Real Reason for the Afghan War comes out: Vast Mineral Wealth in Afghanistan

[[to_xp]Gekko]

how come this doesn't surprise me one bit?

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

With virtually no mining industry or infrastructure in place today, it will take decades for Afghanistan to exploit its mineral wealth fully

Worst real reason for war ... ever.

Unlike the Iraq War, which was able to finance itself after 6 months.

 

[Disgustipated]

good luck getting that stuff out of the ground. Don't insurgents control most of the rural, rugged areas?

 

[Arwon]

Ah, a new quarry for China.

Yep, I was right. China has been in the area since 2007. So this announcement isn't new, just PR influencing the news cycle.

[/anti-American conspiracy theory]

 

[sonorakitch]

Forget WAR FOR OIL!

WAR FOR LITHIUM!

Ahahahahahahaha

 

[Disgustipated]

just wanted to note my state mines lithium and we don't want increased competition. My state has the U.S.' only lithium mine. And we even had to do layfoffs there. There isn't that much market for lithium given the current recession.

 

[woody60707]

So this is why Obama lied to keep us in Afghanistan!!! I knew it all along.

 

[GenMarshall]

So thats why the Soviets tried to invade Afghanistan in the late 70s

 

[Aegis]

Previously Unknown deposits are Previously Unknown.

[Edit:] Although, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it really were the motive.

 

[madviking]

From a chemistry/physics standpoint, this is awesome. There's been a chronic shortage of lithium in the world (the only two mines in the world are in China...) to make lithium-ion batteries. But from a political standpoint, this is a different animal...

 

[Ayatollah So]

Now, optimistic as that sounds, let's get to the real issue here: humans as a whole can be pretty damned selfish, and any hope this may have created for Afghanistan will be squandered by local elites and national elites fighting for the lion's share.

Yeah, I'm not sure if high-value mineral deposits in a third-world country is a blessing or a curse:

Just like it's working in the Congo and Nigeria?

I agree that it's no good to just keep the stuff in the ground, but at the same time, in this kind of scenario it can make things much worse...

For instance . Maybe it depends how cohesive and well-governed the country is in the first place. If a country is good on both those scores, mineral wealth probably helps, I guess.

In Afghanistan, mines will employ a small percentage of the population, and mine locations will not be convenient for most poppy farmers. The farmers will largely keep farming - one crop or another.

 

[El_Machinae]

Nearly every country has vast mineral wealth underneath it. The reason why Western countries have more 'mineral wealth' on their balance sheets is because of successful prospecting, not luck.

The point made by the economist Paul Collier is that poor countries need proper governance and infrastructure to benefit from the mineral wealth, because nearly everyone has it. What makes 'exploitation' a problem is bad governance, not that it's there.

For us, all we can do is help pass laws forcing our companies to not have exploitative international policies AND to help train members of their governments so that they don't let less ethical governments exploit them.