Beyond kicking around the Taliban, killing poppy fields, and searching aimlessly for Osama Bin Laden, it’s never really been clear why we’re in Afghanistan.
Now it’s clear: $1 trillion worth of minerals.
We’re talking gold, copper, cobalt, iron. The New York Times quoted a Pentagon memo saying Afghanistan could be “the Saudi Arabia of lithium.”
This isn’t a war for oil. It’s a war for lithium. You want laptops and cell phones, right?
Click here to read more from the Associated Press.
Afghanistan’s resources are vast enough to bring its economy into at least the 19th century and it will all be greaty booty for the lucky corporations that get their hands on it.
So was the war for lithium worth it? Depends on how long it goes on, and how much of Afghanistan’s resources are actually exploited. You’ll notice, for instance, we’re not getting a lot of oil out of Iran. You’ll also notice that the spoils of war do not often go back to the taxpayers who fund it.
The war in Afghanistan has cost us about $300 billion, and you can add another $70 billion a year on to that as it lingers on, according to 2009 U.S. Congressional figures. Since 2001, more than 1,100 Americans and 1,800 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan, and it remains a bloody cesspool.
The Taliban are still Talibanning and even getting support from Pakistan. Click here to read more about that from Reuters.
