Why "[buy] their genuine support" when you can just take what you want?

And I'm not saying this from an American point of view--I'm saying this from a corrupt African politician/guerilla point of view.

I hate to be so pessimistic, but honestly--Africa has been a maelstrom of violence and corruption on the first half of the upward-bound slope (not without the long sustained "assistance" of centuries of violent european domination)... it is hard to imagine what things will look like in Africa on the other side of Hubbert's peak, but certainly they will not look as good as things are today, which, relatively speaking, is not very uplifting--but what is? Jesus! Jesus! Hallelujah!

My opinion is that no one is going to even think about "buying people off"--it is easier to be corrupt and siphon it off while *paying* political lip service. Aside from how seemingly easy it is to exploit people (especially when they are uneducated, but ironically this also holds true for highly educated people as well, *oh the despair!*), it could also start a "bad" trend of actually instilling in people the idea that perhaps what's in their country belongs to them... I know, I know an absurd idea in this era of soon to be ending globalization...

MR F--
Angolans are a very savvy bunch when it comes to fighting. They held up and defeated a well financed CIA operation for decades, with the best mercenaries money could buy.
I would not discount a Angolan resistance that would cause even a violent and ruthless oil elite nightmares.
Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea Bissau were the last colonies in Africa (Portuguese), and the fighting experience is fresh.