Shinzo Abe Quits

1) Quote from post #4: “His involvement with the diamond mining operations of Sierra Leone [is] particularly impressive.”

2) From one of the interesting links cited above in post #7(http://ishingen.wordpress.com/…..-taro-aso/):

“….Aso then left [Japan] again, this time to study at the University of London.

Work – Following his time in London, Taro Aso worked for a diamond mining company in Sierra Leone. After two years, civil war forced him out of the country. In 1966, he joined the family company, Aso Industry (formerly Aso Mining Company, later Aso Cement Company), and held the post of president from 1973-1979…”

3) My point: while I’m sure that the mid-1960’s were a time of political turmoil at the high levels of government in the newly freed Sierra Leone –

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone

I don’t know that the period of Aso’s employment there in the diamond mining industry (mid-1960’s?) can be properly characterized as one of “civil war”.

Sierra Leone’s civil war period (and the associated international sanctions/distaste for “conflict diamonds”) began around 1991, long after Aso had departed from there (at least according to the ishingen bio link cited in post #7).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S....._Civil_War

4) Of course, I’m not an expert in either Taro Aso’s biography (indeed, had never heard of the chap before this link) or the history of Sierra Leone.

Nor am I inclined to be naive about the probable working conditions of poor Sierra Leonian placer diamond miners in the 1960’s (and possibly the 1970’s, if Aso Mining Company was still “doing” Sierra Leone diamonds then).

Still, if the implication is that Aso as a mining company executive may have been cackling over trays of uncut west African “conflict” diamonds — while back in Sierra Leone poor Africans were getting slaughtered (and/or their limbs chopped off) in the midst of a civil war over diamonds — I think somebody is going to have to do a better job of getting their West African history of recent decades synchronized with Aso’s biography.

In response to #10 —

1) the below quote appears to be the “elaboration” from the link you provided (”Diamond Mining Industry Annual Review for 2004″, which appears to be the first of these that had a section specifically pertaining to Sierra Leone):

“…Liberia… became a ready conduit for Sierra Leone’s smuggled diamonds. As much as 55% of the gems were smuggled out each year during the late 1950’s. This problem, partially contained through security operations in the 1960’s, grew again after President Siaka Stevens effectively nationalized the lucrative SLST mines in 1970.

Diamond production peaked in the 1960’s, with Sierra Leone effectively exporting 1.7 million carats per annum by the end of the decade. Another 300,000 carats probably left the country illegally. For much of the 1960’s and 70’s, diamonds accounted for 70 per cent of Sierra Leone’s foreign exchange earnings. High-level official corruption and the collapse of much of the state’s infrastructure, however, complicated the age-old problem of smuggling, and by 1985 Sierra Leone was officially exporting a paltrey 50,000 carats a year….”

2) You said: “Still, corruption was rampant…I wonder where the funds siphoned off the diamond trade went at this stage of the game.”

I guess you mean to imply that as a young employee (presumably some type of manager in his family’s mining company operations in Sierra Leone) Taso may have had a hand in some vague “corruption” involving smuggled Sierra Leonian diamonds in the 60’s and 70’s.

If so, the quoted material from the review above seems like pretty thin grist for your mill. From the scant information provided, it seems to me that it could be just as probable that the young Aso, fresh from the University of London and imbued with a respect for the Anglo-Saxon ethic of the rule of law, might have become fed up with government-level corruption in Sierra Leone and after a couple of years asked his company to be transferred out of the country.

And that the Aso Mining Company was only involved with a portion of the 70 per cent of legally mined diamonds exported from the country — as mentioned in the quote from your link.

3) But — I suppose there could be a story there; I don’t know how the Japanese domestic press works, but if they are anything like their American counterpoints somebody will now take an interest in this period of Aso’s life and start digging (if they haven’t already).

That would be “fairer” (or so it seems to this American) than just idly speculating that Aso might have been involved in some vague “corruption” way back when.