Geopolitics: With the war in Afghanistan mired in uncertainty, news that the country has vast mineral treasures to exploit suggests a brighter future. But there's potential turmoil as well as copper and lithium in them thar hills. Reports earlier this week that not only those minerals but cobalt and gold have been discovered in the Central Asian hot spot, just waiting to be mined, gave fleeting hope that the yield of the newfound wealth, estimated at close to a trillion dollars, would offer an enticing exit from the bloody conflict and a new and prosperous civilization. If only. Sobriety quickly...