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1. Africa - Blood Diamonds
In Africa the bloody wars for acquisition of diamonds and other natural resources may
not seem to have great relevance to the U.S. military and national security. In fact, the
opposite is true. Transnational crime, violence and conflict in Africa threaten stability
across the continent and will ultimately have economic or military consequences for
the world at large. In Africa of the political and economic aspect, social ills are
enormous and transnational crime makes them worse. During a visit to four West
African countries, the British Prime Minister emphasized the need for developed
countries to invest in the security and economic prosperity of democracies in Africa.
The illicit drug, terrorism, extremism emanating from "failed states, dictatorships,
bring conflict and chaos in Africa's rich mineral and diamond zones are a magnet for
predators, terrorists, and other transnational criminals. US intervention to end
Terrorism against citizens and interests in Africa may be in the same form as
Afghanistan. Just as terrorist groups find safe haven in Somalia and Sudan, these same
groups can migrate to other states on the African continent.
Rebels from Sierra Leone, Liberian fighters, and Burkina Faso mercenaries launched
attacks in Sierra Leone to topple the government. The rebel group, known as the
United Revolutionary Front (RUF), launched a campaign of death and destruction
against innocent civilians. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to
neighbouring countries and thousands of children have been abducted and forced to
serve as soldiers. The RUF has provoked torture, massacres, mutilations and other
atrocities as a means of undermining confidence in government. Within a year, the
RUF had taken control of the major diamond mines in the south-eastern part of the
country. Like so many insurrections, the conflict in Sierra Leone was proclaimed as a
revolt to bring an end to a corrupt regime. The movement has evolved into a criminal
self-support. RUF leaders enriched themselves and exchanged diamonds for weapons
and equipment during the civil war.
In August 1998, - Congolese militants supported by Rwanda and Uganda plunged the
country into another civil war. Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Chad, Sudan and
responded to the crisis by providing troops and aid to the DRC. To further complicate
the conflict, it was the presence of rebels from Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. These
groups, operating from bases in eastern Congo, often attack civilians and government
forces in their respective countries. A report by Human Rights Watch found that rebels
and government forces are responsible for the thousands of for thousands of civilians
killed, raped, tortured, kidnapped.
The President of Zambia tried to end the carnage in 1999 when he invited the main
combatants in the war to a peace conference in Lusaka, Zambia. The Lusaka Accord
called for an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of foreign troops, except peace and

2. a UN peacekeeping force over 5,500 troops. Rwanda and Uganda remained in parts of
the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect their populations from guerrilla attacks,
but equal, and perhaps more important motivation for their occupation was to control
the minerals, agriculture and timber in the country.
A report published by the UN in April 2001 found that the DRC was "a victim of
massacres at scale and systematic and systematic exploitation of natural resources."
The report says that military commanders from various countries for different reasons
continued to need this conflict for its lucrative and temporary nature to solve some
internal problems in those countries, as well as to allow access to wealth. They realized
that war has the ability to sustain itself, and so were created and protected criminal
networks that are likely to take full ownership in all foreign troops decide to leave the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
In February 2002, the armed combatants did not comply with all the provisions of the
Lusaka Agreement. Uganda and Rwanda still occupy eastern Congo and violent clashes
between different armed groups have increased in recent months. Less than 4,000
blue helmets are on the ground and thousands more are needed. With so many
criminal and corrupt elements taking advantage of the natural resources of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, the economic incentive to maintain conflict and chaos
is greater than the desire to establish the rule of law and maintain peace. Violence and
anarchy in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to threaten the stability of at
least ten countries that share a common border with the nation.
Until March 1995, RUF forces captured most of the mines in the country, but the Sierra
Leonean army was able to stop further advancements and keep the capital with peace
assistance from Nigeria and Ghana. The RUF signed a peace agreement with the
government in November 1996. Dissident military forces overthrew the government in
1997 and formed an alliance with the RUF. Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Ghana and -
members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) - have given
diplomatic opening to the end of the conflict.
The United Nations supported the non-violent approach and prohibited arms transfers
to Sierra Leone.
Impatient with the pace of the negotiations, Nigeria took a good backlash in February
1998 and the UN Security Council established the United Nations Observer Mission in
Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL). The following year, the Revolutionary United Front of Lomé
and Government signed a peace agreement. However, the RUF quickly violated the
various terms of the agreement. The armed rebel group maintained and continued its
fight for control of diamonds. Until the early months of 2000, violent clashes with
government troops and atrocities against civilians were on the rise. In addition, the
United Revolutionary Front has captured several hundred blue helmets as hostages. In

3. May 2000, Britain deployed military units to Sierra Leone to restore order in Freetown
and evacuate its citizens and other foreigners. Although the security of British and
foreign citizens were the main reason for Britain's military intervention, historical ties
with the former colony helped stabilize the country and initiated a training program
for police and indigenous military forces . The U.S. supported UN peacekeeping
through efforts to send military equipment and Special Forces teams and trainers to
Nigeria and Ghana. This initiative, Operation Relief, strengthened Nigeria's and
Ghana's peacemaking capacity to provide security, disarm rebel forces, and facilitate
the repatriation of refugees.
In September 2001, the rebels agreed on a ceasefire, but with a lasting peace far. The
leadership of the national government has changed five times in the last 11 years. Like
the Balkans, peace has brought an end to violent conflict, but a long-term peace based
on the rule of law is far away.
Recent political and ethnic conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo date back to
1994, when fighting in neighbouring Rwanda and Burundi forced several hundred
thousand refugees in Zaire. The new demography of eastern Congo has contributed to
ethnic strife. A civil war broke out in 1996. In less than a year, the rebel movement
supported by Angola, Rwanda, and Uganda overthrew the ruling government and
realigned the distribution of natural resources in the country. After the foreign armies
established a firm position in the DRE, which took advantage of the Congolese
government weakness and consolidated its control over mineral deposits and other
resources.
In the case of blood diamonds in Angola, these actors have chosen to grant public
support and the benefit of "silent diplomacy" to José Eduardo dos Santos as a way of
guaranteeing the stability of their regime and, as a reward, of corrupt access to the
vast mineral resources, especially oil and diamonds.
There is also the moral dimension. Angola experienced a period of 43 years in a state
of war ranging from the struggle for independence (1961-75) to political discord,
fuelled by various justifications, including class, race and ethnic conflict (1975-2002).
With the end of the war in Angola, apart from the Cabinda issue, Angolan society has
demonstrated extraordinary capacity for peaceful coexistence, adopting the path of
spontaneous tolerance and reconciliation in the relationship between disadvantaged
groups.
What is it that leads a regime to subdue its own people, to reduce strata of its own
population to the subhuman condition, while its elect enrich by plundering state
patrimony and violence? The answer to these questions lies in part in the sinister
nature of the Angolan ruling class, which behaves in a venal manner as an association

4. of malefactors. This association installs fear and ignorance into society, promoting
them as acceptable forms of social behaviour.
It impoverishes society, corrupts it and sacrifices it with visible satisfaction, thus
imposing its hegemony on the vast majority of Angolans.