A few months ago, I had my Drugs and Crime (Acronym: DRC) students watch the newly-released FBI's video "Chasing the Dragon". As they watched it in class, I couldn't help but think about power addicts (aka African dictators), whose suicidal behaviors are no different from those we daily see in drug addicts. Like drug addicts, power addicts are incapable of devising a single exit plan on their own. They are also prisoners of their own entourage, a myriad of self-interested individuals whose combined addiction and lust for power largely exceed the tyrant's.
I don't know how this whole thing will turn out in the Congo. This chaos should have been avoided in the first place. I pray for a peaceful transition in the DRC and that every human life will be not only preserved but also respected by the parties in conflict during this sad episode of our national history.
P.S. The original opinion was published on VOA News on December 19, 2016. See
http://www.voanews.com/a/military-deploys-across-congos-cpital-as-kabila-stays-on/3641853.html
