I never bought Adam Curry’s theory that we were still in a seemingly unwinable war despite Obama’s pledge to get us out because the CIA wanted to make money off Afghan poppies like it did with other wars and their well documented (Air America, anyone?) drug running. This makes a lot more sense.
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 BlackBerrys.
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.
UPDATE: Seems some of our commenters are more on the ball than the author of the original article in honor of whom we bestow the coveted:
If this were true, then it would make sense for China to take over. China is taking over Africa for their minerals by exploiting they corruption there. They also buy a lot of minerals from Australia, and now South America.
Seeing how China borders Afghanistan, China could invade without having to cross any other nation’s ground. They could also extract raw materials back to China via the same route.
It certainly might be cheaper and easier for them. They could install their own puppet government, back it with Chinese military might, and take anything they wanted.
Good for the Afghans, but bad for us. We have already spent over a trillion dollars in the war, so if this is the reason we invaded, it is a money loser.
Obama never promised to get us out of Afghanistan. Iraq and Afghanistan are not the same war, and the liberal and libertarian tendency to confuse them annoys me.
That being said, I think this could be a good thing for Afghanistan, so long as this new industry for them doesn’t get taken over by terrorists. That might been a good enough reason to keep a small western prescience there (not necessarily us, but a western force of some kind), once the Afghan/Pakistan boarder gets hardened.
This information has only been released now because 260,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables are soon to be revealed.
We are in Iraq and Afghanistan until the resources run dry.
Period.
Oh, goodie … a reason to stay. You knew they would find a way.
I thought we are there to combat terrorism. What are we doing looking for minerals? Conspiracy theory No. ?????.
>>An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,”<<<
Oh yeah!!! we really need this situation again!
OR, this could be disinformation to keep troops in Afghanistan to protect some vague promise of riches. I bet the “science” is crap, as most mines are discovered by real core sampling and drilling. I don’t imagine anyone is risking life & limb running about a war zone doing soil samples.
The existing Afghan GDP is 12 billion?!?? (NYT)
That’s IT????!!!???
Shouldn’t we just BUY every gram of opium and put in an order for next year’s crop that included a bonus if it was composed of 50% lilies? That would cost us a fraction of what it costs to “deal” with it!
It’s time for the government to lock in land-rush deeds for the Afghan people so the country is divvied up among its citizens in an equitable way.
My wife says “It’s AVATAR all over again.” Hmmm, and I didn’t think she was paying all that much attention to the movie. I’m mildly impressed.
Cheers!
—RASTER
Raster–thats funny. But Serviously Folks, we had our foreign policy run under the Bush/Cheney Criminal Cartel in fidelity to Jack Bauer/24Hrs.
It can’t be just a coincidence that that shows ends with the Bush Regime. There are just too many links of causation.
It makes only sense that CHANGE would come and a new Hollywood Brave Wave would emminant from the West Coast fabulists to the East Coast Overloards.
So the only real question was the film meant to be Avatar, or was it put in by mistake thinking it was Idiocracy?
Nothing to see here moment.
The NYT is reporting that the country is loaded.
hmm… where can I get a map of these resources… I know!! There is a 2008 map produced by the US Government.
This map is found in “Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan”, U.S. Dept. of Defense, June 2008 according to the website publisher.
Interesting, depressing, and … it figures!
I’m just curious though, when did Obama ever claim he’d get us out of Afghanistan? I remember him specifically saying he’d end the war in Iraq (hmm… no progress there) and increase the troops in Afghanistan. Is my memory that faulty?
(google break)
Yup. He promised to send two additional brigades to Afghanistan. Of course, he then followed up by sending even more. But, that’s not a broken campaign promise.
Now, ask me my opinion of the promise. That’s a different issue.
Oops. I meant to post the link to the original campaign promise and current update.
http://tinyurl.com/ckx4do
Iraq
Bush wanted the oil
Afghanistan
Obama wants the copper
Change you can believe in.
Scott, my memory is as you confirmed. Funny, I thought Obama was lying when he said that. I thought he didn’t want to appear to be weak in the face of the knee jerk Republican response that was already at the two-bell alarm stage over Obama’s lack of support for Gitmo and Iraq.
So far though Obama seems to be acting out all his promises of note. More slowly than anyone thinks is reasonable. Gays could “in fact” be done by just saying so, details to be worked out later.
Is it just because No Drama Obama is a Lawyer or what?
I certainly wanted CHANGE and Obama is not delivering. He is just Bush light with perhaps not the financial corruption Bush brought, but too much of the government inertial/incompetency. When good men fail, we should look harder at “the system.”
This ran in The Daily Telegraph on Sunday June, 13.
“The Hairatan railway is one of several tracks currently proposed under an Afghan government 25-year-plan to build a rail ring road.
Works has begun on linking the western city of Herat to Iran and a Chinese state-owned mining firm won rights to a huge copper deposit after promising to build a railway to transport ore.”
That Chinese firm is probably the one that one the Anyak copper mining project in Afghanistan. It also would have one a similar mining project in northern Pakistan. Both areas are to be developed with railroads headed to the Chinese border. The Anyak rail will go through Tajikistan to the North.
The factors of “oil, copper, lithium, jobs, money, etc.” can no longer be discounted.
Qautum of solace?
I call for a poll. Of all the jobs associated with the development of minerals in Afghanistan, will the majority of them go to Afghans or non-Afghans?
The progress of economic development of Africa by China shows about as much respect for the natives as the USA or Brits or Spanish or French have shown everywhere they ever went. Some real differences between the groups, but basically still rape.
Awesome. At least now we’ll get something out of this mess.
Anyone that is worried about campaign promises needs to grow up. You can’t honestly be voting for people based on the “promises” they made. What is this 3rd grade?
#20 bobbo “The progress of economic development of Africa by China shows about as much respect for the natives as the USA or Brits….”
First hand experience in Africa, it’s the same respect for the natives as the natives show. In other words they can be their own worst enemy and screw each other with glee.
But people, it’s not icky oil or some rightwing mineral, it’s lithium.
The key to the green utopian future.
So this is a moral war, it’s for the rainbow ponies.
Bomb, Barry, Bomb. Get that precious lithium so everyone can have a Prius and show the world how wonderfully superior they are.
There is an estimate that 50% of America’s future lithium needs can be met with recycling. Don’t send the e-waste to developing countries.
#22–Mextli==I too have had some interesting experiences brushing up on the tribal cultures of Africa, but lets not sink to the lowest level and justify it by reference to people who by definition need our help would do on their own? The whole point with colonization is that they need our help?
And we say we do that, but its just rape, illness, and ultimately more poverty and disruption than if the foreigner had ever come to help.
VERY INSTRUCTIVE is what Bolivia is doing with their lithium reserve development. After several centuries of rape by foreigners, they are giving a go to self development. I wish them the best.
#25 – “VERY INSTRUCTIVE is what Bolivia is doing with their lithium reserve development. After several centuries of rape by foreigners, they are giving a go to self development.”
All the reason for more pressure coming from commodity markets, mining companies, etc. for cheap access.
#26–CGF==you say: “All the reason for more pressure coming from commodity markets, mining companies, etc. for cheap access.” /// I have no idea what you are meaning to say. Can you rephrase this for those slow on the uptake?
“The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists.” Every thread deserves a BS-o-meter, for our entertainment.
hellloooooo…wake up.. this is what russia was doing all during the 80’s..used to be some nice uranium deposits there too, if i recall.
search on china’s “win-win strategy” to understand how much promised infrastructure gets built..
end game..no different than all the other “friendly occupiers”
-s
ps..don’t forget those new studies in japan showing..”hmmmm maybe we should taint the drinking water supply with lithium” (ala ADA’s Fluoride is good for your teeth)
– production of all those useless lith-ion batteries will produce “unwanted lithium by-products” that needs to be disposed of…
forecasting [soon] a major discovery of “bi-polar disease” in epidemic proportions..and you know the best prevention will be…….
hey…maybe they’ll replace table salt with lithium.. (its a “salt” too, ya know)
-s
The only news here is that for some reason they’re saying the deposits have suddenly been “discovered.” The truth is they’ve been known about for years by the Afghans, the U.S., the Soviet Union, etc.
And the trillion dollar figure is an estimate from Afghanistan’s minerals/mining department — one of the more corrupt departments in its government.