An American Lion

Lithium BatteryThe Soviets knew there was lithium in Afghanistan as far back as the mid-1970s--even before they invaded the country. Don't listen to this nonsense:

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.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and Blackberries.

Case in point [pdf alert]:

Rossovskiy, L.N., Chmyrev, V.M., and Salakh, A.S., 1976, Genetic relationship of aphanitic spodumene dikes to lithium-pegmatite veins: Transactions (Doklady) of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences: Earth Science Sections, v. 226, no. 1-6, p. 170-172.

Rossovskiy, L.N., Chmyrev, V.M., and Salakh, A.S., 1976b, Vertical range and zoning of spodumene pegmatite deposits in Afghanistan: Transactions (Doklady) of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences: Earth Science Sections, v., 227, no. 1-6, p. 85-87.

Rossovskiy, L.N., and Shmakin, B.M., 1978, Unique example of vertical geochemical zoning in pegmatites of the Hindu Kush, Afghanistan: Transactions (Doklady) of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences: Earth Science Sections, v. 240, no. 1-6, p. 204-206.

The United States Geologic Survey has known that there were "abundant" amounts of lithium in Afghanistan as far back as 2002 [another pdf alert].

Don't buy the idea that this is a new "trading partner" of vast proportions. Afghanistan has no mining infrastructure. It won't have a mining infrastructure unless and until the war is over. You cannot go into the resource-rich areas of Afghanistan and mine these materials from the ground until the issue of the Taliban is dealt with. Developing mines that can tap into all of the raw materials that Afghanistan possesses will take billions in investment dollars (not happening because the Afghan government is shaky and inherently corrupt) and the cooperation and acquiescence of a militant segment of Afghanistan's population that wishes to remain in the Dark Ages.

This is the sort of nonsense that flim-flam artists use to sell soap to people. No wonder General Petraeus is out there, beating the drum:

“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”

The value of the newly discovered mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistan’s existing war-bedraggled economy, which is based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is only about $12 billion.

“This will become the backbone of the Afghan economy,” said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines.

American and Afghan officials agreed to discuss the mineral discoveries at a difficult moment in the war in Afghanistan. The American-led offensive in Marja in southern Afghanistan has achieved only limited gains. Meanwhile, charges of corruption and favoritism continue to plague the Karzai government, and Mr. Karzai seems increasingly embittered toward the White House.

Did you catch that? They waited to tell us the good news because there's nothing but bad news coming out of the country right now. What else do they have stashed away? Do they have Osama bin Laden's head on a pike somewhere in a closet, ready to bring out when someone gives the green light? This means that they have no idea how to exploit these resources unless the war were to suddenly end, and since that's not happening, they might as well have found diamonds and platinum.

Please be mindful of the fact that this is how they're going to sell the extension of this war to you. This is the angle they are developing (among a few others, I would imagine) so that you can feel good about voting for politicians who continue our presence in Afghanistan.

Anyone who knows anything about Saudi Arabia will tell you that trying to create the "Saudi Arabia" of lithium out of Afghanistan is a fool's errand. Do you really think the Afghan people will sit there and allow their country to be exploited? Do you really think that the kind of fanaticism that the Western use of oil has created in Saudi Arabia won't also be created in Afghanistan? Oh, wait--it already has been! My bad.