US Team Identifies Trillion $ Mineral Deposits in Afghanistan
Monday’s New York Times leads with a blockbuster story and while its extraordinary news, its not surprising.
The mountains, valleys and high rock passes of Afghanistan have lured global powers and interests for centuries. The foreign parries and thrusts between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia’s Great Game throughout the 1800′s would absolutely have been fiercer had they known about this treasure. In modern terms however, this public revelation adds complexity to any continued US engagement in Afghanistan and its neighbor Pakistan, which offers the fastest land route for the minerals to the Indian Ocean and world markets. Both countries’ populations and governments are going to have cocked ears to this news and while President Karzai of Afghanistan has known for sometime, its unlikely to have spread far outside his inner circle.
US Geological Survey Mineral Map of Afghanistan, pre trillion $ find. USGS
As the world’s population grows up digitally and elements like copper and lithium continue to be highly valued, Afghanistan’s deposits set up a second Great Game scenario between China and the United States. Both countries already have small mining operations in Afghanistan, and the Chinese have already demonstrated their willingness to play outside the lines, accused of bribing an Afghan minister with $30 million while lobbying for more mining contracts. In economic development terms this extraction of wealth from the ground could spawn immensely proportional changes in one of the poorest regions of the world. However, the sophisticated technology needed to cultivate the rich veins of ore and “foot in the door” position of the US to identify and expose these deposits probably means little equity in the discoveries will belong to Afghans.
Comments
2 Comments on US Team Identifies Trillion $ Mineral Deposits in Afghanistan
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US Team Identifies Trillion $ Mineral Deposits in Afghanistan … | Afghanistan Today on
Mon, 14th Jun 2010 2:00 am
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Jack Campbell on
Wed, 16th Jun 2010 1:25 pm
[...] means little equity in the discoveries will belong to Afghans. US … Continued here: US Team Identifies Trillion $ Mineral Deposits in Afghanistan … Share and [...]
I think the US war in Afghanistan makes obtaining mining contracts, for the US, a conflict of interest. The discovery instantly muddies US motives for fighting the Taliban. It’s fashionable (and to some degree justifiable) to question US motives in any operation overseas. Now they’re fighting a war on top of a treasure chest. That’s fertile material for terrorist recruiting.
I say we just stand aside and let China take it. This would instantly accomplish two things: (1) allow the US to leverage China’s help with North Korea and Iran, and (2) allow the US to show the world its intentions are altruistic.
Those are two significant benefits. And what would it really cost us? Sure, we’d like these resources as much as anyone else, but we’ll go on fine without them.
Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
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