cell phones cause civil war in Africa

This was briefly mentioned in my Sociology class the other day, and I thought it was pretty crazy, so I researched it a bit.

Civil war has broken out in many countries in Africa, specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo, over the looting and illegal mining of an ore called Coltan, which, when refined, creates tantalum, a necessary mineral to create capacitors which are used in small electronic devices, specifically cell phones and personal organizers.

The conflict is being called Africa's First World War, which seems a little confusing to be, being that a lot of the world is unaware and uninvolved in the conflict. I suppose it's given this title because of the size and the effects of the conflict.

I just thought I would mention it. It seems like everyone has a least a cell phone now days, and I thought it was really interesting to know who's paying what prices for our conveniences.

http://www.tanb.org/coltan.html

http://www.namibian.com.na/2002/January/world/02399BB1D9.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1468772.stm