no tomorrow, 2000

Diamonds. Small pieces of carbon with no great intrinsic value had been causing widespread death, destruction, and misery for almost a decade by 2000 in the small West African country of Sierra Leone.
In the 60's and 70's, a really weak post-independence democracy was taken over by state-sponsored corruption. The economy declined and the rule of the military than followed. The rebellion that began in 91 could be characterized by banditry and horrific brutality, primarily wreaked on civilians. The war claimed over 75 thousand! lives, causing half a million of Sierra Leoneans to become refugees, and displaced half of the countries 4.5 million people.
The point of the war might not have been to win, but to engage in crimes being profitable under the cover of warface. Organized crime over the years began to influence the informal mining of diamonds which was mainly dominated by what people would call "disorganized crime". Transcontinental smuggling not just of diamonds, but of other horrible things such as guns, drugs and disgusting sums of money were an influence aswell. Violence was becoming central to the advancement of those with vested interests.
Now De Beers, until the 80's, was directly involved in Sierra Leone. De Beers had concessions to mine diamonds off the shore and maintained a buying office in town. Ever after that time, the relationship had been indirect. De Beers ran a diamond trading company through Liberia and an office in Guinea. Both countries didn't even produce a lot of diamonds. Liberia was known to be a transit country for smuggling diamonds. It's through it's companies and buying offices in the West of Africa, in their attempt to mop up supplies throughout the world, that the company was purchasing diamonds, in one way or another, that had been smuggled out of Sierra Leone.
The first Sierra Leone diamond was found in 1930. The production of top quality gem diamonds began in 1935. Siaka Stevens became Prime Minister 7 years after independence in 1968. He was a populist and quickly turned diamonds into a political issue. He encouraged illicit mining and even became involved in criminal activities. In 71, he created the National Diamond Mining Company. All decisions were made by Stevens and his right hand man, some Lebanese character.
From the late 70s to early 90s, aspects of Lebanon's civil war were played out in miniature in Sierra Leone. The country's diamonds became an important informal tax base and the Lebanese sought finanical assistance from the country. The right hand Lebanese bloke was sent into exile after a failed coup attempt. This opened doors for many Israeli "investors" and Russian and American crime families, with dirty ties.
In 1991, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel began. A military government took over - the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC). Despite change, RUF attacks still continued. Liberia just acted as a banker, as a a trainer, a mentor to the RUF. Pft.
By the end of the 90's, Liberia had become a major centre for massive diamond-related criminal activity. In return for weapons, it provided RUF with an outlet for diamonds and had done the same for other diamond producing countries, providing a safe haven for organized criminal acts and fuelling war.

i'm tired, to be continued.