Did a 2007 report of massive mineral deposits in Afghanistan affect President Obama's 2009 decision to widen the scope of the Afghan war?
Is a recent New York Times article omitting that possibility?
A U.S. Geological Survey has shown that Afghanistan is one of the worlds' biggest depositories of minerals and precious metals. Include on that list, a lithium find that could be as large as Bolivia's, now the world's major source of the rare mineral.
The New York Times reported on Sunday, June 13, 2010 "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."
According to the NYT story, "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 problem is, what the NYT describes as "beyond any previously known reserves" and "the previously unknown deposits", were in fact quite well known -- in 2007, well before President Obama made the fateful decision to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan.
One did not need to read an "internal Pentagon memo" to find about the discovery. Just visit the public web site of the U.S. Geological Survey and read the press release "Significant Potential for Undiscovered Resources in Afghanistan Released: 11/13/2007 10:00:00 AM" and you will find the following: "Afghanistan has significant amounts of undiscovered non-fuel mineral resources according to the U.S. Geological Survey's 2007 assessment . . . Estimates for copper and iron ore resources were found to have the most potential for extraction in Afghanistan. Scientists also found indications of abundant deposits of colored stones and gemstones, including emerald, ruby, sapphire, garnet, lapis, kunzite, spinel, tourmaline and peridot. Other examples of mineral resources available for extraction in Afghanistan include gold, mercury, sulfur, chromite, talc-magnesite, potash, graphite and sand and gravel."
In an interview with USGS's Stephen Peters published at the same time on the same site, Peters says there are "Known deposits of asbestos, mercury, lead, zinc, fluorspar, bauxite, beryllium, and lithium."
In the NYT story this is all presented as a recent and pleasant surprise to the Afghan government. According to the NYT, after the USGS survey was completed in 2006 and '07, "the results gathered dust for two more years, ignored by officials in both the American and Afghan governments."
The problem is the USGS results were announced in 2007 at the 3rd annual U.S.-Afghan Business Matchmaking Conference organized by the Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.
The press release from the USGS included a quote from Afghanistan's Ambassador to the United States, Said T. Jawad, who said at the time "Afghanistan's natural resources have a quality comparable to the highest-class minerals of the entire region."
Why the story broke in the NYT on Sunday could be linked to a desire by the Pentagon to create a reason why US troops might want to stick around in Afghanistan for some time to come. Things are not going very well on the ground and the promise of vast mineral riches would sound enticing.
The Times story includes a quote from Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command who says, "There is stunning potential here."
The serious question is did the knowledge of these massive mineral deposits affect President Obama's decision to increase troop levels and widen the scale of operations in Afghanistan? Are Canada, the UK and other NATO countries aware of the USGS report?
Has securing this mineral bonanza become the real US/NATO mission in the region?
Relevant links are:
U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan - New York Times
Significant Potential for Undiscovered Resources in Afghanistan - USGS
Interview with Stephen Peters of USGS
The Real News Network
Remember the President's speeches - lamenting the US missing out on the development of new Battery Technology? "We should be doing that here" he said.
Starting in 2009, Bolivia has been negotiating with Japan, Korea, and France for the rights to develop its' massive Lithium deposits.
The "Saudi Arabia of lithium" is exactly right! History repeats itself! Our 'Electric Car' future may be tied to the defeat, or placation of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
THE REAL TERRORISTS ARE UNDERGROUND!
why don't you go get them?
However, let's not lose track of where this leaves Afghanistan. No matter how we got here, Afghanistan is now going to be exploited. It may be by governments or by companies, but the worst possible scenario unfortunately is if it's by Afghans themselves. Think Darfur 2.0. Think Congo. It is incredibly dangerous to the Afghani people if extremely increased military might falls to the Taliban, or even to more extreme groups (and the mineral wealth to fund this will be closer at hand since they control these mountains). It would be the slightly better of numerous evils here, but foreign exploitation may, at least in the short term, be the safest solution. I sincerely hope that wealthy Middle-Eastern corporations play a big role here, but either way, it's untrue that Afghans would see no benefit from exploitation. Directly? Maybe not. But over time foreign investment (exploitation) will lead to overall Afghani economic development and hopefully to enough economic stability and social discontent (and unity) to foment a rebellion and cast off their foreign (economic) occupiers. This is so far from perfect, but in the real world, it's probably the best that can be done for the Afghani people, in both the short and long term.
The mountains in northern Afganistan are honeycombed with abandoned shafts, some quite extensive.
Funny thing, an idiot with delusions of Jesus-hood (as Bush flat out told 6 religious leaders who had helped him get into office, thereby sparking 3 of these men to walk out and no longer support the man who dared to tell them he IS Jesus come to earth again) with ties to every "let's kill them and take their stuff" baron in and out of America, becomes King and starts kicking sand in the face of a man who "tried to kill mah daddy!" ....
And Pearl Harbor was allowed to be bombed by the Japanese without intervention. Funny how that motivated an entire country who DIDN'T want to be in a war to suddenly butch up and decide to tell the rest of the world how to run one....
And Americans will cheer the killing and raping because ... well, that's just the kind of people they truly are.
Norway? Could I please have citizenship? Please please?
get out of their country and let them decide what is good for them.
it is that easy.