But Most Rebel Troops Remain Certain They Can Hold Off Enemy With Ease - The white mercenaries, bombarded and besieged in Bukavu, now slip a few words of respect into their usually contemptuous talk about their foes, the African soldiers of the Congolese army. Although there are negotiations about a Red Cross evacuation, most mercenaries are still convinced they can defend Bukavu from the thousands of Congolese soldiers with ease. They also feel that, with less ease, they can cut through the enemy and go anywhere in the Congo they like. But, for the first time, they grudgingly admit that the Congolese soldiers have given them trouble. "This is the first real war we've had to fight," one mercenary officer said. "Fighting the rebels in 1964 wasn't anything at all. And the march down here was nothing compared to this." Bukavu is an old Belgian colonial resort town of red-tiled, white cottages resting in the soft green hills beside Lake Kivu...

Will the rebellious white mercenaries ever leave the Congo peacefully? Perhaps. But many mysteries must be solved, many snags removed, many feelings soothed before it happens. Under the sponsorship of the Organization of African Unity, the International Red Cross has been negotiating with Col. Jean Schramme, the mercenary leader, about the evacuation of 130 white mercenaries, 1,000 Katangese gendarmes, and 1,000 Katangese wives and children from this eastern Congo city that they seized almost three months ago. But the talks may founder on a number of questions. The first is whether Schramme really intends to go. Schramme, a 37-year-old Belgian who owned a plantation in the colonial Congo, is a confused visionary who wants to overthrow President Joseph D. Mobutu and remake the independent Congo. Schramme says, "Our military position is better than ever." and it is true that he and his men probably can defend Bukavu indefinitely. But his rebellion has failed so far to ignite an uprising against Mobutu...

The white mercenaries of the Congo, now in rebellion, have humiliated black men everywhere in Africa, and by doing so shattered some of the self-confidence that Africans need to run their affairs well. Moreover, some Africans have struck out at whites to assuage this humiliation, and the beatings and killings have torn relations between white men and black men over the continent. These are terrible consequences. Yet it is pointless to condemn these confused, aimless and distorted men. Their role in the Congo was created by others. The rebellion of the mercenaries was the legacy of an attempt by the United States Government to stage-manage the unmanageable Congo. Using them worked for a while; then they flew out of hand. Why blame them? The present group of rebellious mercenaries first came to the Congo in 1964 with the support of the United States Government, then as now the most powerful and significant outside influence on the Congo. It was prepared to do whatever it could, even to the point of supporting mercenaries, to help Moise Tshombe, the new Prime Minister, put down a leftist rebellion in the eastern Congo...