The Siege of Jadotville

I once heard a man say that, in Africa,

the sun is like a furnace that either melts you...

or forges you.

Everything...

that is underneath this earth

belongs to all our people.

Does not belong to the Belgians.

Does not belong to the Americans.

Does not belong to you, mon frère .

That's one way to look at it.

Here's another.

The Congo is a provider of over half of...

more than half of the world's copper

and cobalt to the USA and the USSR.

Both of these minerals essential...

Both of these minerals necessary to the superpowers' weapons-guidance systems.

We should not stand idly...

No. We cannot stand idly by...

while General Tshombe colludes with the mining companies

to control the province of Katanga.

And with the assassination of Prime Minister Lumumba,

we now have a moral imperative to send in more peacekeepers.

The United Nations, in deference to the Congo's wishes,

has asked that, once again,

these peacekeepers come from Ireland.

Apart from serving as head of the United Nations' Congo Division,

I'm an Irishman myself.

Therefore, I am very proud that we've been asked to serve.

You see Caesar, he knew.

I'll be the first to go.

- Are you lads in the Congo mission? - We are, yeah.

Sit down.

- Do you want a drink? - Yeah, Guinness.

P? Four, please.

Everyone else was cracking.

That's why you get 200,000 people surrendering to 60,000.

That's the difference.

Now, the thing is,

politicians, they don't understand tactics.

And soldiers, they don't understand strategy.

But Caesar, he understood both.

Julius Caesar in the corner.

He's read it all. He knows every battle ever fought.

- Does he know about the real thing? - None of us do.

Remember who's in charge.

He's your commanding officer.

Yes, sir.

You could have said something.

You're a fucking idiot!

Commandant.

Sure only my wife calls me that.

One for my friend, please.

- Are you looking forward to it? - Looking forward to the challenge.

- The men are looking forward to it, too. - And I hope they're ready for it.

What do you think?

Will we see any action?

Who knows? I don't think any of us have a clue what's going on out there.

Your dinner's in the dog.

I was being delightful and witty company.

Ah, that's a nice change for you.

A lesser man might take that the wrong way.

Might he?

Well, I would only be guessing.

I love this song.

Come here. Come here.

- Can we dance to this? - No.

That'll be them.

Making it official.

Hold that thought.

Jadotville.

In the Katanga region.

Yes, General. I understand.

Report 0600 hours.

Okay.

Aren't you excited as all hell to go?

Don't you want to see if you're as good as you think?

Hey. Hey. Hey, yes, hey.

Hey. Hey.

Donnelly.

Trousers.

Sweet Jesus!

Is it going to be sore?

I can't watch.

This won't hurt.

Hi.

My fiancée is a nurse. She said this will be all right.

Fuck.

Is that it?

You know I'm shipping off to war, yeah?

I might die without knowing the love of a good Irish woman.

I'll be all right.

Do you have your coat now?

Ma, we're going to the feckin' equator.

Better watch your feckin' language in Africa!

So, you are on your way.

Yeah.

Your mother will miss you.

Dad?

Yeah?

I had a dream I'm going to die over there.

There's no chance of that.

Your mother will pray for you. You know she's got a direct line to God.

Company!

Attention!

The UN was established to ensure that the nations of the world

would never again engage

in another world war.

We are the second wave of Irish soldiers

to be sent into the Congo.

So far, it has cost nine Irish lives.

So this is where it gets serious

for every single one of us.

Nobody has shot at you,

tried to kill you before.

You are war virgins.

The UN has given us this great honor,

to serve as peacekeepers.

And we are proud to accept.

We are a country

that has never owned or tried to conquer

another sovereign nation.

As a neutral country,

Ireland has chosen to never be the aggressor.

That's why they have asked for us.

And if anybody thinks we're to be taken lightly...

we'll show them

that they are very sadly mistaken.

Am I right, soldiers?

Yes, sir!

Carry on, Company Sergeant.

Yes, sir.

Company!

Left turn!

Quick march!

Hey. Hey.

Hey, yes, hey.

We welcome the forces of the United Nations here with open arms

but with some confusion.

We don't know why you are here in Africa...

as we are quite capable of looking after ourselves.

However, we will be thoughtful hosts.

Unless you come here to start trouble,

in which case

you will force us to tutor you

on how things are done here in the Congo.

- General Tshombe! - Gentlemen, that's it. We're done.

I had a call from Khrushchev earlier.

He reminded me of the UN's refusal to send in troops

when Lumumba asked me to.

It's amazing how good an atheist is in inflicting guilt.

Meanwhile, they're building a wall in Berlin.

I know.

Kennedy called.

What did the Sun King of Camelot have to say?

We can't do anything in Berlin, Vietnam or Cuba,

but we can defuse the Congo.

And I want you to go.

Put an end to General Tshombe's antics.

- Send him a message. - Excuse me?

I want you to be our man on the ground.

But this thing, this...

could lead to another world war.

Yes, and everybody sees that.

So the man who stops it

will get a lot of credit.

We'll make up a plan.

What kind of plan?

One with a lot of moving parts

that requires a man astute and hard-headed enough to pull it off.

We each have our part to play in history.

Yours is happening right now, Conor.

I believe I can...

accomplish the mission, sir.

Good, Conor.

Good.

The United Nations

are going to send more peacekeeping troops,

so I need your assistance, General de Gaulle.

And what will you give in return?

It's in all our interests that the mining companies continue their operations.

My old rival

would have nationalized everything you own.

If I lose power, it might still happen.

Your American friends wouldn't like that.

Okay, I will send you 1,000 of our best former legionnaires.

The mining companies will hire them as security officers,

but you will give the orders.

Katanga thanks you for that.

Tell Katanga it's a pleasure.

All right, lads. Everybody out.

Boys, you're supposed to rehydrate. It will be fine.

Lads.

Picture.

Cheese!

You're gorgeous.

Calling it a compound is a joke.

We've got exposure on three approaches. Overlooked from the south.

And there's a road splitting it in two.

We're wide open.

Okay.