The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.
The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.
One, it could provide a means for paying for the Afghan security forces needed to secure the country so it does not become a lawless, ungoverned haven for terrorists. That's for the long run.
In the nearer term, it will provide a reason to build a tranportaion network inside Afghanistan and to Afghanistan from the outside world. The minerals have to be shipped out and equipment has to be shipped in to dig it out. Such a road and rail network (and cell phone network) will be infrastrucutre that security forces can use to suppress insurgents and terrorists. And it will enable trade apart from the mining industries.
This wealth shouldn't be an excuse to create a strong central government and a modern society in Afghanistan. We still need to aim for a stable federation that reaches the 19th century.
Could free money wreck Afghanistan? Possibly. Nigeria's oil hasn't done much for its people. But who are we to keep them poor "for their own good?"
The objective is to prevent Afghanistan from being an exporter of terror (with a side effort to halt heroin expoerts, too). And perhaps the sainted international community can be motivated to help Afghans from wasting the money through corruption.
I'd be more worried about the possibility that wealthy and wordly Afghans will buy off Islamists the way Saudi Arabia does.
But one problem at a time, eh? For now let's defeat the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies and stabilize a reasonably representative Afghan government and society so that we can draw down our military effort some many years down the road.
UPDATE: I guess this was just news to me.
