What a coincidence.
^^^^^^^
Beverly Eckert, a 9/11 widow, died on
Flight 3407 (February 12, 2009). Also on that flight: Alison Des Forges of Buffalo, NY.
"Alison Des Forges of Buffalo, was senior adviser for Human Rights Watch's Africa division. Considered one of the world's leading experts on the genocide in Rwanda, Des Forges testified at 11 trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda as an expert witness. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1999.
Des Forges was returning home to Buffalo after a trip to Europe, where she had briefed diplomats on the situation in Rwanda and Africa's Great Lakes region, said Emma Daly, spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch. She sent an e-mail to colleagues from the airport before boarding the plane."
(CBS: Portraits of Victims of Flight 3407)
Wayne Madsen explains in Critic of murderous Kagame regime in Rwanda killed in crash of Continental Flight 3407:
Des Forges was quoted in the Post criticizing a deal worked out and signed in Goma, DRC, on Dec. 5, 2008, between Kagame and Kabila that permits Rwandan troops to legally enter the DRC to ostensibly clean out elements of the Rwandan Hutu militia – the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) – operating in the country. However, the FDLR is seen by both Rwanda and the DRC as a spent force that is an internal DRC problem and not a threat to Rwanda.
In return for allowing Rwandan troops into the DRC, Rwanda “arrested” its Tutsi proxy rebel general, Gen. Laurent Nkunda, after he fled the eastern DRC into Rwanda....WMR’s sources in Africa report that Nkunda is not under real arrest in Rwanda because he is not in jail. In addition, Rwanda is ignoring repeated extradition requests from the DRC for Nkunda to be returned, but it appears that these requests are merely “window dressing” attempts by Kabila’s government to show that it is interested in putting the rebel general on trial. Nkunda, a self-declared Christian preacher, is linked to a shadowy U.S.-based Pentecostal group called the “Rebels for Christ.” Nkunda is also an open admirer of George W. Bush.
...Des Forges questioned the Rwandan-DRC pact in her interview with the Post. She said, “Is the FDLR now suddenly on the verge of becoming more militarily powerful? I don’t think we’ve seen that … And if they haven’t, then what you have is Rwanda trotting out an old warhorse of an excuse to go in again. The question is, what is the intent?”
Des Forges obviously knew the answer. With U.S. military forces of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) now backing a joint Ugandan-DRC offensive in the northeastern DRC to wipe out the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), with hundreds of civilian casualties in the DRC and Uganda, and a secret pact worked out between Kabila and Kagame to permit Rwandan troops to occupy the eastern DRC, the target of both operations is securing the vast territory that is rich in commodities that the United States, Britain and Israel – all allies of Uganda and Rwanda – want badly. Those commodities are gold, diamonds, columbite-tantalite (coltan), platinum and natural gas.
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The Congo possesses 64% of the world's coltan supply.
Coltan is short for Columbite-tantalite - a black tar-like mineral found in major quantities in the Congo. The Congo possesses 64 percent of the world's coltan. When coltan is refined it becomes a heat resistant powder that can hold a high electric charge. The properties of refined coltan is a vital element in creating devices that store energy or capacitors, which are used in a vast array of small electronic devices, especially in mobile phones, laptop computers, pagers, and other electronic devices.
...Although the countries mentioned above directly exploit coltan, foreign multi-national corporations have been deeply involved in the exploitation of coltan in the Congo. The coltan mined by rebels and foreign forces is sold to foreign corporations. Although, the United Nations in its reports on the Congo do not directly blame the multi-national corporations for the conflict in the Congo, the United Nations does say that these companies serve as "the engine of the conflict in the DRC."
Major United States players identified by the UN include:
Cabot Corporation, Boston, MA
OM Group, Cleveland, Ohio
AVX, Myrtle Beach, SC
Eagle Wings Resources International, Ohio
Trinitech International, Ohio
Kemet Electronics Corporation, Greenville, SC
Vishay Sprague. Malvern, PA
Corporations from other countries have been a part of the coltan exploitation chain. These companies include but are not limited to Germany's HC Starc and EPCOS, China's Nigncxia, and Belgium's Traxys and George Forrest International.
Once the coltan is processed and converted to capacitors, it is then sold to companies such as Nokia, Motorola, Compaq, Alcatel, Dell, Hewlett-Packard , IBM, Lucent, Ericsson and Sony for use in a wide assortment of everyday products ranging from cell phones to computer chips and game consoles.
"Although, the United Nations in its reports on the Congo
do not directly blame the multi-national corporations for the conflict in the Congo,
the United Nations does say that these companies serve as "the engine of the conflict in the DRC."" ?? Honest to God, how fucking cheeky is the UN?
Sadly just another line item story in world news this week.
(
A movie about Katanga, and
a review of the movie.)
Comments
- aangirfan
Globalism is accused of ‘driving down’ wage prices. The reality is slave labour, working children and worker suicides. It is yet another policy promoted by chubby, well fed vampires.
The media seem to have focused on the vile trade in blood diamonds. Normal humans would say what’s the difference – there’s blood on them all. Maybe we should focus on blood tech, iBlood, Windows blood ©. Whatever sick slick PR trick that works.
How much is rope?
it's logarithmic.