On Dec 9, 3:28 am, DaveS wrote:
On Dec 5, 6:57 pm, riverman wrote:



On Dec 6, 10:29 am, David F wrote:

On Dec 2, 5:40 am, riverman wrote:

On Dec 2, 4:13 pm, JOHNROBERT wrote:

I have just visited GoPetition and found the following page very
interesting:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/...est-war-crimin...

Regards

John R.

Oh, how sweet. Good luck with that.

--riverman

I'll trust Obama to do whatever is needed.

I'd be just as surprised if Obama got us involved in the war in Congo
as I would be if a petition drive got MONUC to arrest Nkunda. Maybe
some political maneuvering to block the Chinese access to minerals,
but not military force.

--riverman- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

As I understand it the main motivation for this warfare that has now
taken at least 2 million lives is control of the minerals in the
region. Including one substance that is essential to cell phones.

So, wouldn't an organized international "outing," pressure,
demonstrations etc outside the Congo, putting pressure on the tech
companies (Nokia etc) who constitute the market for such materials be
more effective that the thrise failed attempts at intervention?

Dave
And I cannot avoid pointing out the involvement of people such as
Cheney, and Bush senior, over the years in this African mess as well
as various European firms doing their damndest to keep the "heart of
darkness," dark. Most Americans do not even know anything about the
"First African World War" that is heating up again.

You're pretty much on the money, as it were. The eastern Congo region
is the world's best source for Coltan, the mineral that is essential
for electronics (cell phones, computers, etc). There is also a
tremendous demand for other minerals in the region...the chinese just
signed a multi-billion dollar deal giving them exclusive access to a
tremendous amount of ore in exchange for developing the road, rail and
air network. I think this deal is the keystone that will put China at
the top of the world's superpowers within our lifetimes, and strangely
enough, most Americans know nothing of it.

But the fighting also has a tremendous resonance from the Rwandan
Genocide, which was almost purely racially motivated. The Hutu
Interamhamwe army that killed the hundreds of thousands of Tutsi, then
escaped to DRC when the Tutsi army invaded and established the current
government are still on the loose in eastern Congo, and are still
hunting down Tutsi and performing mass killings. There are also rogue
Tutsi armies that are doing the same, ostensibly in defense but by
now, no one has clean hands. But the supposition is that all these
armies are being funded either directly from sales of minerals from
the countryside (either through extortion of the mines' receipts, or
outright occupation and management), or else are being funded by
outside countries such as Rwanda, who get their money from the sales
of minerals in the region. In any case, racial hatred, resource
control and money are the driving forces behind this never-ending
conflict.

However, unless the world demand for cell phones, electronics and high-
tech gadgetry decreases, I don't see any chance of the demand for
Coltan or other ores decreasing. Nokia, et al, are over a
barrel...they need this mineral at any cost to stay in business.

Of course, the deeper roots go back to the CIA, Mobutu, and the Cold
War. Which is one reason that US-based 'solutions' are not very
welcome there, hence the Chinese involvement.

--riverman