Totally apropos of nothing, this is the senior leadership at Africom right now.
Leopold’s colonial rule of the Congo Free State resulted in the death of up to 10 million. Belgian colonial rule didn’t change that much. Shortly after Congolese independence, the CIA helped assassinate their newly elected leader Lumumba.
They replaced him with Mobutu. This allowed the worst colonial abuses to continue. Crucially so did the extraction of minerals. Copper, cobalt, uranium, … very important for America’s interests and economy. Unfortunately this meddling would ultimately result in the first and second Congo war and another 5 million dead. Oops.
Given Africom effectively allows the US to engage in force projection and colonialism in Africa, isn’t it fitting that it’s all white men running the show from Europe?
Some fun facts because I’m bored:
A few years back Tesla signed a large cobalt contract with Umicore. Umicore is in part a successor to Union Minière du Haut-Katanga, a mining company that is in part responsible for that 10 million death toll.
It is estimated that child labour still accounts for 30% of cobalt mining in the Congo. Some as young as 7. Tesla goes zoom.
AFAIK the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently not on Trump’s travel ban list, likely because the US is negotiating a new minerals deal. It could also be because Trump or the Whitehouse confused the DRC with the much smaller Republic of Congo. It could also be because Trump is on record as saying he doesn’t know what the Congo is, let alone where it is.
The DRC has a population of over 100 million, and suffers from the so called resource curse. They produce 70% of the world’s cobalt, have 70% of the world’s coltan, and 30% of the world’s diamonds.
Given Africom effectively allows the US to engage in force projection and colonialism in Africa, isn’t it fitting that it’s all white men running the show from Europe?
I would say it is symptomatic of the attitude that the US military leadership has towards its peers in Africa, certainly.
Leopold’s colonial rule of the Congo Free State resulted in the death of up to 10 million. Belgian colonial rule didn’t change that much. Shortly after Congolese independence, the CIA helped assassinate their newly elected leader Lumumba.
They replaced him with Mobutu. This allowed the worst colonial abuses to continue. Crucially so did the extraction of minerals. Copper, cobalt, uranium, … very important for America’s interests and economy. Unfortunately this meddling would ultimately result in the first and second Congo war and another 5 million dead. Oops.
Given Africom effectively allows the US to engage in force projection and colonialism in Africa, isn’t it fitting that it’s all white men running the show from Europe?
Some fun facts because I’m bored:
A few years back Tesla signed a large cobalt contract with Umicore. Umicore is in part a successor to Union Minière du Haut-Katanga, a mining company that is in part responsible for that 10 million death toll.
It is estimated that child labour still accounts for 30% of cobalt mining in the Congo. Some as young as 7. Tesla goes zoom.
AFAIK the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently not on Trump’s travel ban list, likely because the US is negotiating a new minerals deal. It could also be because Trump or the Whitehouse confused the DRC with the much smaller Republic of Congo. It could also be because Trump is on record as saying he doesn’t know what the Congo is, let alone where it is.
The DRC has a population of over 100 million, and suffers from the so called resource curse. They produce 70% of the world’s cobalt, have 70% of the world’s coltan, and 30% of the world’s diamonds.
I would say it is symptomatic of the attitude that the US military leadership has towards its peers in Africa, certainly.