Ariel Freeman
December 06, 2012
History Project
(Individual Assignments)

Throughout the course of history, we have bear witness to man killing man. For various reasons, it has always been this way; whether it is for land, resources or to simply invade or protect another country, this eradicating of one another, is one of the oldest traditions carried out by man. The topic, in which we shall delve into, is the genocide occurring in the Congo. First, let’s gain a bit of knowledge about the Congo. The Congo, formally referred to as Zaire, is the second largest country in Africa. The official language of the people happens to be French. Like us, they are governed with a Democratic system. You can only imagine the chaos it is to keep a country that size in order; enforcing laws is a daily challenge for these people. This brings me to the Congo genocide conflict. What is the main source of the conflicts in the Congo you ask? The answer isn’t as simple as 1,2,3. There are many theories that’s people speculate on as to what caused it all. One of the most popular ideas is the control of the Congo’s wide range of natural resources; such as gold, diamonds, copper and many other valuable objects. One who controls these resources, will be the most prosperous and wealthy ones. Through my research, I have stumbled across many testimonies, that has put forth the idea that this was an ethnic conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsis. The sites that I have extracted information from, however, insists that it isn’t. It more leans towards that idea of it being a resource war over all other ideas; but I beg to differ. Yes I agree that the war may be revolving around money, but then again, what war doesn’t. I believe that it stemmed off of the invasion and the brutal acts committed against one another. No hands are clean when it comes to thousands of lives lost,