The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has been overseeing the election process. MONUSCO has been doing peacekeeping operations in the country since 2010 when it took over operations from the previous peacekeeping force sent by the United Nations.

The First Congo War began after conflict from neighboring Rwanda spilled over into the country, which was at that time known as Zaire. The first war ended in 1997, but the Second Congo War began one year later. The second war was the biggest war in modern Africa and is considered the most deadly conflict since World War II. It involved eight African countries and several armed groups. In 2003, the war was ended with the creation of a transitional government, but there is still conflict in many areas.

Joseph Kabila first came to power after the assassination of his father, Laurent Désiré Kabila, in 2001. An attempted coup took place in Kinshasa in 2003; the plotters of the coup were defeated in 2004. Joseph Kabila won the country’s first postwar election in 2006. Etienne Tshisekedi is a co-founder of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UPDS); he currently leads the UPDS.

Many expect elections to result in increased levels of violence, especially in Kinshasa. Kinshasa is the country’s capital and one of its most populous cities. There is a chance that election results will be disputed regardless of who wins. If there is a dispute of the election, it will be mediated by the Chairman of the Independent National Election Commission, Daniel Ngoy Mulunda.

Right from the beginning, zu Guttenberg made clear that he stands for political directness and does not hesitate to speak his mind. Therefore, people were not wondering when he described the ongoings and involvements of German soldiers in a different way than his predecessor: he spoke of warlike events in Afghanistan.

Former defense minister Franz Josef Jung never mentioned any wordcombinations related to “war” when the military tasks of the German Bundeswehr were discussed. Of course, war in a distinct meaning can only take place among states due to the law of nations; but to be honest, it is quite euphemistic not to make us of “war” given the fact that even some German soldiers felt and talked of war in Afghanistan.

Zu Guttenberg also had to deal with the case of Colonel Georg Klein, who ordered the strike against the Taliban back in September 4, which caused the death of 69 Taliban fighters and 30 civilians, according to the Afghan government.  This is probably the most deadful military attack with German participation after World War II. The defense minister came to the conclusion that the bombing of two fuel trucks was an appropriate action in spite of some procedural errors.

The attitude of zu Guttenberg was greeted by German soldiers who liked his straightforward words but some European ministers still found that the bombing was a mistake. Especially the utterance of “warlike events” in Afghanistan was not accepted by politicians ot the SPD, the social democtrats in Germany. Only the future can show us, if the rather new view on the ongoings in Afghanistan will finally bring a change. After about 30 years of terrorism and war (or warlike events), the country needs peace.