Congo: The Lost Continent

For years now there has been a terrible war, or several little wars, raging in the heart of Africa. Despite occasional efforts by the media to arouse some interest in the situation the world, and especially America, has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to it. Here is what the Washington Post had to say about it this morning:

TODAY THE United Nations' largest peacekeeping mission will oversee one of the world's boldest experiments in electoral democracy in a country devastated by a regional war that has killed millions. Why have you not heard of this? Because the country is not European or Middle Eastern but African: the Democratic Republic of Congo, once known as Zaire. Riding on the outcome of this risky but hopeful enterprise will be the stability of a resource-rich swath of territory the size of Western Europe, with a population of 60 million.

Just how many dead? Hard to say. In an item from The Week, citing the New York Times,

About 4 million people - half of them children under 5 - have died as a result of fighting between Congo's army and rebel militias since 1998. Every six months, the toll of Congolese who die of malnutrition, disease, or violence equals that of 2004's deadly Indian Ocean tsunami.

But, they have no geopolitical importance, no oil, don't fit into the Left's paradigm of resistance to the West, or the Right's war on terror. In fact, the Congo has nothing to interest the outside world. Other than its people.