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<blockquote data-quote="UnSafe" data-source="post: 1363836" data-attributes="member: 100">Went on an Army trip to southern Zaire in the spring of &#039;88 and spent a while based in Kamina. An incredible volume of international aircraft came and went, delivering their loads of munitions and supplies for the big fight that was winding down in Angola, then departing with containers of so called &quot;strategic minerals&quot;. I had way more important stuff to do but recall the word Coltan (thought they were talking about coal..) as one of the minerals shipped out. Turns out that that stuff was pricey enough to merit a plane ride off the continent. I came to know several of the mercenary arms shippers, all former military, all well paid but pretty much just regular grunts that found themselves involved in a monster sized logistics effort with unspoken sources. This was probably before Viktor Bout&#039;s time, but it&#039;s all the same game that&#039;s been played since private warfare began in Africa.&nbsp; It&#039;s a shady business, but don&#039;t believe for a second that our government, as well as every other major government in the world, doesn&#039;t support and use such merchants on a regular basis.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="UnSafe, post: 1363836, member: 100"] Went on an Army trip to southern Zaire in the spring of '88 and spent a while based in Kamina. An incredible volume of international aircraft came and went, delivering their loads of munitions and supplies for the big fight that was winding down in Angola, then departing with containers of so called "strategic minerals". I had way more important stuff to do but recall the word Coltan (thought they were talking about coal..) as one of the minerals shipped out. Turns out that that stuff was pricey enough to merit a plane ride off the continent. I came to know several of the mercenary arms shippers, all former military, all well paid but pretty much just regular grunts that found themselves involved in a monster sized logistics effort with unspoken sources. This was probably before Viktor Bout's time, but it's all the same game that's been played since private warfare began in Africa. It's a shady business, but don't believe for a second that our government, as well as every other major government in the world, doesn't support and use such merchants on a regular basis. [/QUOTE]

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