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June 14, 2010
Trillion-Dollar Bash: Mineral Find Means More Blood Money in Afghan War
By Chris Floyd
The New York Times reports the discovery by American geologists that Afghanistan contains "vast riches" in untapped mineral deposits: at least $1 trillion worth. What this discovery almost certainly portends are many more decades of war, warlordism and foreign intervention, as the forces of greed and power fight like hyenas to tear off the juiciest chunks of this windfall.
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The New York Times reports on the discovery
by American geologists that Afghanistan contains "vast riches" in
untapped mineral deposits: at least $1 trillion worth -- including huge
troves of lithium, "a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries
for laptops and BlackBerrys," as the paper breathlessly relates.
Unfortunately, given the realities of our world, one's first
reaction to such news is not a cheery "How nice for the Afghan people!"
but rather a heart-sinking, dread-clammy "Uh oh." For what this
discovery almost certainly portends are many more decades of war,
warlordism and foreign intervention, as the forces of greed and power
fight like hyenas to tear off the juiciest chunks of this windfall.
It also guarantees many more years of American military occupation
(in one guise or another); there is absolutely no chance that our
Beltway banditti (and their corporate cronies) are simply going
to walk away from a stash like this, not when they've already got
"boots on the ground" -- and billions of dollars in war pork invested in
the place. It's payback time, baby! (Or rather, double-dip time, as
most these "investments" are just pass-throughs of public money to
private profiteers). And hey, finder's keepers and all that, right?
The Times story is the usual splattered mess of regurgitated
Pentagon PR and imperial spin, with a few small bits of pertinent
information here and there.
The story first displays its "savvy" cred by noting the possible
downsides of the find. ("Hey, we're not just cheerleaders, you know!")
It could make the Taliban fight even harder. It could exacerbate the
corruption of the American-installed Afghan government. It could set off
conflicts between Afghan tribes and warlord factions to control the
mining. It could wreak environmental ruin. And it seems it could tempt
grasping greedy foreigners to prey upon the war-ravaged Afghans and
steal their wealth:
At the same time, American officials fear resource-hungry China will try to dominate the development of Afghanistan's mineral wealth, which could upset the United States, given its heavy investment in the region. After winning the bid for its Aynak copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more, American officials said.Oh yes, the great danger is that China will try to dominate the development of Afghanistan's mineral wealth! They've already got one copper mine and they want more, the greedy bastards!
Chris Floyd is an American journalist. His work has appeared in print and online in venues all over the world, including The Nation, Counterpunch, Columbia Journalism Review, the Christian Science Monitor, Il Manifesto, the Moscow Times and many others. He is the author of Empire Burlesque: High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Imperium, and is co-founder and editor of the "Empire Burlesque" political blog.