G. Edward Griffin - The Fearful Master - PDF Archive

and protested to Hammarskjold that since everything was calm and peaceful in his
province, there was no need for United Nations "peacekeeping" forces.
On August 12 Hammarskjold personally conveyed his assurances to Tshombe that the
United Nations would "not he used on behalf of the central government to force the
provisional government of Mr. Tshombe to a specific line of action." 10 With these solemn
pledges and under Hammarskjold’s insistence, Tshombe had no alternative short of
armed resistance but to allow UN troops access to Katanga.
They came by the thousands.
As mentioned earlier, Katanga was at peace. There were other places throughout the
Congo that were in far greater need of UN forces than Katanga. Kasai province was in the
throes of civil war and the countryside was literally red with blood, but the UN sent troops
to Katanga. Stanleyville was a nightmare of lawlessness and violence, but the UN sent
troops to Katanga. Away from the metropolitan areas the practice of cannibalism was
being revived and missionaries were being slaughtered by the score, but the UN sent
troops to Katanga. By September 1961 between twelve thousand and fourteen thousand
troops, by far the greater portion of the entire United Nations force, had been concentrated
inside peaceful Katanga. 11 Why were they there? Only a fool could believe that their
purpose was anything other than to end Katanga's secession and to bring it back under
the central government.
Tshombe was no fool. In spite of the grim implications of the arrival of UN military might,
he somehow managed to keep his composure and even his sense of humor. The first
United Nations troops to arrive at Elisabethville's airport on August 12 were supposedly
Dag Hammarskjold’s personal bodyguard. When they landed Tshombe greeted them and
the accompanying dignitaries by handing them each tourist brochures entitled -
'Elisabethville Welcomes You." 12 Then, before anyone could object, the honor guard led
by Belgian officers presented the Katangese colors while a band played the newly written
Katangese national anthem. What a picture that must have been--United Nations soldiers,
officers and dignitaries standing rigidly at attention before a fluttering flag symbolizing the
very sovereignty which they bad been sent to destroy.
At this point in the drama it becomes necessary to introduce a third character--Conor
Cruise O'Brien. Mr. O'Brien was formerly an Irish delegate to the General Assembly of the
UN before being requested by Dag Hammarskjold to join his executive staff in the
Secretariat as special advisor on African affairs. From here he was assigned to the Congo
where he personally directed the United Nations political operation in Katanga. When it
was discovered that he had imported his Irish girl friend to Katanga, and when she found
herself unexpectedly in the news as part of an international incident, O'Brien was recalled
to New York and allowed to resign. There were other good reasons for getting rid of
O'Brien, too. For one thing, he was too outspoken and it soon became obvious that he had
to be removed. He was not the first underling in the UN to he thrown to the wolves in order
to save the reputation of a higher official.
Fortunately, however, O'Brien decided to write a book about the Katanga affair. It is a
treasure of little glimpses into the innermost workings of the mind of an "international
servant." He was and is a fierce advocate of the United Nations. He clings to all of the
intellectual fallacies about the United Nations which will be the subject of a later chapter.