Talk:Operation South

Belgium and USA as combatants
Seeing as you are raising valid points, but with the edit summaries being too small for a proper explanation, I wanted to outline the reasoning for listing Belgium and the USA in the infobox: Applodion (talk) 18:32, 7 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Regarding the USA, it is straightforward. The sources outright say that large CIA contingents, led by ranking CIA agents and at least one Neavy Seal took part in the operation. These CIA contingents included both nearly all involved air assets, but also many of the armed ships (including almost an entire CIA-led Cuban rebel group -the Movimiento Recuperación Revolucionaria-, shipped from Central America to the Congo). The CIA forces were not under ANC control; they cooperated with the mercs and the ANC, but the sources describe them as allies, not part of the same force. The CIA forces were also consistently involved in combat during the offensive.
 * Belgium is a little less clear-cut. Again, however, several sources talk about direct Belgian involvement, not just as advisors or mercs. Mwakikagile directly talks about the presence of a Belgian military mission during Operation South, the fact that "the Belgians" as well as the CIA pushed Hoare to launch the offensive, and how Belgian officers led the local ANC troops. Mwakikagile clearly describes Belgium as a combatant. Regarding his role in Operation South, Roger Hardenne is also consistently described as "Belgian officer", "Belgian paratrooper", "Belgian regular", etc. by the sources, never as an ANC officer. In fact, more sources described Roger Hardenne as a CIA asset than as an ANC commander. Furthermore, I also found this French source which states "Opération Sud ( Ops Sud ), lancée par l'A.N.C . avec un encadrement belge", basically sharing Mwakikagile's view that the Belgians were not merely advisors/mercs, but rather took a leading role in the offensive.