Catastrophe in Congo Out of Sight and Mind
Did anyone read “Grim Toll in Congo’s Civil War: More Than 3 Million Lives” (April 9), way back on Page A22? It states that in the last 4 1/2 years the Congolese war has claimed at least 3.3 million lives, more fatalities than any conflict since World War II. George Rupp, the International Rescue Committee’s president, is quoted as saying, “This is a humanitarian catastrophe of horrid and shocking proportions. The worst mortality projections in the event of a lengthy war in Iraq, and the death toll from all the recent wars in the Balkans, don’t even come close.”
This is reported to be the deadliest war ever documented in Africa. A massacre last week killed 966 civilians. The article further states that workers trying to get food to the region said they were being hindered by warlords who control access to the area.
Why are we not trying to liberate these people? Oh, I forgot, they don’t have much oil.
Lorraine Knopf
Santa Monica
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