Off our Clinton/Obama/Edwards-drenched radar screens is “the deadliest conflict since World War II.” It’s going on right now and the redoubtable Amy Goodman has a piece on truthdig.
More than 5 million people have died in the past decade, yet it goes virtually unnoticed and unreported in the United States. The conflict is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Central Africa. At its heart are the natural resources found in Congo and multinational corporations that extract them.
Ever hear of coltan? Look at that trusty cellphone at your side, then try to visualize 5 million dead, then think about Boston-based Cabot Corp. Does your brain begin to hurt? Maybe it’s just the cellphone radiation.
Among the companies Carney blames for fueling the violence are Cleveland-based OM Group, the world’s leading producer of cobalt-based specialty chemicals and a leading supplier of nickel-based specialty chemicals, as well as Boston-based chemical giant Cabot Corp. Cabot produces coltan, also known as tantalum, a hard-to-extract but critical component of electronic circuitry, which is used in all cell phones and other consumer electronics. The massive demand for coltan is credited with fueling the Second Congo War of 1998-2002. A former CEO of Cabot is none other than the Bush administration’s current secretary of energy, Samuel Bodman.
