Posted on 06/14/2010 5:19:06 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
$1 Trillion in Minerals Discovered in Afghanistan [Daniel Foster]
The New York Times reports that a team of U.S. Defense Department officials and geologists have discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped iron, copper, cobalt, gold, lithium, and other minerals scattered throughout Afghanistan — enough to “fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.”
E.g.:
— An internal Pentagon memo predicts Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” an important component of high-end batteries.
— “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant,” said CENTCOM Commander Gen. David Petraeus.
— An senior adviser to the Afghan minister of mines predicted the deposits would “become the backbone of the Afghan economy.”
As it stands, Afghanistan’s $14-billion economy is propped up almost entirely by foreign aid and the illicit opium market, and it still faces 35-percent unemployment and a per capita GDP that ranks 219 in the world, between Mozambique and the Central African Republic.
The from-scratch development of the heavy industrial infrastructure it will take to develop the mineral veins will take years or even decades, and will likely spark heavy competition between firms in the U.S. and those in other regional powers like Russia and China. (In the Times story, undersecretary Brinkley also wonders, perfectly irrelevantly, whether the resources can be “be developed in a responsible way, in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible.”)
And of course, the discovery of lucrative natural resources inside Western Asia has not historically proven to be an unmitigated good. As the story notes, it could spur the Taliban to fight even harder to regain power, and could amplify the graft that already pervades government:
The corruption that is already rampant in the Karzai government could also be amplified by the new wealth, particularly if a handful of well-connected oligarchs, some with personal ties to the president, gain control of the resources. Just last year, Afghanistan’s minister of mines was accused by American officials of accepting a $30 million bribe to award China the rights to develop its copper mine. The minister has since been replaced.
Endless fights could erupt between the central government in Kabul and provincial and tribal leaders in mineral-rich districts. Afghanistan has a national mining law, written with the help of advisers from the World Bank, but it has never faced a serious challenge.
“No one has tested that law; no one knows how it will stand up in a fight between the central government and the provinces,” observed Paul A. Brinkley, undersecretary of defense and leader of the Pentagon team that discovered the deposits.
In any event, an intriguing but challenging development.
I’m sorry. I put the wrong date on this. It actually was published 6-13-10 — yesterday.
The hysterical knee-jerk left will scream, “we are raping their minerals like we are raping Iraq’s oil!”
Still waiting on that oil...
“War for Minerals” /s
No blood for Soil, LOL
Bet on Pakistan, Russian, & China.
The EPA will stick it’s nose in, pretending jurisdiction, and completely screw any chance for U.S. development.
Obama will have us busy, scooting out the back door, leaving it to bandits.
Making a messy situation even messier in todays world. Fund terrorists buying a hybrid car or an Ipad. How cool is that?
People are benefitting, just not us.
LOL - they are so predictable and yet believe they are so intelligent.
See, if we had a decent President, we’d make good use of this.
War for Soil indeed!
(In the Times story, undersecretary Brinkley also wonders, perfectly irrelevantly, whether the resources can be “be developed in a responsible way, in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible.”)
An Open Pit Mine would be an improvement in Afghanistan.
officers lie
officers lie so enlisted men
die in meaningless wars,
so officers can get their ticket punched
If I remember right, bill klintoon worked up a business deal over this about 10 years ago. I think he is a major player in this deal.
Good one, dang I wish I had said that!
Russia and China will be there, forthwith.
Maybe we should have the Pentagon set up a mining department so we can better exploit domestic resources. I’m gonna call BS. Trace minerals are *everywhere*. The problem is never the absence of minerals - it’s minerals that are economic to extract at prevailing market prices.
At least that was the cliche' for almost every Hollywood war movie made...
NO WAR FOR LITHIUM!!! (where’s Code Pink???)
GOOD!! Now they can give up growing opium.
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