Currently I'm reading the book "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. Its a fascinating account of a Christian family who moves to the Congo in 1959 on the heels of the independence movement so that the father, an overzealous Reverend, can save the souls of the African people. The book is written from the perspective of the mother/wife and the four daughters, each person getting their own chapters as the book progresses. A wonderful, haunting book. It has motivated me to search out some facts about the history of African indepenece.

History Lesson:

I discovered that in 1960 the Congo got its independence from Belgium. Like other countries, Belgium was entralled with colonialism, and upon setting up shop in Africa discovered a wealth of natural resources to plunder and get riches from. Namely, diamonds and oil. As WWII ended the Allies decided to end colonialism, probably with the understanding that free trade would be a result/compensation. After all, that's why we initially went at it with Japan before 12.7.41.

So in 1960 the Congo was freed from Belgium and the people elected their first native leader, Patrice Lumamba. Eventually the military fought the new leader and ousted him from power. Eisenhower feared Lumamba as a dissident, as someone who would allow the Communist Soviets to enter the Congo and stir up more shit. We couldn't have that. That would interfere with U.S. capitalist enterprises.

So Ike gave the order for the CIA to execute Lumamba, the only intelligent, popular figure who fought and stood up for Congolese rights. His dynamic speeches reportedly won over anyone who heard them. The CIA then sent operatives, money, and weapons to the rebels in the Congo, helping them capture and kill Patrice Lumamba. Eventually a man named Mobutu came into power and would run the country for several decades. I'm forgetting a few of the details here. From what I gather this Mobutu was a horrible leader who had the military behind him. He grew wealthy off the resources of the land while his people labored in the mines, lacking proper food, proper living conditions, proper educational opportunities, proper wages, etc. Oh, and he changed the name to Zaire. I believe that he was finally overthrown and the name went back to the Republic of Congo, but I could be wrong. The point is that Mobutu had the full backing of the US because he showed himself to be pro-West, anti-Commie, and probably allowed a significant amount of things to be exported from his country. America gave him money, guns, tanks, military personal, etc. And he kept pushing his people further and further into the ground while the US helped him.

Its no wonder so many other countries despise America. We do not have a good track record of backing the good guy. We protect our interets, meaning interests in free trade to better our economy and create jobs for our people. Other countries did similar things. Japan, France, England, Italy, Germany, Belgium and others all used their military might to state dominion over countries in the Middle East and Africa. I should have known about attrocities like this, I should have read them in history books in high school or at least college. I'm ashamed that in order to create a better life for Americans so many other people were denied basic living conditions (and let's not bring up slavery).

I wonder what would have happened if Patrice Lumamba would not have been killed, if Ike and his advisors would have seen past the resources the country could be exploited for. Its been our mission to root out non-democratic places and put the power back in people's hands, right? That might be true, but only when its in the United State's best interests.

Go read "The Poisonwood Bible". It's worth it, beyond the history lessons.