25 years ago: Leaked Pentagon report exposes US role in Zaire invasion
On August 16, 1997, the Washington Post published a leaked account of an eight-page internal Pentagon report which exposed the fact that American military personnel had been working in Rwanda for the previous three years to train the forces used in the successful invasion of Zaire, leading to the overthrow of the Mobutu regime.
Beginning in January 1995, hundreds of Rwandan soldiers were trained in combat tactics, military management, disaster relief, team operations, landmine removal and military and civilian policing by American advisers wearing military fatigues. In July and August 1996, US Green Berets conducted two months of counterinsurgency training for selected Rwandan troops.
Two months later, the Rwandan military began cross-border…
