Equatorial Kundu

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The Republic of Equatorial Kundu is a fictional African country from the television series The West Wing. Kundu is a small nation plagued by AIDS, poverty and violence, and consists of two tribes: the Arkutu and the Induye.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In the Season 2 episode "In This White House", President Nimbala of Equatorial Kundu visited the White House for talks on sales of AIDS drugs to Africa. But during his visit, the AFRC launched a coup and seized the capital. Several members of Nimbala's family were killed or sent into hiding and when Nimbala returned to Kundu, he was immediately executed at the airport.

In January 2003, in the West Wing universe, the Arkutu-run government starts murdering Induye on the streets of Bitanga, the capital city. Soon, the murdering spreads to the countryside, and the outside world begins to speak of genocide.

In President Josiah Bartlet's second inaugural address, he announces the new Bartlet Doctrine for the use of force: America shall intervene whenever there are humanitarian interests at stake. With that new doctrine, Bartlet sends a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, and a Marine expeditionary unit to Kundu to stop the violence.

The intervention is successful in stopping the genocide, but three Marines patrolling Bitanga Airport are kidnapped shortly after the airport is supposedly secured. A successful rescue operation manages to retrieve the men, but shortly thereafter there was a terrorist retaliation on Red Haven, a U.S. military base in Ghana used to plan the rescue, killing 17 and wounding 20.

Spoilers end here.

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