Persuasive Essay On Blood Diamonds

Dylan DiMonda
Ms Cameron
English 10
10 March 2014
Blood Diamonds
Have you ever looked down at your ring and wondered where it came from or how it was mined? On your very finger may be the reason why a war was started in Africa. There are regulations to try and keep these diamonds out of the market but these regulations have loopholes in which these diamonds enter the United States. In discussions of diamonds, one controversial issue has been whether or not should be sold in the United States. On the one hand, supporters contend that the sale of blood diamonds have funded wars that have supplied arms that have killed millions of people. On the other hand, critics argue that the revenue from the sale of diamonds have provided health care and
According to Mireya Navarro, “The term “Conflict Diamonds” or “Blood Diamonds” refries to gems that have been used by rebel groups to pay for wars that killed and displaced millions of people in Africa, the source of an estimated 65 percent of the worlds diamonds.” This shows that rebel groups have used the revenue from the sale of blood diamonds to start wars against central governments. Furthermore, we as a nation shouldn 't be funding the very people who are killing millions of people around the world by buying diamonds. On the positive side, Sheila R. Cherry stated that, “Diamonds represent one of the primary exports of The Central African Republic.” This shows that without diamonds, the poor nations of Africa wouldn 't be able to support their people which could lead to even more deaths than armed conflicts. Clearly, The Central African Republic depends on the sale to benefit the country. According to Shantanu Guha Ray,“ Knuckle-sized diamonds also come from The Ivory Coast, banned from trading by The United Nations following accusations of human rights violations at their mines.” This shows that the way these diamonds are mined are also killing people. Ultimately, what is at stake here is the safety of millions of people around the world. The Kimberly process also does a poor lob at filtering out blood diamonds from global
The definition of a blood diamonds, “According to the United Nations, are uncut stones traded by rebel movements or their allies to finance armed conflict against central governments” (Cherry). This shows proof of how rebels use money from the sale of blood diamonds to start wars against their governments. Furthermore, Americans shouldn 't be paying for the weapons that have killed millions of people. An example of where to money was spent is by, “The rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has led a campaign of terror against civilians since 1991, including killings, rape and mutilation” (Cherry). This detail shows that blood diamonds have been a problem for a long time but has only been recently publicized. As a result of this violence, civilians have paid the ultimate price from the sale of these diamonds. Further explanations according to Harkara are that, “Conflict diamonds originate in areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments and are used to fund military action against those governments.” This suggests that blood diamonds could be one of main sources of income to fund these wars. Clearly, the only way that consumers could help stop the flow of income to these rebel groups is to only buy diamonds that originate from conflict-free zones. Blood diamonds have funded