{"id":200860,"date":"2021-12-06T13:10:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T13:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=200860"},"modified":"2021-12-06T13:10:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T13:10:38","slug":"backed-by-africom-corporations-plunder-dr-congo-for-climate-friendly-materials-and-blame-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/12\/backed-by-africom-corporations-plunder-dr-congo-for-climate-friendly-materials-and-blame-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Backed By AFRICOM, Corporations Plunder DR Congo for \u201cClimate-Friendly\u201d Materials and Blame China"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p3\"><em>Cobalt, a key metallic element used in lithium batteries and other \u201cgreen\u201d technology, is sourced from slave labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As the West points the finger at China, the US Africa Command is indirectly policing mining operations that profit US corporations.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom.webp\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-200862\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom-300x200.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>30 Nov 2021 &#8211; <\/em>Ever since Belgium\u2019s King Leopold II (1835-1909) established the Congo Free State in 1885, international powers have exploited the region\u2019s vast resources. Leading a regime that went on to kill an <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=_6Wwpn9nNRAC\" ><span class=\"s1\">estimated<\/span><\/a> eight million people to plunder their gold, ivory, and rubber, Leopold <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/chapter\/10.1007\/0-387-21618-9_26\" ><span class=\"s1\">reportedly described<\/span><\/a> Congo as \u201ca magnificent African cake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">More recently, US President Biden\u2019s International Trade Administration <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210520231103\/https:\/www.trade.gov\/country-commercial-guides\/democratic-republic-congo-mining-and-minerals\" ><span class=\"s1\">declared:<\/span><\/a> \u201cWith total mineral wealth estimated in the tens of trillions of dollars,\u201d what is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) \u201coffers opportunities for American firms with a high tolerance for risk.\u201d The role of the Africa Command is to reduce that risk. The US Department of Defense <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210422070748\/https:\/www.africom.mil\/article\/33698\/commander-says-africa-is-too-important-for-americans-to-ignore\" ><span class=\"s1\">says<\/span><\/a> that Africa \u201chas a plethora of strategic materials, such as cobalt, chromium, tantalum and more. African resources are critical to 21<span class=\"s2\"><sup>st<\/sup><\/span> century progress\u201d (read: US corporate dominance).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">From the late-1990s to the present, Euro-American mining, processing, and financial corporations have relied on the slave-labor of miners and the muscle of armed gangs to export rare earth metals, such as coltan and tantalum, to the West for vital components in computers, phones, missiles, etc. The rush to renewables ushers in a new era of competition for the rare metal, cobalt.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\">The US sets its sights on a mineral rich Congo<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\">DRC has an <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldometers.info\/world-population\/democratic-republic-of-the-congo-population\/\" ><span class=\"s1\">estimated<\/span><\/a> population of 93 million. The country\u2019s entire gross domestic product is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/country\/CD\" ><span class=\"s1\">around $50 billion<\/span><\/a>, making it one of the poorest countries in the world. As <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/chart\/26061\/highest-valuated-companies-by-current-market-cap\/\" ><span class=\"s1\">trillion-dollar companies<\/span><\/a> like Apple, Microsoft and Tesla rely on DRC\u2019s materials, seven in 10 Congolese survive on <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/en\/country\/drc\/overview\" ><span class=\"s1\">less than $1.90 a day.<\/span><\/a> Life expectancy is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=CD\" ><span class=\"s1\">60 years,<\/span><\/a> compared to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=US\" ><span class=\"s1\">78 in the US,<\/span><\/a> and infant mortality is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?locations=CD\" ><span class=\"s1\">66 deaths per 1,000<\/span><\/a> live births compared to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN?locations=US\" ><span class=\"s1\">5.6 in the US.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The Pentagon\u2019s main interest in Congo began during the Second World War (1939-45). Owned by Belgium\u2019s Union Mini\u00e8re, the Shinkolobwe mine in the southern Katanga province contained the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=WdxVDgAAQBAJ\" ><span class=\"s1\">purest known uranium ore,<\/span><\/a> which the US Army Corps of Engineers used in the Manhattan Project launched in 1942 to construct the world\u2019s first nuclear weapon. Ore from the mine was used in the subsequent manufacture of nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">By the 1950s, the US State Department <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=WTpAMitO_UAC\" ><span class=\"s1\">planned<\/span><\/a> to invest $660 million (around $7 billion today) to \u201cdevelop\u201d Congo\u2019s infrastructure for corporate exploitation. In 1960, Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba declared independence from Belgium, naming the country the Republic of the Congo (RoC), and making <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apps.dtic.mil\/sti\/pdfs\/ADA442948.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">relatively mild overtures<\/span><\/a> to the USSR. The politician Mo\u00efse Tshomb\u00e9 declared Katanga\u2019s independence from RoC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-africa-22006446\" ><span class=\"s1\">MI6 murdered Lumumba<\/span><\/a> and the CIA replaced him with its <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20000915103445\/https:\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/inatl\/longterm\/congo\/stories\/mobutu090897.htm\" ><span class=\"s1\">asset,<\/span><\/a> General Mobutu Sese Seko, who later renamed the country Zaire and ruled until his overthrow in 1997.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_81862\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81862\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-81862\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<div id=\"attachment_200865\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mobutu-Sese-Seko-1.webp\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-200865\" class=\"wp-image-200865\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mobutu-Sese-Seko-1.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mobutu-Sese-Seko-1.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mobutu-Sese-Seko-1-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mobutu-Sese-Seko-1-768x512.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-200865\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mobutu (left) was a key CIA asset<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p3\">Throughout the 1960s, the CIA <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.igihe.com\/IMG\/pdf\/robarge-frus_and_the_us_in_congo-1960-68-12sep2014-2.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">essentially created<\/span><\/a> and managed the Zairian Armed Forces (<i>Forces Arm\u00e9es Za\u00efroises<\/i>, ZAC), training special air units and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.maryferrell.org\/php\/cryptdb.php?id=SECAROB-1\" ><span class=\"s1\">hiring mercenaries<\/span><\/a> to bolster Mobuto\u2019s forces. Tshomb\u00e9\u2019s secession was crushed, as were intermittent struggles, such as the Simba Rebellion from 1963 to \u201965; one of whose leaders was future President, Laurent-D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Kabila. The US reluctantly tolerated <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/readingroom\/docs\/CIA-RDP79T00826A001000010067-1.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">small<\/span><\/a> Cuban and Chinese military contingents in Zaire because they did not affect mining operations. By the 1980s, Belgian, French, German, and Israeli personnel were also <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/readingroom\/docs\/CIA-RDP83S00855R000100080001-6.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">training<\/span><\/a> the ZAC.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\">Washington plays innocent bystander while fueling intrigues<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\">Geographical considerations, the involvement of neighboring states, international interference, the role of specific ethnic groups in particular conflicts, and shifting paramilitary alliances make the Congo Wars extremely complicated. What follows is a basic outline focusing on the largely-overlooked US role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Since at least 1990, the US has used Uganda as a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20181122054451\/https:\/www.amnesty.org\/download\/Documents\/152000\/afr620331998en.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">conduit<\/span><\/a> to arm Zaire\/DRC. Until Uganda\u2019s role in the wars was exposed, the Bill Clinton administration\u2019s African Crisis Response Initiative saw an initial round of US military training for the Uganda People\u2019s Defense Force. Clinton\u2019s International Military Education and Training programs continued regardless. Both programs worsened the Congo crises, as we will see.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The centerpiece of the First Congo War that began in 1996 was the overthrow of Gen. Mobutu, led by Kabila\u2019s Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (<i>Alliance des Forces D\u00e9mocratiques pour la Lib\u00e9ration du Congo-Za\u00efre<\/i>, AFDL). The AFDL was supported by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), whose Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame, now the president of Rwanda, had been <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/national\/longterm\/overseas\/overseas3a.htm\" ><span class=\"s1\">trained<\/span><\/a> by the US at Fort Leavenworth. RPF personnel were trained by the Green Berets.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_81860\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81860\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-81860 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20181211_203427.jpg?resize=720%2C444&amp;ssl=1\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20181211_203427.jpg?w=720&amp;ssl=1 720w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20181211_203427.jpg?resize=300%2C185&amp;ssl=1 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"444\" data-attachment-id=\"81860\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/thegrayzone.com\/2021\/11\/30\/africom-corporations-dr-congo-climate-china\/20181211_203427\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20181211_203427.jpg?fit=720%2C444&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"720,444\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Kagame\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Rwandan President Paul Kagame&lt;\/p&gt; \" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20181211_203427.jpg?fit=300%2C185&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20181211_203427.jpg?fit=720%2C444&amp;ssl=1\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-81860\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rwandan President Paul Kagame<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/inatl\/longterm\/congo\/stories\/070997.htm\" >Described<\/a><\/span> as a \u201cvisionary\u201d by US Gen. George Joulwan, Kagame had honed his craft murdering Hutu during the Rwanda Genocide in 1994. Hundreds of thousands of Hutu fled into DRC, settling in the eastern regions where the mineral resources happened to be located. The RPF and its allied paramilitaries occupied DRC, initially to help build up Kabila\u2019s Armed Forces, but also to avenge massacres of Tutsi and secure the mines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">We can plausibly assume based on chronicles of events that Washington\u2019s role was to play innocent bystander while benefiting from the mining and supply-chain operations of the RPF, Ugandan military, and related gangs.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\">Foreign demand for rare earth minerals drives an unprecedented death toll<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\">Even before Kabila seized power, international mining and infrastructure giants were negotiating contracts with his AFDL party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">American Mineral Fields landed a $1 billion deal to mine DRC. Bechtel hired NASA to provide satellite images of mineral-rich regions and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/26996391\" ><span class=\"s1\">allegedly<\/span><\/a> acquire information on rebel movements for Kabila\u2019s military. As Anglo-American, Barrick Gold, DeBeers, and other corporations signed mining contracts, Kabila created the <i>Banque de Commerce, du Developpement et de l\u2019Industrie<\/i> to finance mining operations. The bank was based in Rwanda, from which untraceable coltan sourced from DRC conflict areas was exported to Western corporations, including Afrimex, Banro-Resources, and Union Transport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The Second Congo War, from 1998-2003 and <i>de facto<\/i> to the present, has led to the deaths of an estimated <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC2223004\/\" ><span class=\"s1\">5.4 million<\/span><\/a> people: most of them civilians who perished from war-related hunger and disease. The war was, in large part, an effort by different powers and factions to back or depose the Kabila family dynasty, seize control of resource-rich areas, and to settle long-standing rivalries. Unlike the first war, this one was explicitly driven by demand in Asia, Europe, and North America for rare materials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The <i>Wall Street Journal<\/i> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/SB86286237043296000\" ><span class=\"s1\">reported<\/span><\/a> at the time that Kabila\u2019s nationalizations \u201csent a worrying signal \u2026 to foreign companies that are eager to do business in this mineral-rich country.\u201d Kabila soon fell out with his Ugandan and Rwandan backers, who in 1998 helped to form a new party: the Rally for Congolese Democracy (<i>Rassemblement Congolais pour la D\u00e9mocratie<\/i>, RCD). The anti-Kabila RCD splintered into militant rebel groups and advanced across the country. Troops from Angola, Chad, Libya, and Zimbabwe entered DRC to back Kabila, who was assassinated in 2001, leaving his son Joseph (b. 1971) to rule from 2003 until 2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">As far as international investors were concerned, the myriad rebel factions were <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20201101032212\/https:\/fotcweb.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/mapping_report_en.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">crucial for maintaining the supply lines<\/span><\/a> of rare materials. Typically, they were smuggled to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/236832089_Stolen_Goods_Coltan_and_Conflict_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_Congo\" ><span class=\"s1\">Europe-bound cargo planes<\/span><\/a> via Rwanda.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_81857\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81857\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-81857 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?resize=770%2C433&amp;ssl=1 770w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?resize=1400%2C788&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?w=1600&amp;ssl=1 1600w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-attachment-id=\"81857\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/thegrayzone.com\/2021\/11\/30\/africom-corporations-dr-congo-climate-china\/mf12-film-kony2012-2_0\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?fit=1600%2C900&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1600,900\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Kony 2012\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;From the Kony 2012 psy-op by the NGO Invisible Children&lt;\/p&gt; \" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?fit=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thegrayzone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/MF12-FILM-Kony2012-2_0.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-81857\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From the Kony 2012 psy-op by the NGO Invisible Children<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"p3\">Kony 2012: a US psy-war op aimed at protecting a key proxy<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\">Uganda\u2019s President Yoweri Museveni was one of America\u2019s top proxies in DRC, and a UN report <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/news\/uganda-rwanda-plunder-congo-says-un-1.303217\" ><span class=\"s1\">describes<\/span><\/a> Uganda as a main sponsor of the conflict. In his effort to remove Museveni, the so-called Lord\u2019s Resistance Army (LRA) led by the cultist Joseph Kony attacked Uganda from DCR. In 2006, the UN <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20140424211035\/http:\/www.trust.org\/spotlight\/Uganda-violence\/?source=search\" ><span class=\"s1\">backed<\/span><\/a> Uganda\u2019s invasion of DRC to hunt for Kony. The newly-formed US Africa Command (AFRICOM) provided covert assistance to Uganda, including training and satellite phones, in a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/02\/07\/world\/africa\/07congo.html\" ><span class=\"s1\">failed counterinsurgency<\/span><\/a> war which caused the LRA to exacerbate their killings in DRC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">From <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20180713033649\/https:\/www.soc.mil\/SWCS\/SWmag\/archive\/SW3003\/USASOC%25202035.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">2011 to 2017<\/span><\/a>, the US initiated the anti-Kony operation, Observant Compass. As part of the mission, the US Special Operations Command Africa <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20201017014127\/https:\/www.soc.mil\/SWCS\/SWmag\/archive\/SW3201\/mission_of_attrition.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">established<\/span><\/a> a task force \u201cto command and control the operation that stretched from Uganda, through the eastern [DRC] into the Central African Republic, and across South Sudan.\u201d Personnel from the fabled A-Team \u201cserved as advisors to [the] African Union Regional Task Force.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Released in the eponymous year, the documentary <i>Kony 2012<\/i> brought the atrocities of the LRA to international attention. But US Special Operations Command documents <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20180713033649\/https:\/www.soc.mil\/SWCS\/SWmag\/archive\/SW3003\/USASOC%25202035.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">suggest<\/span><\/a> that the film\u2019s producer, the NGO Invisible Children, was unwittingly part of a US psychological warfare operation. Army Special Operations Forces name the Congolese and Ugandan militaries, as well as several NGOs including Invisible Children, as \u201cpartners\u201d in their operations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Unlike the first attempt, Observant Compass reduced the LRA\u2019s numbers and notoriety.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\">As China fears rise, AFRICOM enters the fray \u2013 and atrocities ensue<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\">Washington and various European \u201cformer\u201d colonial powers shifted policy from indirectly backing proxies, like the Uganda and Rwanda-supported rebels, to \u201cprofessionalizing\u201d the central Armed Forces (<i>Forces Arm\u00e9es de la R\u00e9publique D\u00e9mocratique du Congo<\/i>, FARDC). The George W. Bush administration introduced a DRC \u201csecurity sector reform\u201d program, which included hiring the private <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/oxfam-us\/static\/oa4\/no-will-no-way.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">\u201ccontractor,\u201d<\/span><\/a> Camber Corporation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The Bush administration\u2019s urge to \u201cprofessionalize\u201d and \u201clegitimize\u201d the FARDC coincided with China\u2019s growing activities in the country. A Fort Benning Training and Doctrine Command document <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.benning.army.mil\/mssp\/security%2520topics\/Potential%2520Adversaries\/content\/pdf\/OE%2520to%25202028%2520final%2520signed.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">bemoaned<\/span><\/a> the fact that in 2007 \u201cChina signed an agreement with [DRC] in which China provides $5 billion for infrastructure improvements in exchange for rights to DRC\u2019s natural resources.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Now that China was in DRC, human rights and traceable supply lines suddenly became a concern for Washington. US advanced training of the FARDC coincided with the passing of Dodd-Frank 2010, which <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20121022212217\/https:\/www.sec.gov\/comments\/s7-40-10\/s74010-326.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">required<\/span><\/a> the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to mandate companies to verify supply chains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">In the same year, AFRICOM <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.army.mil\/article\/34756\/u_s_and_drc_in_partnership_to_train_model_congolese_battalion\" ><span class=\"s1\">facilitated<\/span><\/a> the US-DRC military partnership. The objective was \u201cto transform the [FARDC],\u201d among other things for \u201cinternal security operations.\u201d A new Light Infantry Battalion was inaugurated by US Ambassador William Garvelink at the Kisangani Base Camp in north-central DRC. Training was provided under AFRICOM\u2019s Special Operations Command, led by Brig. Gen. Christopher Haas, and unnamed State Department \u201ccontractors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">By September, 750 soldiers had graduated in what AFRICOM <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africom.mil\/article\/7727\/750-congolese-soldiers-graduate-from-us-led-milita\" ><span class=\"s1\">describes<\/span><\/a> as \u201ca model for future reforms within the Congolese armed forces\u201d and reveals the creation of a new 391<span class=\"s2\"><sup>st<\/sup><\/span> Commando Battalion. Commander of training at Camp Base, Maj. John Peter Molengo, said: \u201cIn 2006 our president [Bush] promised a transformation of the [DRC] armed forces. I see this as an important step.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Within a few years, the \u201cimportant step\u201d was revealed for what it was. Members of the Battalion had been exposed by the UN looting villages, murdering civilians, and raping dozens of women and girls, some as young as six. <i>Stars and Stripes<\/i> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stripes.com\/theaters\/africa\/us-trained-congolese-battalion-among-units-accused-of-rape-1.220357\" ><span class=\"s1\">reported:<\/span><\/a> \u201cAFRICOM declined to comment \u2026, referring questions to the U.S. State Department.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\">Uganda\u2019s military spreads chaos<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\">If adding to chaos is the goal, AFRICOM\u2019s strategy is working. To date, there are <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/global-conflict-tracker\/conflict\/violence-democratic-republic-congo\" ><span class=\"s1\">4.5 million internally displaced<\/span><\/a> Congolese, over one million of whom lost their homes during fighting in 2016-17 alone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Like the LRA, another rebel group \u2013 this time, Islamic \u2013 called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), bolted from the Ugandan military and based itself in DRC where it is now attempting to establish a caliphate. The UN Organization Stabilization Mission DRC is helping the FARDC. Operations that began in North Kivu in November 2019 wound up displacing 400,000 people. In a repeat of botched US efforts to conquer the LRA, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/NewsEvents\/Pages\/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25928&amp;LangID=E\" ><span class=\"s1\">FARDC tactics<\/span><\/a> caused the ADF to enter previously peaceful territory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Founded in the 1970s, the Cooperative for Development of the Congo (<i>Coop\u00e9rative de d\u00e9veloppement \u00e9conomique du Congo<\/i>, CODECO) is an umbrella of militia based in Ituri province in the northeast. CODECO mainly consists of ethnic Lendu whose are engaged in long-standing conflict with the Hema people. Despite the July 2020 peace agreement, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rulac.org\/news\/drc-a-new-conflict-in-ituri-involving-the-cooperative-for-development-of-th\" ><span class=\"s1\">FARDC operations<\/span><\/a> have exacerbated the violence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Founded in 1969, the ethno-federalist Kongo-majority Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK) is a Christian cult that encourages violence against non-Kongo peoples, even setting up roadblocks to divide communities. The BDK faces crackdowns by the police and FARDC, which in April 2020 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2020\/05\/19\/dr-congo-bloody-crackdown-political-religious-group\" ><span class=\"s1\">launched anti-BDK operations<\/span><\/a> in Kongo Central and in the capital, Kinshasa.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\">Greenwashing the race for trillions in renewables profits<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\">As the violence continues across much of the country, so do the exports to most of the world. Corporate profiteering from the global climate emergency has triggered a cobalt rush. The unreliability of DRC supply chains has also triggered a move to design cobalt-free renewables.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Concentrated among 3,000 companies, the so-called global green economy is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ftserussell.com\/blogs\/putting-numbers-global-green-economy\" ><span class=\"s1\">worth $4.5 trillion<\/span><\/a>; more than the international oil and gas sector. The renewables market alone is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/1094309\/renewable-energy-market-size-global\/\" ><span class=\"s1\">worth over $600 billion<\/span><\/a>. Electric vehicles (EV) are <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/271537\/worldwide-revenue-from-electric-vehicles-since-2010\/\" ><span class=\"s1\">valued at around $170 billion<\/span><\/a> and expected to growth to $700 billion within the next five years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Cathodes are an essential part of the lithium ion batteries (LiBs) that, until recently, had been ubiquitous but tiny, hitherto requiring small amounts of cobalt. The emerging EV market means that large 100 kilowatt-per-hour LiBs contain 20 kg of cobalt in their cathode components. The US Department of Energy <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/eere\/vehicles\/articles\/reducing-reliance-cobalt-lithium-ion-batteries\" ><span class=\"s1\">explains<\/span><\/a> that in addition to being mined, cobalt (Co) is obtained as a by-product of other materials and almost entirely sourced from abroad, making US businesses dependent on metal markets and exporting countries. American corporations are therefore \u201clooking to secure sources of Co, to drastically reduce the Co content in LiBs, or both.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">At present, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/blog-post\/drc-mining-industry-child-labor-and-formalization-small-scale-mining\" ><span class=\"s1\">255,000 Congolese<\/span><\/a> mine for cobalt, mainly in the conflict-free south, earning less than $2 per day with no benefits in conditions that are both immediately hazardous (e.g., collapsing tunnels, dangerous tools) and carry long-term risk (e.g., respiratory, orthopedic). Some 40,000 cobalt miners are children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Bolstered by their legal obligations to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, numerous US corporations have attempted to greenwash their supply chains by claiming that they are sourced ethically. The Anglo-Swiss mining giant, Glencore, has a market capitalization <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/companiesmarketcap.com\/glencore\/marketcap\/\" ><span class=\"s1\">roughly equal<\/span><\/a> to DRC\u2019s entire GDP. In recent years, it has signed partnership pledges with renewables customers to ethically source cobalt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Other initiatives include Apple\u2019s Supplier Responsibility Progress reports. BMW, Samsung, and others, meanwhile, have launched the Cobalt for Development Project. Tesla says that it will phase out cobalt from its lithium batteries and, in the meantime has, joined the Fair Cobalt Alliance. But a recent class action lawsuit on behalf of several injured Congolese miners <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/iradvocates.org\/sites\/iradvocates.org\/files\/stamped%2520-Complaint.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">alleges<\/span><\/a> that Alphabet (Google), Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla are \u201caiding and abetting the cruel and brutal use of young children \u2026 to mine cobalt.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\">Playing the blame China game<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\">Despite the greenwashing, the cobalt mining, refining, smelting, and exportation industries remain dangerous, exploitative, polluting, and terrible for public relations. On the other hand, these conditions help to keep production costs low and profits high. The informal solution for many Western businesses and governments is to deploy media, NGOs, and the intelligentsia to point the moral finger of blame at China, whose corporations operate extensively in southern, cobalt-rich DRC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">For example, a recent <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/global-development\/2021\/nov\/08\/cobalt-drc-miners-toil-for-30p-an-hour-to-fuel-electric-cars\" ><span class=\"s1\"><i>Guardian<\/i> article<\/span><\/a> exposes the cruel working conditions in the town of Fungurume imposed on small and \u201cartisanal\u201d miners contracted by the big, so-called legitimate companies, like China\u2019s Molybdenum. Describing a \u201cslave and master\u201d relationship, one of thousands of miners revealed how he works for $3.50 a day, eating two tiny bread rolls, with wages deducted for missing work.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_200863\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom2.webp\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-200863\" class=\"wp-image-200863\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom2-1024x474.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom2-1024x474.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom2-300x139.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom2-768x355.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/congo-africa-africom2.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-200863\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A November 8, 2021 Guardian article sponsored by Pam Omidyar\u2019s Humanity United<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p3\">The report was funded by Humanity United, an NGO <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/humanityunited.org\/performancereport2011\/\" ><span class=\"s1\">founded<\/span><\/a> by eBay billionaire and <i>Intercept <\/i>owner Pierre Omidyar\u2019s wife, Pam. Humanity United has received grant money from numerous sources, including the William J. Clinton Foundation. \u201cThis grant funded Humanity United\u2019s continued contribution and membership to the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">But such reports omit that China\u2019s Molybdenum is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/quote\/shareholders\/shareholders.html?symb=CMCLF&amp;subView=institutional\" ><span class=\"s1\">owned<\/span><\/a> by US institutional investors: JPMorgan Funds, Vanguard Total International, Vanguard Emerging Markets, BlackRock, and others. Amnesty International <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amnestyusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Time-to-recharge-online-1411.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">traces<\/span><\/a> the \u201cdownstream\u201d supply chain of Chinese-acquired cobalt to Asian, European, and US corporations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Cobalt is typically smelted and refined by China\u2019s Huayou and its CDM subsidiary, put into batteries by Amperex, BYD, LG, Samsung, Sony, and others, and sold as components in Apple, BMW, Dell, Fiat-Chrysler, GM, Microsoft, Tesla, and other Western products.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p3\">Weaponizing space to win the \u201cGreat Power Competition\u201d<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p3\">DRC is directly linked to Washington\u2019s long-term efforts to rule the world by force. Just as King Leopold II described Congo as a \u201cmagnificent African cake,\u201d ex-US Naval Intelligence Officer, Dr. Mir Sadat, Policy Director of the National Security Council, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/f\/?id=00000177-9349-d713-a777-d7cfce4b0000\" ><span class=\"s1\">says:<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">\u201cGreat Power Competition in space is in some ways analogous to the Great Game of the 19<span class=\"s2\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span> and early 20<span class=\"s2\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span> centuries between Great Britain and Russia, which competed over access to resources and geostrategic positioning in Central and South Asia. Today, there is a similar great game brewing between China and other spacefaring nations led by the United States over access to potential cislunar [between Earth and Moon] resources and overall space dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">But it wasn\u2019t China that first declared its intention to rule space and therefore the world. In 1997, the US Space Command <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ia802705.us.archive.org\/10\/items\/pdfy-j6U3MFw1cGmC-yob\/U.S.%2520Space%2520Command%2520Vision%2520For%25202020.pdf\" ><span class=\"s1\">published<\/span><\/a> its \u201cfull spectrum dominance\u201d doctrine: to weaponize space by the year 2020 \u201cto protect U.S. interests and investment\u201d (read: corporate profits). Endangering us all, \u201cfull spectrum dominance\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/2021\/11\/10\/the-us-is-set-to-make-nuclear-war-more-likely\/\" ><span class=\"s1\">includes<\/span><\/a> hypersonic missile drones and high-altitude craft that can strike Russia and\/or China with \u201clow-yield\u201d nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Like other products that emerged from taxpayer funding under the cover of military research and development (satellites, computers, the internet, etc.), space exploration is now commercialized through companies like Jeff Bezos\u2019s Blue Origin company, while serving the Pentagon by, for instance, launching military satellites, as Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX has done. The Pentagon and other federal agencies describe this arrangement as the Space Industrial Base.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Sadat <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/expert\/mir-sadat\/\" ><span class=\"s1\">helped to establish<\/span><\/a> the Space Force, which largely took over from the Space Command. Specifically naming cobalt and other rare materials as the \u201cgreatest\u201d supply risks, a fear-mongering report about supposed lack of US influence, co-authored by Sadat and sponsored by the Space Force, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/f\/?id=00000177-9349-d713-a777-d7cfce4b0000\" ><span class=\"s1\">says:<\/span><\/a> \u201cThe United States must compete for global market share and leadership \u2013 currently dominated by China, Russia over terrestrial commodities \u2013 basic and manufactured \u2013 into the space economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">It may turn out that the millions of destitute Congolese sitting on tantalum and coltan, and the hundreds of thousands of slave-like and child miners toiling in hazardous conditions to extract these products are not the only victims. If the \u201cGreat Game\u201d for \u201cfull spectrum dominance\u201d continues without grassroots pressure to end it, escalating geopolitical \u201ccompetition\u201d between nuclear powers could annihilate the rest of the world as well.<\/p>\n<p>___________________________________________<\/p>\n<p class=\"cb-author-bio biography\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tj-coles.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-200861 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/tj-coles-e1638795166782.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"90\" height=\"108\" \/><\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"cb-author-bio biography\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><i>T.J. Coles is a postdoctoral researcher at Plymouth University\u2019s Cognition Institute and the author of several books, the latest being <\/i>We\u2019ll Tell You What to Think: Wikipedia, Propaganda and the Making of Liberal Consensus<i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thegrayzone.com\/2021\/11\/30\/africom-corporations-dr-congo-climate-china\/\" >Go to Original &#8211; thegrayzone.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cobalt, a key metallic element used in lithium batteries and other \u201cgreen\u201d technology, is sourced from slave labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As the West points the finger at China, the US Africa Command is indirectly policing mining operations that profit US corporations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":200862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[237,131,244,463,550,1991,645,1442,1059,95],"class_list":["post-200860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","tag-africa","tag-africom","tag-china","tag-corporate-empires","tag-corruption","tag-d-r-congo","tag-international-trade","tag-multinational-corporations","tag-transnational-corporations","tag-us-military"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}