Protecting the vulnerable: What Congo means for Obama

America’s president-elect needs to remake the case for humanitarian intervention abroad IN AMERICA this has been a week for the drawing up of lists—lists of the virtues of Barack Obama, lists of big names for his administration, lists of big tasks for his bulging in-tray. But in Congo this week a million hungry and terrified refugees are in desperate need of food and protection (see article). The two things are connected, in a way that may surprise, and dismay, Mr Obama’s admirers. If he is to prove worthy of the near-universal exaltation with which his election has been greeted, he has to prepare America and the world for the possibility of further American military interventions overseas. This is not to say that it is America that has to provide the 3,000 extra peacekeeping troops the United Nations has asked for in Congo. The French have troops available, and America is in no mood for new entanglements. With an overstretched army and an economy on life support, most Americans ... (link)