There's Gold in Them Thar Hills

[NickCole]

Just the other day Bob Herbert wrote an excellent piece, The Courage to Leave, about it being long past time we get the hell out of Afghanistan because we're not winning anything.

There is no good news coming out of the depressing and endless war in Afghanistan. There once was merit to our incursion there, but that was long ago. Now we’re just going through the tragic motions, flailing at this and that, with no real strategy or decent end in sight.

The U.S. doesn’t win wars anymore. We just funnel the stressed and underpaid troops in and out of the combat zones, while all the while showering taxpayer billions on the contractors and giant corporations that view the horrors of war as a heaven-sent bonanza. BP, as we’ve been told repeatedly recently, is one of the largest suppliers of fuel to the wartime U.S. military. ...

There is no overall game plan, no real strategy or coherent goals, to guide the fighting of U.S. forces. It’s just a mind-numbing, soul-chilling, body-destroying slog, month after month, year after pointless year. ...

Our government leaders keep mouthing platitudes about objectives that are not achievable, which is a form of deception that should be unacceptable in a free society.

In announcing, during a speech at West Point in December, that 30,000 additional troops would be sent to Afghanistan, President Obama said: “As your commander in chief, I owe you a mission that is clearly defined and worthy of your service.”

That clearly defined mission never materialized. ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/opinion/12herbert.html

Although I completely agree with Mr. Herbert, I also knew even while reading this piece that Obama wouldn't get us out of Afghanistan. The giant corporations he cowtows to wants it to continue so it'll continue.

But now there's a whole new ballgame coming up. And it's going to dwarf all these shenanigans.

What is it, you ask? Why it's riches of course. Precious metals by the ton, by the mega ton. They've discovered vast veins of mineral desposits in poverty stricken war-torn barren old Afghanistan. Iron, copper, cobalt, gold and coveted industrial metals like lithium that's used to power our laptops and Blackberrys. In such huge quantites it could transform Afghanistan into one of the most important mining centers of the world. There's gold in them thar hills.

But anybody who's paying attention to what's happening in the world and the way people are behaving has to wonder what this will mean. A richer Afghanistan with schools and roads and solid infrastructure and all that good stuff? Or greed and corruption and more war, only now with higher stakes.

Think the US will be leaving Afghanistan anytime soon? Not hardly. And when will China get in on the act? They are, afterall, much closer and they, too, are hungry for all the same minerals we want.

This is a great bonanza, another tremendous opportunity. Getting this right would take excellent planning and leadership and implementation.

Will President Obama be up to this challenge?

U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan

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. ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?hp

 

[BostonPirate]

you had me onboard until you made it about obama in the last question with smiley before your quote.

Its a turn off from there.

I like to make sure theres a problem before I blame someone for it.

 

[JB3]

you had me onboard until you made it about obama in the last question with smiley before your quote.

Its a turn off from there.

I like to make sure theres a problem before I blame someone for it.

There already is a problem, and their names are Russia and China. Both of those countries will do everything within their power to get their hands on those minerals. It will be a test of Obama and the US' mettle to prevent those two countries from strong-arming their way in and corrupting the process.

 

[BostonPirate]

the minerals are not ours, nor china's nor russias.

We shall do well to remember that no one has conquered afghanstan in undreds and hundreds of years. It was Russia's Vietnam.

No one is interested in afghanistan but the taliban, al Qaeda and the USA.

this is silly

the real money is in Opium. There is a real market for Pharmaseutical Opium. It would enrich american drug corps. and give the central gov't tarrif income. The stuff is there rigt now growing. Nothing is needed but permission for a contract.

Opioids are widely used and needed. Opium is used to produce te following drugs..... Morphine, Codeine, Thebaine, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Dihydrocodiene, Hydromorphone, Oxymorphone, Buprenorphine, Etorphine, Naloxone, Nicomorphine, Methadone, Demerol, Fentanyl, Alfentanil, Sufentanil, Remifentanil, Carfentanyl, Ketobemidone, Darvocet, Pentazocine, Phenazocine, Tramadol, and Loperamide.

Unfortunately the only nation to sell Opium o big parmaceutical corps is India and it is believed that allowing aghanistan to sell its crops legally would place undue harship on the indian economy.

 

[JB3]

the minerals are not ours, nor china's nor russias.

We shall do well to remember that no one has conquered afghanstan in undreds and hundreds of years. It was Russia's Vietnam.

No one is interested in afghanistan but the taliban, al Qaeda and the USA.

this is silly

the real money is in Opium. There is a real market for Pharmaseutical Opium. It would enrich american drug corps. and give the central gov't tarrif income. The stuff is there rigt now growing. Nothing is needed but permission for a contract.

Opioids are widely used and needed. Opium is used to produce te following drugs..... Morphine, Codeine, Thebaine, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Dihydrocodiene, Hydromorphone, Oxymorphone, Buprenorphine, Etorphine, Naloxone, Nicomorphine, Methadone, Demerol, Fentanyl, Alfentanil, Sufentanil, Remifentanil, Carfentanyl, Ketobemidone, Darvocet, Pentazocine, Phenazocine, Tramadol, and Loperamide.

Unfortunately the only nation to sell Opium o big parmaceutical corps is India and it is believed that allowing aghanistan to sell its crops legally would place undue harship on the indian economy.

No one's saying it isn't theirs. What people are saying is that Russia and China will do everything they can, including bribery, to make sure that the minerals go their way.

Opium's a no-go, btw.

 

[BostonPirate]

the minerals are too costly to extract in a nation with virtually no infrastructure.

It is not cost effective. China won't go to afghanistan and Russia FLED from it.

just not practical.

 

[JB3]

the minerals are too costly to extract in a nation with virtually no infrastructure.

It is not cost effective. China won't go to afghanistan and Russia FLED from it.

just not practical.

China's already there. (or did you not bother reading the article?)

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.

 

[BostonPirate]

yes I did....

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.

interestingly, there are conflicting reports all over the web. I cannot find one article that doesn't seem to have an agenda.

eh... China is not the bogeyman.

If Ms Clinton is not up to the job as Sec of state to secure a minerals treaty with the USA, it will be sad, but not bad. He who gets the mines has to protect the mines.

I don't want to be there and create an environment there similar to US dependence on oil in the mideast.

 

[NickCole]

yes I did....



interestingly, there are conflicting reports all over the web. I cannot find one article that doesn't seem to have an agenda.

Good grief.

eh... China is not the bogeyman.

If China wants something that the United States wants, they are now in a position to challenge us for it. Especially in a place like Afghanistan, which is in their back yard and where we are intruders.

If Ms Clinton is not up to the job as Sec of state to secure a minerals treaty with the USA, it will be sad, but not bad. He who gets the mines has to protect the mines.

I sure hope Obama hands this off to her to the extent you suggest. But there's a lot more involved than simply "securing a minerals treaty" makes it sound and I wonder who Obama will assign the leadership role to -- or if he'll try to do it himself. That decision will be pivotal.

I don't want to be there and create an environment there similar to US dependence on oil in the mideast.

I'd prefer we help Afghanistan build a mining industry and help protect its interests in exchange for a stake in what's mined.

This is a great find, a tremendous opportunity, and a challenge to get right. So far Obama has not done a good job with most public policy opportunities and challenges; let's hope he gets this one right because it's another that's very important to our future.

 

[NickCole]

There already is a problem, and their names are Russia and China. Both of those countries will do everything within their power to get their hands on those minerals. It will be a test of Obama and the US' mettle to prevent those two countries from strong-arming their way in and corrupting the process.

I agree with you but don't forget the US Government has its own problems with corruption.

The Bush years were lousy with corruption and it's been no better with the Hope and Change crowd. The Democratic dream of Health Care Reform was corrupted into ObamaCare written by Pharma and Big Insurance, and more pointedly to this discussion Obama's promise to overhaul Minerals Management Service merely transitioned into a continued culture of corruption under Obama's "good friend" Salazar who wasn't even replaced after the oil rig disaster.

The most important decision Obama will make regarding Afghanistan's mineral deposits is who takes the leadership role in handling the situation.

 

[IllgetyouHackman]

the minerals are too costly to extract in a nation with virtually no infrastructure.

It is not cost effective. China won't go to afghanistan and Russia FLED from it.

just not practical.

Wrong, the Chinese have already won a bid on a copper mine., it isn't too costly that is why it is important. Realize that they have scarce minerals, lithium is so important that it is worth the potential dig. The Chinese also currently have a monopoly on nyridium (don't know spelling), the mineral used in all those nice fancy wind powered mills we use...I'm sorry but you saying they aren't gonna go there just makes me laugh uncontrollably, IF ITS ECONOMICAL ITS WORTH IT....The Bingham mine in Utah has less than .01% of copper in it per ton, and ITS ECONOMICAL.