I do not want to open the wide question as to what is the solution to the problems in the Congo because it seems to me that that is a very deep and muddy stream in which to fish at the moment. It is quite clear our troops in the Congo are very largely in the role of endeavouring to keep the peace—of endeavouring, in fact, to hold the reins in the hope that the good sense of the Congolese will ultimately assert itself and triumph over the disunity and chaos which exist there at present.
The only hope of solving the Congo problem is on the basis that it will give satisfaction to the Congolese. Settling the Congo problem on whatever basis Belgium or Russia desires will provide no enduring solution. The Congo problem must be settled by the Congolese people themselves. The task of our troops, and of the United Nations forces as a whole there, must be to create such conditions as will enable the wisdom of the Congolese people to exert itself, and to endeavour to set up a homogeneous Congolese State, taking cognisance of the tribal pecularities of that part of the world but ultimately giving that vast region which is about 34 or 35 times the size of Ireland some kind of stable Government.
The danger in relation to the Congo is that, like Berlin and like East Germany, it will provide another bone of contention for the continuance of the cold, and sometimes nearly hot, war between the East and the West. It would be a tragedy and a disaster not only for Africa but for the world if the cold war were extended to that overheated cauldron of the Continent of Africa. If the East-West dispute is carried into Africa there is no knowing where it will end and there is no knowing what harm it will do the world. The biggest sufferers will be those emergent nations in Africa who will find, no matter in what guise their liberators arrive, the ultimate result will be a bad one from their point of view.
Nobody will question the fact that the presence of the United Nations troops in the Congo has averted a large-scale civil war and in the Congo the tinder of civil war lights easier than it does in Europe and many other places throughout the world. The presence of the United Nations troops has not averted the creation of chaos in many parts of the Congo but it has at least kept the trouble so far within manageable proportions. I hope that ultimately the Congolese people themselves will recognise the futility of fratricidal strife which is only weakening their own country and perhaps creating conditions which will continue to worsen and make an ultimate peaceful settlement impossible.
The line of our people in the Congo has been a noble line which thoughtful people throughout the world will applaud. Whether it was wise or unwise to have sent troops to the Congo, we need not stop now to assess that. The whole nation has shown its gratitude to those who have gone there and, no doubt, the whole nation will applaud them on their return home.
Nobody who has not seen the bush and the desert of Africa has the slightest notion of the terrain in which troops from Western Europe are compelled to live and to fight; millions of acres practically unoccupied where the foot of civilisation has not yet made its impression on the ground, places where there are no roads, streets or paths, no water, no electric light, no sanitation, no medical supplies or hospitals, and no protection from the burning, blistering heat. That is the kind of atmosphere and the kind of climate under which our troops must operate. One person there of some rank has described it to me as a living hell out of which, he says, he cannot get quickly enough. I can well imagine how troops, used to Irish climatic conditions, not having had the slightest notion of what Africa looks like, feel in a country so friendless and inhospitable as the African bush and the African desert.
There is in Africa, stemming from colonialism under which the African people were frequently exploited, a deep prejudice against the white man and it is open to discussion as to whether white troops should be sent to Africa in these circumstances. There are now so many Afro-Asian nations in affiliation with the United Nations that it might be well to try to find a police force for the Congo from the Afro-Asian nations. It is said that climatically it is no place for white troops, for a long period certainly and, even when it was staffed by Colonial Powers with white troops, they were never left there very long. It is a matter for careful consideration whether, in view of the climatic conditions, the inhospitable country and the prejudice against the white man on the part of even countries which are in affiliation with the United Nations, it is desirable to send further troops there.
We must, when requested by the United Nations, discharge our responsibility under the Charter. We have done that and we have shown our willingness to do it and I think that it redounds to our credit as an independent affiliate of the United Nations. However, on the grounds of sheer practicability, some consideration ought to be given to the question of using Afro-Asian troops instead of white troops.
In regard to the sending of a further contingent to the Congo I take it nobody will be asked to go unless he is a volunteer. I believe, however, that those who are being asked to go in the future should be permitted the opportunity of hearing from those who have been there what life out there is like. If they are told the real facts of the situation and if they have to encounter all the difficulties which our first two contingents have experienced there in that extremely difficult country, there may not be so many willing to go. It is very easy in a case like this to appear to be wise after the event and I do not want to adopt that role.
However, bearing in mind all the difficulties which must be encountered in that vast, almost tractless country, I want to ask the Government is it desirable that we should send more troops there. It may very well be found that an equally fruitful job may be done by the utilisation of Afro-Asian troops. If they continue to play the part, as the present contingents are playing, of trying to keep the reins and hoping for the emergence of a uniform Congo administration, in the long run we shall all be glad to acclaim the splendid part the U.N. is playing and its ultimate triumph.
Our concern must not be with Kasavubu and all these transitory characters moving across the stage. It is unwise for any of us to believe that any of them has a Heaven-sent solution for the Congo problem. What the United Nations must do, and what our troops must do, is everything they can to maintain what we believe in, namely. Parliamentary Government. It does not matter who drops by the wayside so long as, in the long run, Parliamentary Government is maintained so that the people of the Congo may be able, so far as their standard of democracy permits, to select a Government and form their institutions in accordance with the democratic code.
