Potential for a Mining Boom Splits Factions in Afghanistan. By G. Bowley Sep 8, 2012 The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/world/asia/afghans-wary-as-efforts-pick-up-to-tap-mineral-riches.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120909
[Excerpted] KALU VALLEY, Afghanistan — If there is a road to a
happy ending in Afghanistan, much of the path may run underground: in the trillion-dollar
reservoir of natural resources — oil, gold, iron ore, copper, lithium
and other minerals — that has brought hopes of a more self-sufficient country,
if only the wealth can be wrested from blood-soaked soil....
...Further, a proposed mining law vital to attracting foreign investment is up in
the air, with the delay threatening several projects. The cabinet rejected it
this summer, saying it was too generous to Western commercial interests. But
some Western officials fear other motives are at work, too, including an
internal fight for spoils, and perhaps an effort by some neighboring countries
to sway sympathetic officials to keep Indian and Chinese state mining companies
out....
Majia here: Read between the lines. A proposed mining law "vital to attracting foreign investment" means that it essentially makes it easy for foreign companies to come in and extract Afghanistan's wealth.
Apparently some in Afghanistan aren't too keen on that scenario. Maybe the Chinese and Indian companies are promising Afghanistan officials a sweeter deal than western interests? Western officials "fear" that outcome. The gold and other resources need to be reserved for western companies.
The article notes approvingly that "An investment consortium arranged by JPMorgan Chase is mining gold."
I'm not claiming that foreign direct investment by western companies is inherently bad. However, ever heard of the "resource curse"?
Poor countries with coveted resources rarely come out ahead when their spoils are exploited by foreign interests....
The US is in Afghanistan for exactly the same reason the Russians tried to invade the country in the 80's .
ReplyDeleteThere exists vast oil and gas deposits near the Caspian sea, with no easy way to transport it. An oil/gas pipeline has been proposed for many years across Afghanistan to Pakistan, India and the Arabian sea.
After the Russians were ousted from Afghanistan - largely by jihadists like OBL that were externally funded - then the project was open to other parties.
In 1995 the project was initiated as a consortium by the US and Saudis. The prime contractor was - you guessed it - Halliburton corp!!!! Actual construction work began in 1997.
In 1998, however the Taliban and OBL decided that their financial stake in the project had gotten too small, so they threw out the foreign corporations, and stopped the construction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Afghanistan_Pipeline
Is this starting to sound fishy yet? In October 2001, just a few weeks after the Sept 11 bombings, the US invaded Afghanistan, threw out the Taliban, and immediately initiated plans to restart the pipeline construction.
However, due to almost continuous insurgent activity (externally funded - coincidence? i don't think so - more like paybacks) and strong negotiations around revenue sharing, construction has met many delays and just now in 2012 all the agreements are reached.
In the meantime, the Iranians have announced their own pipeline project which is a shorter distance and can be completed more quickly, and they quickly signed a deal with Pakistan and India.
The US and Saudi Arabia has put considerable pressure on Pakistan to abandon the Iranian pipeline project, and support theirs through Afghanistan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–Pakistan_gas_pipeline
Without success in getting Pakistan to reject the Iranian deal, the US started putting pressure directly on Iran to abandon the project. And that pressure has led to the threat of war, however the American public has been adamant that no more wars will be waged, so the CIA has been deployed to try and create civil unrest and overthrow the Iranian government, and also has been accused of assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists.
And you thought: 1. The Afghanistan war was about terrorism? 2. The Iranian threat of war is about nuclear power?
Wrong. As in most lies, there is some element of truth to both, but the real reason is the same as always - money and power over money.
When you start understanding this, then the whole "nuclear agenda" is not so far-fetched. The question is how people can be so ruthless.
It's a strange world we live in...
James
Hi James
ReplyDeleteCan I post this comment on the blog's main page?