Are You Supporting the Ivory Militia? or Are You Killing Two "Birds" with One "Stone?"

African elephants are rapidly being driven towards extinction, brought to this precipice by the love of ivory. The predominant buyers in this ivory market are American and Chinese citizens. These ivory buyers not only fuel the destruction of a highly-intelligent species, but they also directly fund the militia that commit major human rights violations in such countries as Chad and Sudan. These militia illegally kill hundreds of elephants to cut off their ivory tusks. Then the militia use the profits from the sale of this ivory to fund their violence against people. If you buy ivory, you are basically a murderer and/or rapist, only your actions are a few steps removed from the actual violent acts perpetrated by the militia you directly support. So, if you think ivory is beautiful, let it remain on its owner. Instead, go to see it on a photo/video safari, or in a museum, which, in the near future, may also be the only place you'll be able to see an African elephant.

If you'd like to know more about what militias are doing in that area of the world, please remember that Chad shares a common border with the Darfur region of Sudan. Please check out the following links:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2007/01/07/chadsudan-end-government-support-militias
http://www.amnestyusa.org/darfur/page.do?id=1351050
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR54/076/2004