CONGO: The Faltering Colonel

It was a bad week for earnest Joseph Mobutu, 30, the Congolese army clerk who became a colonel overnight and was now trying io run a nation. In any other revolution the boss might maintain his dignity by shooting a few enemies at dawn. But the Congo's strongman could only sit there and take it as everyone began to harass him. His control of the army was wavering, and everywhere, it seemed, there were plotters trying to push Patrice Lumumba back into power.

"Disorderly Rabble." Out of nowhere came Cleophas Kamitatu, president of...

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