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Khalil Nouri: Afghanistan: Is the Mineral Deposit Saga a Reality or Myth?
By Khalil Nouri STAFF WRITER / EDITOR
It is obvious that there is no military solution to the struggle in Afghanistan; therefore a political solution could be on the horizon. So far that too has proven to be a failing effort when the Taliban, who were supposedly partaking in the recent consultative Loya-Jirgah gathering in an effort to reconcile in Kabul, answered instead with a barrage of explosive attacks that consequently disrupted the council.
So, what else is on the table to justify the war in Afghanistan and keep the government of Hamid Karzai afloat?
Apparently the US military brass and Mr. Karzai did some brain storming recently, and they were in approval of introducing another plan by giving the tip off of vastly untapped mineral deposits in the Hindu- Kush mountains of the Central Asian state; which quickly jumped from $1 trillion value to $3 trillion in a matter of 36 hours. There are many legitimate questions as to whether the mineral deposits are authentic or a hoaxed, but the fact remains, many Afghans and many people in the West are not accepting this joint U.S.-Afghan government idea.
PAST MANIPULATIONS BY BRITISH AND RELIGIOUS SECTS
In Afghanistan myths are the same as fables, legends, folktales, fairy tales, anecdotes or fiction, but their sloppy usage in politics and religion has blurred the distinctions in many people’s minds. They are sometimes used in a bad way in reference to a belief of culture or for a belief in a religion by implying that the story is both believable and factual. Consequently, considering the past history of British colonial deceit and manipulation of Afghan society and interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, some Afghans do not believe anything conveyed by the West is genuine anymore.
Not long ago UK’s Defense Secretary Dr. Liam Fox, called Afghanistan, a “broken 13th-century country.” Of course, his view reverberated in the world as Afghanistan is a tribal and medieval society. In fact, Afghanistan by 13th-century was at the heart of the Islamic renaissance, boasting magnificent architecture, art, calligraphy, literature, advances in mathematics and production of poets akin to Jalaluddin Rumi who was born in 1207 in the northern city of Balkh.
That said, in most rural areas in Afghanistan, time is frozen in a centuries old antiquated system, technology advances are null, illiteracy is high and societal beliefs are of conservative Islam, therefore, in such a society, mythology is perceived as authentic, and dominates people’s thoughts and daily lives. Afghans are not simpleminded people; they have retained their complex oral traditions. However, their oral traditions do suggest the possibility of mythical beliefs that can be manipulated by a lack of understanding of foreign technology. This limited exposure to foreign technology allowed past colonial rulers like the Britain to manipulate Afghan customs and beliefs to temporarily gain a foothold over religious leaders, and thereby gain control over public will long enough to overthrowing past Afghanistan rulers.
The late progressive Afghan King Amanullah who gained Afghanistan’s independence in 1919, 28 years ahead of colonial India’s independence, miscalculated British ability to topple his government by turning traditionalists and mullahs against him. While visiting India, the young King appeared to be very enthusiastic about liberating Muslim countries from the rule of colonial power. He was greeted as a hero in India and the Indian freedom fighters asked him to give a fetwa announcing that he become the King of India too. King Amanullah, however, did not issue the fetwa, but his appearance in India forced the British to see that India would be next in line to become free of their colonial rule if Amanullah were to remain in power.
King Amanullah and Queen Soraya
Therefore, the British conspired against Amanullah by using the mullahs and traditionalists limited knowledge of technology to their advantage; they produced false and shocking photographs of queen Soraya, wife of Amanullah, half naked with foreign men. Seeing these (photo-shopped) images, religious leaders believed Amanullah could not be a true Muslim and therefore did not deserve to be King. This little technology advantage yielded great political advantage to the British and consequently was a factor for the collapse of the king’s reign. But now, awakened to the technology, Afghans rightly blame the Britain for this plot, and regret losing such an iconic figure as their leader.
There are many tales of how new innovations leaked forward to produce such public manipulations in Afghanistan’s past; one short narrative example is when a mullah fools the public by converting water into milk and the audience kneels down in deference to the man of religion for his astounding power. Of course, this was in the early days after the invention of powdered milk in 1832.
The most obvious case is shown in a Hollywood picture plot about the true (1888) story of “The Man Who Would Be King” written by Rudyard Kipling and starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine. The story is about two British colonial soldiers who after crossing the border from India became kings of a remote area in Afghanistan called Kafiristan—now Nuristan—they were treated as Gods by the locals but ultimately lost everything when locals become aware of their deceit.
GEOLOGICAL AND ECONOMICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION OF MINERAL MINES IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Minerals
However, another way of looking at all this is that finally after decades of war some good news about Afghanistan has finally raised to the surface; it could be an omen to all that beneath the landmines, Afghanistan is sitting on a goldmine.
This information sounds rather astonishing; it leads us to assume that Afghanistan has actually hit the jackpot in the world’s economy arena. However, the $1 trillion figure, where did it come from? It appears highly misleading. It is a theoretical number and may have little relation to the value of resources that could actually be exploited. Furthermore, it will be of little benefit to Afghanistan if its $1 trillion resources would cost $2 trillion or more to dig up. Thus, to justify the validity of this perception, –which apparently lacked proper homework—the figure was immediately increased to $3 trillion; apparently the first figure did not sound awesome enough.
This suspiciously round number appears to be based on geological surveys made decades ago as well as recent on the ground and in the air 3 dimensional ground scanning technology. How thorough it really has been is an open debate, given that it takes the world’s best miners about a decade to explore a new area.
Even if there were $3 trillion of mineral resources in Afghanistan, and even if those resources were economically feasible, it would be years before a large Western miner establishment could get anywhere near the country. They currently have no intention of moving into Afghanistan because the risk is far greater than the reward. The investment would be too risky anywhere the Afghan government does not control; plus all the territory and contract laws are far from solid.
The only people who might show interest in exploring the aforementioned mineral deposits are the Chinese, but they had to abandon a far simpler project than the untapped Afghan treasures; the Kajaki’s Helmand Province hydroelectric dam project was forsaken due to a lack of security in the area.
CONCLUSION
There are vague hypothesis attached to this recent joint perception of mineral wealth announced by the US and Afghan governments.
Is it time to change course and divert attention from the failed hearts and minds operation in Marjah, the failed reconciliation Jirga, failed opium eradication, the stalled Kandahar operation, Mr. Karzai’s tantrums, the Afghan government corruption, thriving drug trafficking, warlordism, Kandahar’s power brokers, fraudulent presidential elections, heightened insurgency, Pakistan’s uncooperative effort to contain the Taliban on its soil, regional powers proxy wars, so on and so forth?
Some in the West share the mining industry’s skepticism that massive amounts of mineral wealth could be easily extracted from Afghanistan’s rugged mountains and remote regions. This is believed to be in conjunction with the growing public sentiment that the war is not worth the cost.
Similarly, some Afghans, view that the era of past colonial manipulation of Afghan society, thought and sensibility is once again repeating itself. If so, then the public sentiment will be far damning than now.
In any event, time is of the essence for either success or failure in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, so far, the momentum has been on the path of failure.
If there is vast mineral wealth in Afghanistan, then the world needs to realize that this wealth belongs to the Afghan people. There are Afghans around the world with the skills and knowledge to do this job themselves on behalf of the people of Afghanistan.
A good friend of my family speaks about how decades of fighting has left the Afghan people with physical and mental health issues that no one is addressing. What is needed today is an Afghan to Afghan initiative that takes charge of the research and development of any potential mineral and mining deposits first and foremost for the benefit of those Afghans who have suffered from abuse and neglect on their own home soil over the decades.
We expatriate Afghans need to look out for our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan who are not aware of 21st Century methodologies, ideologies and technologies that can rob them of their inheritance. It is our job to protect and enlighten fellow Afghans who are at risk.
Khalil Nouri is the cofounder of New World Strategies Coalition Inc., a native think tank for nonmilitary solution studies for Afghanistan. www.nwscinc.org
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Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=36946
Posted by Khalil Nouri on Jun 21 2010, With 0 Reads, Filed under 9/11, AfPak, WarZone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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It’s as much a myth as the “Jew were promised Palestine”.
James Risen got very upset by the criticism he received from independent bloggers and even from some ‘Friend of Israel’ , Foreign Policy’s Blake Hounshell (June 14, 2010), who said that there is more to Risen’s discovery than meet the eye. Some analyst believe that the timing of the story makes it ‘fishy’. Not only it divert the public attention from Obama’s totally failed policy in Afghanistan but also the world’s growing criticism of Israeli fascism in the wake of its massacre at Sea. The story is supposed to provide booster to original reason to invade Afghanistan in the first place – to exploit Caspian Sea oil/gas reserves and revive the poppy cultivation, eradicated by Taliban. The invasion of Afghanistan was sold to Bush long before the 9/11 by the pro-Israel neocons in his administration. The ultimate beneficiary is Israel in both cases.
In April 2010, James Risen was served with subpoena to declare his source for lying, in his book ‘”State of War: The Secret history of CIA” that CIA tried to disrupt Iranian nuclear research by providing Tehran with flawed blueprints for a nuclear weapon – hoping to sow confusion but in reality helping arm itself faster. Sounds like another Iran-Contra false-flag operation.
Webster G. Tarpley, an investigating journalist wrote on June 17 that New York Times planted story on Afghan mineral wealth designed to prolong US occupation, spur neocon-backed Petraeus Presidential candidacy (listen to video below). In case some readers don’t know Gen. David Petraeus’s background – according to Professor James Petras, Petraeus is a military poodle owned by Zionist lobby.
http://rehmat1.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/afghan-mineral-hoax/
[...] the original post: Afghanistan: Is the Mineral Deposit Saga a Reality or Myth … Share and [...]
The entire world nickel (very useful metal) market is only two billion dollars according to a recent news article and we will spend one to three trillion in Iraq and Afhganistan before it’s all over. And the report cites gems and jewels as an important factor! This revenue source is even less important than nickel. Uncut lapis lazuli is pictured which is next to worthless and useless compared to nickel.
This story reminds me of a jeweler who sells a ignorant a “valuable” piece of jewelry on forty-eight months same as cash and makes a one hundred percent profit on the down payment. He does well if he never sees the customer again.
It seems the people aren’t as stupid as our “INTELLIGENCE” agencies and the Mossad think we are!
The big lie has been for a long time that oil is a fossil fuel when in fact is everywhere. Their trick has always been to make us think these items are rare so we give them our last nickel for them.
The USA capped the only known diamond mine in the USA (Arkansas) so we would over pay European interest for diamonds which are not actually that rare.
It’s all a scam just like Smedley Butler and Eustace Mullins said.
Mike
Mike
The most profitable export for Afghanistan has already been developed—-heroin.
Mike
I don’t think it is a myth, because it is known for a few years now. But, it is interesting why it is becoming the big news now? Maybe to give another reason to stay in Afghanistan. But, I take it is a good omen. And the fact that Karzai gave Japan the green light is very positive. And if Japan does go for the exploration and mining then this creates job for many, which already would gradually change things for the better. Lets think positive to manifest positivity.
Hasn’t someone noted the obvious here: Those resources, if they exist at all, are in SOMEONE ELSE’S COUNTRY! We have no business being there in the first place! 9/11… a fraud most likely staged by Mossad with help from the Neo-Cons. The Taliban… we seemed to get along with them just fine when they were fighting the Soviets. Osama bin Laden… dead for almost nine years, worked for the CIA (Tim Osman). Can someone give me one good reason why we are still squandering lives and treasure in that devastated place only to have to eventually turn tail and run like the Soviets did?
I will bore you with more of my thoughts. If this is true then the Afghan people must benefit!! Not global corporations like what has happened in Peru or Bolivia. The temptation of Afghan politicians is to accept bribes that only benefit the wealthy elite.
Interesting article. Never really looked into this rumor of minerals before so thanks for this information.
’9/11 & Free Energy’: http://mindoutpsyde.com/forums/index.php?topic=757.0
No matter the discussion there are always the same faces commenting as though they were experts in that field.I see now that those same people are qualified geologists and engineers.One would think that that these highly qualified minds would form their own ,”Think tank”,to promote their agenda that the proponents for Israel are evil,dastardly Oil Can Harries.
Is there some facet of today’s world events that aren’t a total manipulation by Israel and the supposed Zionists?It remind me of the Senator MCcArthy tirades in the 50s.
No the Israelis by hook or crook are financed by the USA taxpayer to operate a fantasy world country where they can do all sorts of things impossible through their own resources.
Even though they are a welfare state financed by the USA they can develop and maintain one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world and actually turn things around and become master of it’s benefactor through bribery and manipulation.
It’s all real and unreal at the same time.
Mike
Mike
Oh those poor Afghanis, sitting on all that wealth, and don’t have the infrastructure to exploit it. Well now I just feel an overwhelming obligation to “stay the course”, and invest as many billions and American lives as it takes to obtain “stability” there. Was it the same scientists who did this geological survey who also told us after 9/11 that you can apparently turn your backyard steel barbeque grill into a pool of molten lava after 50 minutes of moderately hot fire? Hell I’m scared to fire it up now (I miss those ribs too). I don’t know what is scarier, how dumb our government thinks we are, or how dumb we’ve proven ourselves to be.
Scott, you’ve sure stated the dilemma clearly.
I think saddest part of the American story though is that despite everything there is a spirit of trust which now has been made into our worst “fault”. So we have gotten to the point where there is no trust because everything is perceived
as a scam or ultimately valued in dollars and sense; success not morals and principles.
Many people I know are in great admiration of “the Jews” because of their success in getting what they want through deceit. Deceit has become a virtue in America. Everyone wants to try their hand at it and see if the can be like the “smart” Jews.
The Jerry Springer show is a microcosm of what has been done by the biggest manipulators and trouble makers in the world. Like a child molester they capitalize on every human frailty to encourage the worst in everyone.
It’s amazing how for a few thousand dollars you can get an expert to say anything by financing the writing of a “book”.
People in America still believe despite everything if you wrote a “book” you must know something and surely you are saying what you really believe.
Mike
Why do I smell another BS PR move to justify nation building in Afgn after 9 years of stalemate ?
Mineral and oil wealth in poor corrupt countries is a curse. It the minerals are there, then the lives of Afghanis will be more violent as warlords connive with foreign corporations to steal that wealth from the people. Time to pack our bags and leave. That way we are sure the corporations cannot get in and make matters worse. I do feel sory for Afghan women who will have to live with 7th century oppression under sharia Islam. But it is not an American problem. If only we left it to the Soviets.
There are valuable minerals of some sort everywhere in the world. When it comes to unexploited mineral wealth the USA is the worst offender.
America was hoodwinked by the European diamond cartel who managed to cap the only known diamond mine in the USA (Arkansas) by making it into a park. Now what kind of dirty dog would want dig up a park looking for diamonds?
One dirty dog was Henry Ford (perhaps the most defamed man in US history)who wanted industrial diamonds from that “park” during WWll for machining metal in the war effort. Since he couldn’t dig up the precious park he (the US taxpayer)had to
pay through the nose to get diamonds from the European diamond cartels while US soldiers were dying on the European
battle fields.
If you want to find the real worth of any politician ask him to read Smedley Butler’s “War is a Racket” and comment on it. If the political candidate doesn’t say “I wasn’t aware Smedley Butler, his story should be in in every American history textbook” then you you will know the value of that candidate, case closed. Worthless; Actually worse than worthless; such a candidate would be of negative value and should be in charge of NOTHING.
Old bill clinton was said to be “so smart”. Why didn’t he exploit the Arkansas diamond mine in his own back yard?
Mike
‘Cui bono’? Who benefits(from the Serial Scams, we keep being deceited with)? The answer is simple: The intellectual authors, the con men, i.e. the Zion-Talmudic International Mafia, nowadays ruling Jews and Non-Jews worldwide, using the US Armed Forces as a toy-tool of destabilization-destruction and the US taxpayers as happy fools to foot the bill. Any fancy Hollywood like fairy tale,they serve us, is meant as an anesthesic for our brains. All has been pre-staged, according to needs of the Zionist agenda.
YOU ARE CORRECT! The three indispensable tools of this ongoing fraud are the control of:
1) The media including TV, Radio and films (and academia).
2) Control of the issue of money.
3) Bribery and blackmail, used when number one and two don’t work.
Mike
More excuses to commit murder and genocide on a nation-wide scale.
I’m a metallurgist, not a foreign relations expert. Yes, the Afghanistan area has long been known for metal deposits — cobalt, copper, nickel, titanium, lead, that whole series.
And the ocean is full of gold. The cost of extracting it would pop your eyeballs out of your head.
I campaigned hard for Obama (gods, consider the alternative), but yeah, Mister President, time to buy a vowel. You can’t “defeat terrorists” by making war on an entire country. You may as well bomb Texas, where a large proportion of our own loonies live.
Bring our people home. Ma Nature is handing us enough disasters without us trying to compete, and as an engineer, I guarantee you that it’s going to get worse in short order. We’re going to need all hands on deck in our own back yard.
Halliburton and BoeLockMart executives and managers can just go apply for food stamps, and get a small taste of living like the people they’ve been profiteering from.
Sir , I don’t want to be nasty but you were a fool for voting for Obama. You obviously have access to the internet so you have no excuse for not knowing Obama is a 100% zionsit/israeli
stooge. That was known before the election. I voted for Ralph Nader because he does not take orders from Israel and intended to end the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (so called war on terror–better named Israeli war for the conquest of the Middle East)to an end immediately.
Obama was going to end the wars, right? You sir were duped.
Mike
According to a very hi ranking ex- Afghan official from The Mininistry of Mines and Industries in Afghanistan, the natural minerals were discovered in the late sixties in Afghanistan by geologists, and the maps and blue prints were created and they were all smuggled to America, during the Russian invasion in Afghanistan. The Russians already knew about the minerals in Afghanistan, since the majority of geologists in Afghanistan were educated in Russia and had a tie with the Russian backed regyme, but the Afghan resistance and 9 years of war made it very diificult for the Russians to investigate further. The timing of the news release about the natural minerals is very questionable, since the US, already knew about the existence of the minerals in Afghanistan while they supported the mujahideens in the Russian War.
According to some experts,it’ll take at least 10 years and another trillion of dollars to make those mines profitable, and this will give the US, and Coalition Forces a great reason to justify their stay in Afghanistan and profit from those mines, but in order to do that Afghanistan need a great leader to unite the tribes, so they can agree on everything including the mining industry by the foreign forces. First we don’t have such a leader at the moment to unite everyone, and to have a stable country in Afghanistan, and second there will be many wars over the mines among the local tribes for the ownership of the mines.
This is another manipulated fabrication by the US, and the media to justify their staying in Afghanistan, just like the Bush Administartion justified the invasion of Iraq, by promissing that the profit from the Iraqi Oil will pay for the war!
What happened to the oil money from Iraq? What will happen to the money from the Natural Minerals in Afghanistan, and if they will be able to build a mining industry in Afghanistan ? Will it pay for the War?
What will the poor Afghan people will get out of all these mines?