As always, follow the money. And paramount is the question of who funds the rebels who terrorize their own people.

In the case of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda have been mentioned. And so have the mining companies. This great interview on The Real News names the mining companies involved in Congo. Reportedly, they give private planes and payments to the rebels, and even provide housing for them! The UN calls them “the engine of the conflict” in Congo:

• Cabot Corporation, Boston, MA
• OM Group, Cleveland, Ohio
• AVX, Myrtle Beach, SC
• Eagle Wings Resources International, Ohio
• Trinitech International, Ohio
• Kemet Electronics Corporation, Greenville, SC
• Vishay Sprague, Malvern PA

I don’t know if LRA’s Joseph Kony (who now operates in Congo, too) is involved with them, but such things certainly explain how someone like him–who is said to be more an unhinged farmer than a military strategist–gets to survive and terrorize for so long.