Afghanistan rich in minerals

[Bruce Nunnally]

This could fundamentally change the life of the Afghan people:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?emc=eta1

WASHINGTON — 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.

[WarrenJ]

God once again reveals His sense of humor.

Watching one of the world's most corrupt governments deal with this should make for good theater. I recommend watching from a distance, however.

[Cadillac Jim]

I think it's really good news for the long-term future of Afghanistan. It's been a basket case since shortly after the 1972 revolution, and now we have several generations of nearly 100% poverty and lack of education. When NATO started trying to put the country together in 2003, there weren't enough paved roads in the country to run the gas out of a Ford Expedition if they were all strung together in a straight line. To bring a country into the 21st Century, you need education, jobs, and infrastructure, and this isn't cheap. Bootstrapping a country that traditionally turns to the illegal opium poppy trade for anything beyond sustenance requires that the money come from somewhere. If it comes from Afghanistan, it will be a lot more likely to happen, and once a plan is in place it will happen a lot quicker.

[WarrenJ]

For two vastly different viewpoints look first to Stratfor.com "Analyst Peter Zeihan as he explores the challenging logistics of taking minerals from the Afghan mountains to market."

[VIDEO 2:09] http://www.stratfor....l_wealth_market

Second, Ralph Peters (U.S. Army Ret.) views it this way:

"Afghanistan just got its worst news since the Soviet invasion three decades ago: American geologists have charted as much as a trillion dollars' worth of mineral deposits in that tormented landscape. Up to now, Afghanistan's internal factions and neighbors have been fighting over worthless dirt, Allah and opium. Assigning the battlefield a trillion-dollar value is not a prescription for reconciliation. Expect "The Beverly Hillbillies" scripted by Satan.

Even were Afghanistan at peace, its endemic corruption would generate a grabocracy -- a Nigeria, not a Norway. Throw in inherited hatreds and the appetites of its neighbors, and Afghanistan may end up more like eastern Congo, a playground for state-sanctioned murderers and looters."

Read "The trillion-dollar Afghan battlefield" http://www.nypost.co...MwAV52bVvjhKgjN

Sure leaves a lot of middle ground . . .

[Cadillac Jim]

I think that since there is no infrastructure in place that would allow exploitation of Afghanistan's natural resources, we and the Afghans are in a good position to control the transition. Thus it's a very positive thing because it provides a basis for a plan leading to a stable, reasonably prosperous Afghanistan.