Afghanistan has over $1T worth of Minerals?
RemadE
Global Moderator
(Reuters) - Untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan may be worth more than $1 trillion, a finding that could reshape the country's economy and help U.S. efforts to bolster the war-battered government, Pentagon officials said on Monday.
Now I know this is old but I don't give a fuck, I just think it's a very odd finding in a place where people scream about Oil. Also does this not ring alarm bells as Lithium is a metal they found there, and this is used for batteries - which I could go onto conspiracy theories about Green Energy, but I will leave that to you.
Read more.
Comments
Ain't that the truth.
Actually this. I did wonder why the UK gave so much of a shit over a few Islands and British people. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure any powerful Nation such as the USA would go outof their way to rescus their Citizens, but I do wonder. Not least the Belgrano etc.
That is because you lack the vision to put two and two together. But you are young enough that you will live to see it is about the lithium and not the gold.
Even more photos of US nato troops patrolling opium fields in Afghanistan
We spend over $10 billion a year on the war on drugs, and yet our troops are patrolling poppy and cannabis fields. What the fuck is wrong with this picture?
But hey, why should I try to teach a pig to sing? I am only gong to frustrate myself and annoy you.
I think you get the point.
2). I never mentioned anything about the government selling it, you did. The CIA is well known for their illicit drug smuggling activities however....
Look at the helmets and not the captions. :facepalm: That is what I mean about letting others do you thinking.
Skunk: I read it under a picture on the internet so it must be true.
*EDIT* even in the one phote that might be US troops, if you knew the first thing about squad level tactics you would be able to see that they are moving through an area and using the walls for cover.
Talk about someone who has trouble with reading comprehension. :facepalm:
As for Taliban and Opiates, they only take about 10% of the profits which, yes, are still a fair amount. However I will be quite interested to see how, once the "pullout strategy" is implemented into Afghanistan, how private contractors will move in and mine the minerals. It will be like the Wild West :facepalm: shame we couldn't let those who live their have it. I'd rather see an old bearded dude learn Geology than sell Opium.
Also, those are obviously US marines in the pictures that skunk linked to. The pictures however, don't suggest that marines are guarding the fields. If poppy field destruction is a priority in that area, they'll mark it on a map and then continue their mission
Source
This is also a great map, its been circulating on the web for a while:
We have been oil prospecting their for quite some time, large discoveries have been anounced in recent weeks. The reason the British are so protective of the Falklands is that:
1. The people that live there identify themselves as British subjects.
2. The main justification for the British claim on Antartic teritory is our ownership of the Falklands and South Sandwich islands. Now thats the place we will be digging up within 50 years - never been and prospected ther myself but from what I have read its choc full of mineral wealth.
Logistically, it will be a nightmare getting the goods out of Afghanistan. Traditionally, Western business has always taken the raw material and processed it elsewhere - it makes sense to do so - in country processing would give that country not only the raw material, but the means to produce a product which which they can control a market. Processing out of country means you are not keep all eggs in one basket and risking civil war, invasion, insurgency and that government dictating supply and price.
Added to that Afghanistan is a landlocked country and the only real way to the sea is over the mountains (bandit country, good times building and maintiaining a rail route) and through Pakistan - another unreliable country. One of the main reasons the British could never hold Afghanistan when it invaded and took control in the past is that railways to service supply lines just could not be built and maintained.
I would not be surprised if raw minerals were turned into slurry and pumped out - easier and faster to build than a railway, but with higher long term maintainence.
With regards to the Afgan opium trade, the Taliban allowed it to flourish after the invasion for several reasons.
1. Cashflow.
2. To develop and maintain smuggling routes - where drugs can go out, arms and people can come in
3. To send cheap, hard drugs to the West. I would wager more people within a couple of hundred miles of me have died from OD'ing on cheap smack than the total number of US and UK troops killed in Afghanistan. Not to mention those that have had any kind of productive life robbed from them by their addiction to hard drugs.
Now this is the level of intelligence I love to see you operate at dr rocker. :thumbsup:
Really, the New York Times? I suppose you have never heard of yellow journalism.
Skunk: I read it in one newspaper so it has to be the gospel truth with no biased whatsoever.
How about the UNODC?
UNODC 2001 Annual Poppy Survey (PDF)
LOL @ the UN. Open your eyes my fluffy little lamb before you grow fat on you spoon fed meal and wind up as mutton on the farmers table.
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/sa/facts_taliban_drugs.html
national criminal justice service
PBS.org: From Poppy Field to Western Markets: Opium Production in Afghanistan
International Journal of Drug Policy (PDF)
You're kidding right? I wouldn't have continued to post sources regarding the taliban ban on poppy production if you didn't scrutinize the new york times and UN. What you seem to be missing is that most of the poppy IS grown in Afghanistan. There was a massive increase in poppy production post US invasion of Afghanistan, mostly fueled by our allies the northern alliance.
The brother of the president, Ahmed Wali Karzai, was on the CIA payroll prior to his death. He also happened to be a drug smuggler.
We're clearly in Afghanistan for resources, illicit poppy is just part of that portfolio.
How about a healthy does of reality - the taliban only banned heroin production in an atempt pre-invasion to get recognition from the UN as the full and legitimate government of Afghanistan and the international development money that would have then flowed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1323147/Talibans-heroin-double-cross.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/drugs-for-guns-how-the-afghan-heroin-trade-is-fuelling-the-taliban-insurgency-817230.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/20/wikileaks-cables-taliban-heroin-stockpile
The simple fact is, the taliban wanted to be seen to be stamping out on the opium trade - they hold no ideological or religouse beliefs that it is wrong to supply 'kaffirs' with the poison to kill themselves.
You post stating the taliban banned opium poppy production before the invasion has no merit in the argument you seemed to have used it being that I stated the taliban let the trade flourish after the invasion. Two very different points in time.
Also, have we done such a good job of wiping out the taliban? The presence of over 130,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan would suggest not.