Posted on 06/13/2010 6:27:46 PM PDT by americanophile
WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.
An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and Blackberries.
The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.
While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.
“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
We need to take advantage of that but also use it to elevate the Afghan’s standard of living enough but not too much where is can be a weapon against us.
Okay.....thanks for the try.....I’ll sniff around google to see what I can find.....thanks again for the tip.
Hmmm...maybe they should rename the US Military the “Chinese Resource Exporation Organization”. You would think, since we can’t do it here anymore, we could do it there...the land in Afganistan is worthless for just about anything else...
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We aren't going anywhere till “our people” are firmly established.
We'll spend a half trillion to secure half of the one trillion.
WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.
Yep! They could be transformed into one of the richest Islamic terrorist training centers in the world ... hoo-boy!
How far is China from Afghanistan?
Right on their border ...
Well, if Iraq is any precedent, we’ll probably spend a trillion fighting the war in Afghanistan, and then hand the minerals over to the Chinese and the French. That’s what we did in Iraq.
Exactly! The US Taxpayer gets the bill ... the Islamic Terrorists get a new "worldwide training center" ... doncha know ...
There is indeed a God and He’s am American! God Bless America! Take that where the sun don’t shine, America-haters of the world!
You gotta be kidding if you think this is going to help the U.S. It will help the Islamic Terrorists... though ... without a doubt. They'll have plenty of money now, in Afghanistan, for their "Jihad against the entire world" ...
I’d be surprised if there weren’t plenty of mineral wealth there. But as to extracting it I’ll also believe it when I see it. I fear you may need to first extract either the Afghanis, or at least their psychology. Mining the asteroid belt may prove easier.
We will never leave Krapganistan
Don't worry... the U.S. will be "outta there" pretty soon, as President Karzai is getting tired of us, is seeking better relations with Pakistan (they're the ones who fund the Taliban and orginally sent them over to Afghanistan), and Karzai is seeking a working relationship with the Taliban.
The Taliban will be getting new facilities for the "Worldwide Jihad Training Camp" soon... I suspect...
The Taliban will get rich like the Saudi’s and spread Islam everywhere...lovely.
$10,000.
Gold Going to Parabolic Top of $10,000 by 2012 For Good Reasons
It will be a game changer for sure.
Also Bi-polar treatment.
Here comes a big bear growlin...
Also expect Putin and co to get in there.
Sorry, Pakistan is in the way... China and Pakistan share a common border, but not Afghanistan and China.
The same God who funded militant islam with oil now wants to fund militant islam with lithium and you're celebrating? Why?
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