A Big Prize in an Old War Zone? - Ryan John

An interesting discovery was made in Afghanistan this week.  Or perhaps I should say an interesting discovery in Afghanistan was announced this week? I think this is huge! I mean, could it get any easier for conspiracy theorist? After close to ten years of occupation, without capture of the main culprit in the attacks on 9/11, we discovered a trillion dollars in minerals in a country we were assured in 2008 by the campaigning President-to-be, was the better of the two wars to be fought. He increased our troop presence late last year. We didn’t find WMDs in Iraq, but we did topple Saddam and removed a threat.  We didn’t catch Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but we found a trillion dollars.

This is making the blogosphere go wild. Some are saying this was the reason we initially invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Others conclude that whatever country has the capital stability to sponsor such mining will profit immensely. Will Halliburton get a no-bid contract? Although some people swear on it, I find it that too unbelievable. I do believe, however, that the money gained will eventually boost the Afghanistan economy only as a byproduct of our gains.

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Navy concluded in a 2007 report that “Afghanistan has significant amounts of undiscovered non-fuel mineral resources.” I’m sure this wasn’t news to many. But the fact that, all of the sudden, the United States happens across one of the largest mineral deposits in the world is fascinating. Maybe we’ll engage in conflict over ownership with say, Russia, who apparently discovered it first when the Soviets invaded almost 20 years ago. Maybe the spoils will propel the battery-powered transportation we need to eliminate our oil dependency, and that use alone will win over war support from the American people. Plus we’re in some serous debt that huge mineral deposits could ease; that alone might be enough to boost morale.

But maybe in the same fashion we tried to promote the war against Iraq by “sprinkling democracy dust” all over (as Bill Maher amusingly puts it), we’ll promote a righteous cause with the mineral issue. The United States, through control of mining, will impose fair practices and orderly removal and distribution of the minerals.  If anyone else takes over, it will threaten American interests with forces that are erratic, corrupt, and a threat to the rest of the world.

I’m glad we received some good news for a change. But the potential for a fight between China and Iran over the goods scares me.