To the editor:

Regarding George Will’s “A game of 17 questions for Obama,” (Journal-World, Oct. 1), George Will takes Barack Obama to task for not providing answers to questions, yet in his column he mentions the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) “where millions have been slaughtered as a consequence of ethnic strife.”

Millions have been slaughtered specifically as a consequence of invasions sponsored by western powers to gain control of the Congo’s mineral wealth. U.S. corporations want to control the diamonds, tin, copper, gold and coltan and niobium – the two minerals necessary for the production of cell phones. Eighty percent of the world’s coltan is located in the DRC.

In 1996, the U.S. sponsored Rwandan and Ugandan military forces, providing the money and weapons, to take over the mining areas. Soon the Rwandan army, for their share of the spoils, was making $20 million a month. Coltan, in its powder form, is then sold to Motorola, Nokia, Compaq, Sony and others that manufacture cell phones.

The wars waged by the proxy armies of the multinational corporations are why many millions have died and why there has been a constant war in the DRC. Calling this “ethnic strife” appears to be an attempt to blame the Congolese, Rwandan and Ugandan people for the slaughter. Wrong. Without the resources of multinational corporations the people of the DRC would be the beneficiaries of the nation’s resources.

Joseph W. Grant

Lawrence