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America's longest war...

Discussion in 'Military History' started by brndirt1, Jun 7, 2010.

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  1. brndirt1

    brndirt1 Saddle Tramp

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    Yes, the lithium deposits are encouraging. For bringing some stability to the area in the "jobs" department, but it generally takes three to five years to get an operation/mine up and turning a profit. I would like to think there might be time to get it going, but knowing the history of that area for since Alexander the Great is one of instability, I am (sadly) skeptical.

    There is also a bit of skepticism from other sources, since the report is based on an old existing finding, not some "new" discovery.

    Yet Blake Hounshell of Foreign Policy magazine     sounds some notes of skepticism about the Times report, coming as it does after an array of grim news reports about the status of the Afghan war.
    Read a little more carefully, though, and you realize that there's less to this scoop than meets the eye. For one thing, the findings on which the story was based are online and have been since 2007, courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. More information is available on the Afghan mining ministry's website, including a report by the British Geological Survey (and there's more here). You can also take a look at the USGS's documentation of the airborne part of the survey here, including the full set of aerial photographs.​


    See:
    ​

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/14/afghanistans-vast-riches_n_610869.html
     
    brndirt1, Jun 14, 2010
    #41
  2. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    It seems you are correct Clint. General Petraeus spoke about the findings last December. Even still, the ABC News article points this out

    The infrastructure challenges are enormous. The Afghan economy does not have the capacity to even begin the mining process and the lack of roads throughout much of the country raises challenges for how to export the mineral wealth that lies under Afghanistan. Beyond the lack of physical infrastructure is an Afghan government that does not have the experience in its ministries to even begin the process of accepting contract offers from potential investors.
    Afghanistan: U.S. Geologists Discover Wealth of Mineral Deposits in Afghanistan - ABC News

    Perhaps if we could get the various elements to stop killing each other for a few minutes, some of these issues could be addressed. I am fearful, however, that old enmities have a larger hold on people than the promise of long-term economic benefits.
     
    LRusso216, Jun 14, 2010
    #42
  3. brndirt1

    brndirt1 Saddle Tramp

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    Yes Lou, and thanks for the links. I found one this morning and this AP article has a section which I thought was worth sharing here. The mention of Penn. got my attention and reminded me of your post.

    Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who helped advise the administration last year when it was rethinking its Afghanistan strategy.

    Riedel said that if the U.S. can provide the Afghans security and logistics to build up its mining capacity, Afghanistan's international stock will suddenly become more valuable. But there are a host of complications — competing industries and countries, corruption and war.

    "If this was Pennsylvania, (my underline) it'd turn out one way," he said. "But this is Afghanistan."

    Stephanie Sanok, who dealt with similar issues while working at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, likened the situation to a carnival game that promises a prize if you can guide a tiny, hand-controlled crane to the perfect spot: It almost never works and requires a steady stream of money.

    "Everyone has known about this," Sanok said of the minerals. "But there's no way to get at it."
    Goto:

    Huge obstacles seen in exploiting Afghan minerals - Yahoo! News
     
    brndirt1, Jun 15, 2010
    #43
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