Quote:
Originally posted by Rudey
2. Conflict diamonds: First I would like to remind everyone how brutal the situation is in Sierra Leone...where an astoundingly large population of civilians are maimed for life in order to prevent their resistance (note they were not resisting yet). Diamonds can however be traced. The largest diamond company in the world (De Beers Group) could easily identify which diamonds are theirs since they include marks into the diamonds as you mentioned. However, you don't realize the role De Beers plays in the diamond market. It owns almost the entire market from the mines to the refiners, and is a virtual monopoly in the diamond industry. Whether it is to advocate social reforms or maintain its monopolistic role, De Beers keeps tight watch over its diamonds and is against conflict diamonds which are from mines outside its control and thus competing against its own. As for the funding that went through to other terrorist groups: illegal/conflict diamonds have been used for everything from terrorism to transferring of funds between mafias...not just terrorism, but definitely including terrorism.
-Rudey
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http://www.debeersgroup.com/hotTopic...troduction.asp
Something on conflict diamonds.