A Familiar Frontier: The Kennedy Administration in the Congo ...

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The events of August 1960 impressed on many parties the unreliability ofLumumba’s rule. His bullheaded devotion to the Katanga issue not only catalyzedinternational opposition to him, it also did much to alienate the popular Prime Ministerfrom other Congolese leaders, like Tshombe, Kasavubu and Mobutu, all of whom wouldbe complicit in his murder only a few months later. The United States embarked on itsmission to assassinate Lumumba during this period, and Kasavubu would dismiss himfrom office soon thereafter. Ironically, the tumult caused by so many groups striving tounseat Lumumba led to a dramatic decline in the attention being paid to Katanga.Tshombe’s independent government in Elisabethville would continue more or lessunmolested for the next year, until the election of Cyrille Adoula allowed the U.S. andthe U.N. to return their focus to the province that caused so much trouble in the openingmonths of the Congo Crisis.Indeed, one of Adoula’s first acts as Prime Minister was to pass Ordinance No. 70on August 24, requiring that “all the non-Congolese officers and mercenaries serving inthe Katanga Forces…are expelled from the territory of the Republic of the Congo.” 32 AtHammarskjold’s request, Adoula also sent a letter asking for “the assistance of the UnitedNations in putting an end to the aggressive activities of the Katanga Gendarmerie and insecuring the evacuation of foreign officers and mercenaries serving in the armed forces ofKatanga.” 33 Adoula’s requests seemed reasonable in comparison to Lumumba’s wildeyeddemands, and the election of a new and more conciliatory Belgian governmentcommitted to repatriate the remaining Belgians. Accounts placed the number of foreignmilitary officers in Katanga at about five hundred in August 1960, including two hundred32 Qtd. in Hoskyns, The Congo: A Chronology of Events, 4633 Qtd. in Hoskyns, The Congo: A Chronology of Events, 4581
Belgians, soon to be returned home, and three hundred non-Belgians, whose presenceBelgian Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak would not address. 34 These other whitemercenaries had been recruited from South Africa, Rhodesia or Algeria, and were fearedfor their violence and uncivilized appearance, which gave them the nickname les affreux,or the dreadful ones.Hammarskjold and Conor Cruise O’Brien, the U.N.’s representative in Katanga,agreed that Tshombe would resist rejoining the Republic of the Congo as long as thesewell-armed mercenaries remained at his disposal. Thus, on August 28, O’Brien led apeaceful operation, with the codename Rumpunch, which captured more than eightyforeign mercenaries in a few hours. O’Brien temporarily detained the rabble-rousingInterior Minister Godefroid Munongo and seized the radio station and post office toprevent warnings or organized action. The United Nations considered Rumpunch to be adecisive success, with Hammarskjold telling O’Brien that it had been an “exceedinglysensitive operation carried through with skill and courage.” 35 The arrests only endedwhen Tshombe announced that he “bowed before the decisions of the U.N.” and theBelgian consul in Elisabethville agreed to take responsibility for repatriating theremaining foreigners. 36The United States had serious concerns about the effects of Operation Rumpunch,and especially about the possible precedent for future operations of the same kind.McMurtrie Godley, the de facto U.S. Ambassador in Leopoldville, expressed hisreservations to Sture Linner, who was in charge of the U.N. Operation in the Congo: “I34 Kalb, The Congo Cables, 28935 Qtd. in Kalb, The Congo Cables, 29036 Qtd. in Hoskyns, The Congo: A Chronology of Events, 1582
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TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction 1Chap
Page 6 and 7:
adical and his party had won a plur
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Kennedy intended it to apply to for
Page 10 and 11:
in terms of American interest or to
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found a precedent in the actions of
Page 14 and 15:
willingness to tolerate him because
Page 16 and 17:
advisers were paying much attention
Page 18 and 19:
A year later, responding to the pre
Page 20 and 21:
On July 11, a few events dramatical
Page 22 and 23:
Gizenga was a committed Marxist, mo
Page 24 and 25:
Bandung Conference to offer a third
Page 26 and 27:
the U.S.S.R. in the Congo: “For t
Page 28 and 29:
Indeed, Lumumba was a wild card, an
Page 30 and 31:
position from which they conspicuou
Page 32 and 33:
Lumumba’s erratic personal added
Page 34 and 35: the President, especially in writte
Page 36 and 37: took to the airwaves to dismiss Pri
Page 38 and 39: to outside world that Lumumba was b
Page 40 and 41: embassies of the U.S.S.R. and Czech
Page 42 and 43: ather than take a ministerial post
Page 44 and 45: Chapter Two:LEOPOLDVILLEEvents in t
Page 46 and 47: assessment is valid, but it had lit
Page 48 and 49: damage to his reputation among Afri
Page 50 and 51: U.S. Ambassador Clare Timberlake su
Page 52 and 53: would not respond any better to a n
Page 54 and 55: about a greater degree of Congolese
Page 56 and 57: will place yet another strain on NA
Page 58 and 59: Once again, however, State Departme
Page 60 and 61: overstepped their influence by tryi
Page 62 and 63: ecommends that we permit the presen
Page 64 and 65: States would only accept the best o
Page 66 and 67: government was “as good as we cou
Page 68 and 69: he wants Katanga to stay in Congo a
Page 70 and 71: Chapter Three:ELISABETHVILLEThe Con
Page 72 and 73: stability in Katanga, and in neighb
Page 74 and 75: eminder of the low priority that Ei
Page 76 and 77: gentle and realistic tack with the
Page 78 and 79: without too much damage in Europe.
Page 80 and 81: also warned the State Department ab
Page 82 and 83: military action from turning into a
Page 86 and 87: pointed out he had taken major risk
Page 88 and 89: announced to the press that “this
Page 90 and 91: evidence for such an outcome. On th
Page 92 and 93: after the cease-fire, leading to th
Page 94 and 95: especially by Union Miniére, which
Page 96 and 97: ConclusionEvents in the Congo turne
Page 98 and 99: Congo crisis began well before Amer
Page 100 and 101: BibliographyHoskyns, Catherine. The
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A Familiar Frontier: The Kennedy Administration in the Congo ...

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