Diamond Wars

Diamonds symbolize many things including wealth and love but in Africa they are a sign of death, power, and terror. The Diamond wars in Africa promote violence almost on the same level as the slave trade once did. Across African war is being fuel by the government and rebels as a mask for this smuggling enterprise. This stone the diamond, also known as the conflict stone or blood diamonds, comes from the mines and rivers of Africa ranging from Angola to the Congo. Diamonds in these areas fund rebel groups like the UNITA (Union for the Total Independence of Angola) and the RUF (Revolutionary United Front).

The conflict stones are diamonds from areas controlled by forces against legitimate governments and are used to fund their military actions. These stones have been used to rebels to obtain firearms and other illegal items. It is hard to trace the origin of a diamond once it has been brought to market and impossible once its been polished. For this reason it makes it hard to catch those in rebel groups.

Blood diamonds as some people know them(thanks to the fill starring Leonard di Caprio) are just another way of describing the brutality behind the diamond extraction from Africa. In places such as Sierra Leone, people had their hands, arms, feet, lips, and ears chopped off during a civil war pushed by diamonds as punishment.

However bad diamonds may seen there are some instance where diamonds are seen as life giving gifts, a way out of exile and poverty. At the bottom of muddy rivers in areas near Sierra Leone many rebel free families and individuals search for the powerful diamonds a way of escaping poverty. If a family or individual was to find a diamond they would be able to afford school, to help their family eat, to help their village expand, or they could possibly escape Africa altogether.
It seems ironic that the stone that stands for love and matrimony in one culture (the US) also stands for death and war (Africa). The diamond race in Africa reminds me of the slave trade so much. No, people aren't being killed as freely but there is still drive to conquers others land for diamonds and the murdering for self gain. It is disgusting.

"It has been said that war is the price of peace… Angola and Sierra Leone have already paid too much. Let them live a better life."

--Ambassador Juan Larrain, Chairman of the Monitoring Mechanism on sanctions against UNITA.

"Diamonds are forever" it is often said. But lives are not.We must spare people the ordeal of war, mutilations and death for the sake of conflict diamonds."
--Martin Chungong Ayafor, Chairman of the Sierra Leone Panel of Experts