Did Blood Diamond accurately depict the violence in Sierra Leone and the dirty underbelly of the diamond trade?
Yes. I think generally it accurately depicted what happens, how the diamond industry works, the role of the diamond industry in those conflicts, and the fact that this is not just something that happened in Africa. This is something where there was a demand by companies operating in the West for diamonds and the policy generally was, ‘Let’s not ask any questions. We want to do whatever we can to get the best diamonds at whatever cost. Even if that cost means human lives.’ The movie was very violent, but I think that that had to be the case, because that’s what happened in Sierra Leone and other countries. And that needed to be told — the fact that diamonds were behind these brutal conflicts and civil wars where millions of people died. Why do you think this issue has remained at the periphery of the American public’s eye for so long?
