A Decade Long War
In today’s society we are uncertain and do not have answers for many things in
life. We have reached a point where we look for an answer in the weirdest places when
all we would have to do is look right in front of us for the answer. In my opinion a fight
to change the future is a future that needs to be changed. What reasons do we change and
how far do we go until we decide we need a change? In the case of Sierra Leone when
there was an issue with conflict diamonds back in the late 1990’s how long did it take
before the issue was changed for the better and what was the economic effect in the
latter?
In the African country called Sierra Leone there was an up rise in war within their
country among their own people. This is what is called a civil war. A civil war is a war
between political faction or regions within the same country. On a daily basis there were
individuals that were dying in the hundreds on a daily basis. In my opinion, I would
classify this as genocide. Genocide is when there is a deliberate and systematic
extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. With the slaughter of many
African people over the diamonds through war and conflict, Sierra Leone’s economy
plummeted drastically. As of 1998 Sierra Leone was officially named the poorest country
in the world.
Over the years Sierra Leone lost over half 1/3 of their population. To be exact two
million individuals lost their lives. The effect this had on the people of Sierra Leone was
devastating both adults and children were shown no mercy. When Joseph Mamoh, a
military leader, was elected president of Sierra Leone his main goal was to gain control of
the diamond industry. The economy of Sierra Leone became so bad that there was no
longer food to eat on a daily basis especially in some war torn cities, and their money was
getting weaker. As of 1999 when the UN...