes you put in your head something and it blocks. Now it's time to open this space in his head and give him more confidence and see what happens. It's not a negative effect to leave him out for just one game. I don't know if Didier Drogba doesn't want to play – I think he wants to play. This is the time for everyone to play as a group, as a spirit and as love to Chelsea or it's time to change club.

"We need to fight together until May 27. If no, now is the time to change. I know many managers and assistants call players. Now is the time to call and buy, not make a problem for me. I don't make a problem for other coaches because I have ethics.

"I don't just mean Didier Drogba, I mean all my players. Against Southend we win not because we played fantastically but because we love. We are very well as a technical team, we are better than other teams. We have fantastic players but we need spirit every day, every week, every day, every hour."

As Scolari tried to explain what had happened to the spirit, he asked journalists whether they believed in the devil and then alluded to players having their heads turned by rumours of offers. "Now is the time, come and pay us but who came? Zero," he said.

Scolari also said that he would happily bring in younger replacements and he will include Mirsolav Stoch, Franco Di Santo, Lee Sawyer, Gael Kakuta and Jeffrey Bruma in his squad on Saturday.

He admitted, however, that he did not know whether Drogba would still be at the club next season. For now, there have been no offers and Chelsea would not consider selling unless they had a replacement.

There is also much debate about Scolari's defensive tactics and the Brazilian intends to use a combination of man-to-man and zonal marking for the challenge of Stoke, a club he describes as the "most dangerous in the world" from setpieces. In response to the suggestion that the players would prefer man-to-man marking, Scolari said: "They prefer what I decide. I am not a dictator, I am a democratic man, I listen. If something is better for my team, I change something. But I often stay up until 3am in the morning to look at videos, setpieces. If it is a mistake, it's my mistake."

Scolari is also awaiting an update on Joe Cole's knee injury, but fears being without the England midfielder for two months, meaning that he is almost certain to miss England's friendly against Spain next month.

Chelsea Could Sell Didier Drogba, Admits Scolari

18/01/2009 17:08
Didier Drogba's future at Chelsea is looking increasingly uncertain ...

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Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has admitted that the club may sell Didier Drogba, provided they receive the right offer.

The Ivorian appears to have fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge after a poor showing in last weekend’s 0-3 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The striker has been dropped for Chelsea’s last two games, the 4-1 win against Southend United in the FA Cup in midweek, and yesterday’s 2-1 win over Stoke City in the Premier League.

Manager Scolari has now revealed that whilst Drogba may return to the side for next weekend’s FA Cup clash with Ipswich, if the club were to receive a suitable offer for their striker they would be tempted to sell him.

Speaking to setanta.com the Brazilian explained: “Sell him? It’s my choice but I think if someone offers a lot of money, the club might accept it. He still trains very hard and could be in my side next week – but I make the decisions.”

The Chelsea boss also insisted that this applied to all of his players and not just Drogba. He said: “If people offer money for my players, it’s down to the club to accept them.”

With Drogba left out of yesterday’s squad, Scolari handed youngsters Miroslav Stoch and Franco Di Santo the chance to impress, and the pair, on as second half substitutes, both played their part in hauling the Blues back from a goal down to win 2-1 courtesy of two late goals.

Speaking about their contribution, Scolari hinted that they may get further chances in the first team. He said: “Over a five-year period, I’m the only manager here that has given players like [Miroslav] Stoch and [Franco] Di Santo their chance and I want to continue that.”

Gill Clark, Goal.com

Bemba washes hands of militia's actions in CAR

by Mariette le Roux Mariette Le Roux – Thu Jan 15, 2:54 pm ET

AFP/ANP/File – Jean-Pierre Bemba at the war crimes court in The Hague on January 12, 2009. Seeking to avoid a war crimes …

THE HAGUE (AFP) – Lawyers for ex-DR Congo vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba said Thursday that members of his militia group accused of atrocities in the Central African Republic (CAR) were not under his command.

They argued before the International Criminal Court in The Hague that the men, deployed in 2002 to help put down a coup, were under the command of then-CAR president Ange Felix Patasse.

"Who gave the orders and instructions? Who determined the targets? It wasn't Jean-Pierre Bemba, it was President Patasse," Aime Kilolo-Musamba argued for the defence on the final day of a hearing to determine whether Bemba should be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He said Patasse's government had provided members of Bemba's Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) with transport, fuel, money and uniforms, while Libya supplied the weapons and ammunition.

And co-ordination of the operation was done by the CAR military, Kilolo-Musamba told a panel of three pre-trial judges.

Bemba, 46, unsuccessfully challenged Joseph Kabila for the presidency of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006 elections, and went into exile after his private militia was routed by government forces in 2007.

He was arrested on an ICC warrant during a visit to Brussels last May.

The Belgian-educated son of a rich businessman faces five charges of war crimes and three of crimes against humanity for rape, torture, looting and murder allegedly committed by his MLC movement.

Prosecutors claim he sent 1,000 to 1,500 troops to the CAR for his own strategic gain: to retain control of the border area between the CAR and the Congolese province of Equateur in the war between his rebels and then-DR Congo leader Laurent Kabila, father of the current president.

While there, the prosecution alleges that MLC militia brutally gang-raped men, women and children, and tortured and murdered civilians.

"Any excuse was a valid reason to kill civilians in order to terrorise the population," prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the court.

"They killed people who tried to prevent them from pillaging their livestock ... they killed women who resisted being raped."

These crimes were no accident, argued Bensouda. "They intended to target the CAR population. Bemba's troops punished them for their perceived support for the rebels."

She also told the judges that Bemba remained the de facto and de jure commander of the MLC throughout the deployment and was therefore responsible for the men's actions.

"He knew that they would rape, he knew that they would murder and he knew that they would pillage," said Bensouda.

This was a strategy, she argued, "to terrorise the population and annihilate their ability to support the rebels."

Bemba's lawyers claim the case is part of a conspiracy to sideline him politically and that his militiamen were bona fide troops deployed to protect a democratically elected government.

They claim the prosecution had failed to prove that Bemba had made a material contribution to the crimes alleged, or that he knew they would be committed.

"The charges against Mr Bemba should not be confirmed," Karim Khan concluded for the defence. "There is no justification for him to stay in custody a moment longer."

The court gave the parties until January 26 to make extra written submissions within 60 days, after which the judges will decide whether there are sufficient grounds to put Bemba on trial.

Congo villagers take up arms against LRA rebels

By Joe Bavier Joe Bavier – Fri Jan 16, 6:29 pm ET

Reuters – A girl carries water at the Kibati camp for internally displace people outside the city of Goma in eastern …

DUNGU, Congo (Reuters) – Congolese villagers are forming self-defense groups to protect homes and families from Ugandan LRA rebels.

The rebels have killed 567 people and displaced 115,000 in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo's Oriental province since September, U.N. refugee agency UNHCR says.

Attacks surged after Ugandan forces spearheaded an anti-rebel offensive in December.

In silence broken only by the buzz of insects and the crunch of earth under their plastic sandals, eight men file through the cool night, hunting rifles in hand, scanning the darkness for those who killed their neighbors and burned their homes.

Elsewhere in the areas surrounding the town of Dungu, dozens more like them stalk the forest, mostly farmers and internal refugees armed with locally made guns or bows and arrows.

"This is very necessary for me, first and foremost, for the town, and for the people who are suffering in the bush, who have done nothing and who are dying," said Pascal Kalemba, the bottom half of his boyish face hidden by an airline sleeping mask.

Lord's Resistance Army rebel fighters attacked Dungu in September, as efforts to negotiate a peace deal to end their two-decade bush war against the Ugandan government broke down.

"They just walked straight into town. They started to burn houses and kill people," Kalemba said.

At the time, not a single Congolese soldier was deployed in the town of 57,000 inhabitants, located near Garamba National Park, the LRA's stronghold since it fled to Congo in 2005.

On December 14, a Ugandan-led multinational force, including Congolese and South Sudanese soldiers, launched an offensive aiming to capture the rebels' reclusive leader Joseph Kony.

Instead, the operation splintered the rebels into smaller groups that are now attacking villages, slaughtering civilians, raping women and kidnapping children for use as sex slaves and child soldiers. The U.N. death toll may be conservative.

New York-based Human Rights Watch says three days of raids alone, starting on Christmas Day, killed at least 600 people. Most were beaten to death with clubs or hacked with machetes.

The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the recent rebel attacks in a statement and emphasized that those responsible must be brought to justice.

U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes also called on the LRA to cease hostilities, sign a peace agreement and release all abductees. Kony has repeatedly snubbed mediators by failing to show up at pre-arranged meetings to sign the agreement.

Holmes said the mandate for Joaquim Chissano, the U.N. special envoy for LRA-affected areas, has been renewed for another year to try and secure a political settlement of the conflict. Chissano's mandate expired December 31.

ARMY "RUNS AWAY"

The head of Dungu's self-defense force, former chief Etienne Dalafata, said despite the deployment of over 3,500 government troops to the area, villages must defend themselves.

"We've already gone on operations with the army, but when we go into the bush they get scared and run away. They are city soldiers," he said.

Dalafata said his force enjoys the town's support and that militias have sprung up across Congo's northern borderlands.

All of this worries Felicien Balani, president of Dungu's local civil society association.

"Our army must make them unnecessary. They find their justification in its ineffectiveness. If this lasts another six months or a year, they'll start looking for better equipment, and we risk a Mai Mai phenomenon," he said.

Mai Mai ethnic militias sprang up across eastern Congo in the 1990s during invasions by Rwanda and proxy rebel groups.

Like Dalafata's men, the Mai Mai initially said they took up arms to protect their communities. But they became notorious for bloody massacres of civilians, rape, and ritual cannibalism.

Since September, the Dungu militia has taken just three LRA prisoners from a number of clashes with the Ugandan rebels.

All, they said, were turned over to the army.

But this week a self-defense patrol in Nzope village on the eastern edge of Garamba caught two LRA suspects. It mutilated and killed one before handing the other over to the authorities.

In Dungu, Kalemba said he feels no hatred for these latest invaders. He simply wants them to go home.

"Why are they persecuting us? Why?" he said.

"If it comes to a battle, we will die together."

(Editing by Alistair Thomson and Elizabeth Piper)

(Additional reporting by Megan Davies at the United Nations)

Bush et Gbagbo: Si la presidence de Georges Bush fut un echec, celui de Gbagbo doit etre un crime.

Lisons ensemble l'analyse fait par le journaliste Ben Feller du mandat du president americain, Georges Bush, et lorsque nous avons fini de lire appliquons ensemble les criteres de jugement a celui du president ivoirien. Gbagbo excuse toutes ses lacunes sous le pretexte de la guerre, aux etats Unis, la guerre n'est pas une excuse. EN tout et pour tout, le bilan de Gbagbo est mediocre et frise la criminalite.
Mais la est une evaluation qui se fera lorsqu'il ne sera plus au pouvoir.

Analysis: Bush legacy -- grim times, gloomy nation

Analysis: Bush leaves a nation gripped by war, recession and gloom; he'll wait for history

By BEN FELLER Associated Press Writer | AP

Jan 10, 2009

(WASHINGTON) Wars. Recession. Bailouts. Debt. Gloom.

The unvarnished review of George W. Bush's presidency reveals a portrait of America he never would have imagined. Bush came into office promising limited government and humble foreign policy; he exits with his imprint on startling free-market intervention and nation-building wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was the president who pledged not to pass on big problems. Instead, he leaves a pile for Barack Obama.

Grading Bush's performance has its limitations. History offers a warning about judging a president and his tenure in the moment: The wisdom and decisions of a leader can look different years later, shaped by events impossible to know now. Leaders are entrusted to act in the nation's long-term interests.

That's fine for history, but people lead their lives and make their judgments in real time. And it was one of Bush's heroes, Ronald Reagan, who crystallized the way modern presidents are judged: Are people better off than they were when the president took office?

Based on that standard, the Bush report card is mixed at best. It is abysmal at worst.

This is his tenure: eight years bracketed by the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history and the worst economic collapse in three generations. In between came two wars, two Supreme Court appointments, a tough re-election, sinking popularity, big legislative wins and defeats, an ambitious effort to combat AIDS, a meltdown of the housing market, a diminishing U.S. reputation abroad, and more power invested in Dick Cheney than any vice president in history.

Bush got his tax cuts and education law in the first term, then swung hard and missed on Social Security and immigration in his second. He seized a bullhorn and united a country devastated by terrorism, but stumbled badly when a hurricane swallowed the Gulf Coast.

Many of his original campaign promises are dust. Sept. 11, 2001, changed everything. In the heady days, Bush was the face of a party that ran the White House and Congress. Now Republicans hold neither. So much for a durable majority. Bush said he would change the tone of Washington. He never did. Of course, neither did the Democrats running Congress. Bush pushed all legal limits in targeting terrorists. They have not struck America again. The president's defenders may well be right that his decisions will be viewed honorably over time. For now, he is out of time. And realistic about his exit.

"It turns out," he said, "this isn't one of the presidencies where you ride off into the sunset."

By any standard, the economy is in atrocious shape. More than 11 million people are out of work. The unemployment rate is at a 16-year high. The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 33.8 percent in 2008, the worst decline since 1931. One in 10 U.S. homeowners is delinquent on mortgage payments or in foreclosure.

People are losing their college savings, their nest eggs, their dreams. The country is at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more broadly, against a threat of terrorism that predates Bush and still lurks from countless corners. The Iraq conflict finally has an end in sight, but has cost much more in lives, time and money than even Bush expected. Meanwhile, the U.S. government keeps spending money it doesn't have. The current budget deficit stands at a record $455 billion. That hole will get deeper — probably more than a staggering $1 trillion — as the bill grows for bailouts and efforts to jack up the economy.

And then there is the dismal public mood. Huge numbers of people think the country is on the wrong track. Bush has had a negative approval rating for 47 months, the longest streak since such polling began. Almost two-thirds of people polled by the Pew Research Center said Bush's administration will be remembered for its failures.

"Nothing's going right," said Thomas Whalen, a professor of politics at Boston University who has written a book about presidential courage. "He was handed a country that was in pretty good shape. How you can argue that he's left the country in better shape?"

As they leave, Bush, Cheney and a cadre of West Wing advisers have been making that argument fervently. They insist some deeds are overshadowed, and others will be more appreciated over time.

The president takes pride in getting an education law that demands testing and accountability; a Medicare law that provides a prescription-drug benefit; an AIDS relief plan that has helped millions of people in impoverished lands; and a policy of working with religious organizations as a way to help needy people.

Bush also shaped the conservative direction of the Supreme Court, likely for decades, with his choice of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. But in between came the embarrassing rejection of another nominee, his friend and then-White House counsel Harriet Miers, by conservatives from his own party.

Still, for the most part, this has been a presidency dominated by war. Bush lost the country's faith when the war in Iraq had so many setbacks — the failed intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons in the first place, the botched postwar planning, the Mission Accomplished that wasn't, the sectarian killing that seemed like a quagmire. His unpopular decision to send more troops for security is now viewed as a success, and Iraq is much more stable and free.

But most Americans still think the war was a deep, costly mistake. This is where Bush takes a long view, one that many political scientists find rosy: the liberation of 50 million in Iraq and Afghanistan will lead to peace and democracy in a troubled region.

He includes the staggering peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. Bush got personally involved late in his presidency, only to see hopes for a peace deal fade, followed by more despair: a new war in the Mideast, with Israel's air and ground assault on Gaza in response to rocket attacks by Hamas.

"I believe when people objectively analyze this administration, they'll say, `Well, I see now what he was trying to do,'" Bush said last month.

When that might happen is unclear. Historians say it could take decades, if it happens at all. Said Bush this summer: "I'll be dead when they finally figure it out."

Bush got elected on a promise of smaller government. Then he oversaw huge deficit spending. His mind-set changed when the country was attacked.

"The most important promise that he made was to keep America safe," said Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino. "He's singularly obsessed with that notion, just like Roosevelt was obsessed with World War II and Reagan was obsessed with the Cold War. This is a war on terror."

And so came the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive strikes against looming threats, treating those who harbor terrorists just like the killers themselves, and promoting an ideology of freedom across the globe. He saw himself as resolute in hard times; the country saw him as stubbornly stay-the-course.

"He put everything into his campaign for Iraqi democracy," said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian and professor at Rice University. "The results seem to be quite painful for the United States, not just in terms of more than 4,000 dead soldiers, but the ideological fervor instead of a cool-headed pragmatism."

Where Bush still gets some public credit: The U.S. has not been attacked since Sept. 11. But it is hard to run a country without support of the people, and Bush steadily lost his as U.S. deaths rose in Iraq to more than 4,200.

The U.S. reputation abroad has suffered mightily, too. At home, the second term brought a debacle of enormous proportions, the botched response to Hurricane Katrina. The country watched in shame. The catastrophe cemented images of Bush out of touch: flying over a sinking city, praising his beleaguered emergency management chief for a "heckuva job."

"These big moments can really form presidencies," said Gary Gregg, a presidential expert at the University of Louisville.

Just when it appeared Bush might be heading for a quiet exit, the final year of his presidency was overtaken by the agonizing economic crash. The housing market collapsed. Credit froze. Financial giants crumbled. Layoffs mounted. Bailouts kept coming, including an astounding $700 billion plan. Bush gets some blame for the giant mess. He was not just the leader at the time, but one who promoted a get-out-of-the-way philosophy of regulation during a period when mortgage-lending standards grew lax. Yet he also got resistance from Congress when he pushed for greater oversight of the housing industry.

Bush is quick to mention that other people, many on Wall Street, share responsibility for the economic crisis. Regardless, it caps his tenure. His main point is that when he saw trouble, he acted decisively.

I've been a wartime president," he said. "I've dealt with two economic recessions now. I've had, you know, a lot of serious challenges. What matters to me is that I did not compromise my soul to be a popular guy."

So let history judge, Bush says.

The country already has.

EDITOR'S NOTE — Ben Feller covers the White House for The Associated Press.