Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Mining Company Gives Payola to Terrorists This Sierra Club article tells how one mining company got involved with several terrorist organizations in order to protect a gold mine in their territory. This is very much like paying protection to the Mafia. I read this whole article with a combination of concern, outrage and skepticism. The last paragraph brought a thought to mind. ...The world is cinched by gold belts like the one on Mindanao. Companies from the United States and elsewhere continue to operate along them in the Philippines, but also in Indonesia, Africa, and the former Soviet Union-areas where extremist groups are active, and gaining power. (Emphasis added) Are the mining companies caught in a Catch 22? Are they financing their own tormentors? Of course they are. Any one company is probably powerless to do much about it. But if they all got together in a terrorist boycott of sorts, then maybe... Well OK. That idea is insane. Even if the boycott would work it would start with bunches of people getting killed before the terrorists ran out of gas. The only real solution might be to abandon the region completely, leaving the terrorists with nothing to fight over for a while. Then maybe more enlightened companies could come in after things settle down. That might be several generations down the road. 3:52:46 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2006 Joe Biegelsen. Last update: 4/12/2006; 6:23:18 PM.