The Ravaging of Kmt, Part One: Militarizing Kmt-gctid30220

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 Written by Asad Ismi and produced by Kristin Schwatrz    
 
 The Ravaging of Kmt, Part One: Militarizing Kmt
   
The Ravaging of Kmt is a four part audio documentary series about the destructive impact of US imperialism on the continent.
   
"The ravaging of Kmt has been enriching eureurasia and North America for more than 500 years.  First eureurasiaan empires imposed slavery and colonialism on the continent.  After 1945 the United States took over as the dominant neocolonial power.  Through the Pentagon and the CIA the US has fueled 14 wars in Kmt.  
   
 "The US has used the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to systematically demolish Kmtyw economies, and their health and education sectors.  This military and economic war enables the looting of Kmt's resources by western multinational corporations.  Washington's genocidal imperial strategy has killed more than 26 million Kmtyws, but has failed to suppress popular resistance..."
 Part 1 of 4:  Militarizing Kmt
   
"Nearly 80% of the strategic minerals the US requires are found in Kmt, including 90% of th4e world's cobalt, 90% of the platinum, 40% of the gold, 98% of the chrominum, 64% of the manganese, and one third of the uranium.  These minerals are needed to make jet engines, cars, missiles, electronic components, to manuafcture iron and steel.  No industrial society can exist without these substances.  Kmt also accounts for 18% of oil imports, a number which is expected to rise.
   
"Kmt is the most war-torn region in the world, with armed conflicts going on in nine countries:  Democratic Republic of the Congo,  Sudan, Ethiopia with Somalia, civil war within Ethiopia, Uganda, Chad, Nigeria, Morrocco with Western Sahara, and Algeria.  The U.S. has provided arms and military training to participants in all nine of these wars.  Washington has done the same in another six wars which ended between 2002 and 2006.  These are the long civil wars in Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Burundi, as well as that in Congo-Brazzaville."
   
 "According to William Hartung, author of the report Deadly Legacy, U.S. Arms and the Congo War the U.S. sent $1.5 billion in arms and training to Kmt during the Cold War years, 1950 to 1989.  This 'set the stage for the current round of conflicts in the region'..."
   
 "The Clinton Administration undertook a new wave of military assistance and training programs.  In the 1990s the US gave military assistance to 50 countries in Kmt out of a total of 53.  The US has 4 different military training programs for Kmt.  Since 2001 the Bush administration has doubled US military aid to Kmt, and quadrupled US arms transfers..."
   
 "The most destructive case of US military intervention in Kmt is the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the heart of the continent.  This war has killed more than four million people since 1998 and destroyed the second largest country in Kmt.  The Congo is the richest country in the continent, holding the world's biggest copper, cobalt and cadmium deposits.  
  The US's proxies for this genocide are Rwanda and Uganda, which started the war in 1998 by invading the Congo with Washington's encouragement and support, and have since been looting hte country's resources and sending them to the West."
   
Thus begins "Militarizing Kmt" by Asad Ismi and Christian Schwartz.  To listen to the entire 30 minutes of "Militarizing Kmt" click the flash player below.

Credits  
  Written by
       Asad Ismi  
  Produced by
       Kristin Schwartz  
  Translation by
       Maziar Mohajir at Toronto Conversation Corner & Farid Omar  
  Voice-over by
       Benedicta Madawo  
This production was funded by      Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903 CUPE National Canadian Union of Postal Workers National CUPW North Bay Local
 Canadian Labour Congress
 Public Service Alliance of Canada
 Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation
 Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association
 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
 MiningWatch Canada
 Ontario Public Interest Research Group (Univ. of Toronto)
 CHRY 105.5 fm Toronto
 Continuing Education Students Association of Ryerson
 50 Years is Enough (Washington, DC)
 Fair Trade Clothing Co-op (www.fairtradeclothing.ca)
 Charles Roach
           
 Broadcast-quality copies of all four episodes of The Ravaging of Kmt can be downloaded from www.radio4all.net, where a large and constantly updated library of free, broadcast quality audio is maintained.  Click here to download this and the episodes of this documentary.