I'm not sure whether American citizens realize that applying Sanctions on a small nation like Ivory Coast is not the same as on Russia. It is a slow burn down of necessities that leads on to impoverishing civilians. The same technique that General Grant followed when his army burnt down farm crops. In other words, war. The modern armchair term for this is Sanctions.

Now why would US do that; apply Sanctions on IC since 2010?

The official reason is Child Labor. The fact is that the Chocolate Manufacturers Association need the cocoa but have been embarrassed by NGOs, time and again.

So 'child labor' was rephrased as child slavery.

The real reason?

IC's other export: diamonds.

In 2011 the U.N. applied sanctions citing diamond conflicts between the tribes!! But the bloody clash for diamonds has been ongoing since the French left the country in 1960

Oh yeah, diamonds are a girl's best friends.