Gaming for Afghan Minerals

The timing behind the report in the Paper of Record (which brought you Judith Miller) concerning the vast potential store of mineral wealth in Afghanistan is very, very suspect. Why now? What’s the purpose of this report at a time when the US is scheduled to exit, stage right? The geological investigation has been going on since at least 2004. Assuming that the initial reports were available to certain inner circles by 2006, what is the big revelation supposed to do? Keep the US in Afghanistan?

All other things being equal, there is not a country in the world that is going to go mining in Afghanistan any time in the foreseeable future for many reasons. The first being the amount of lead and depleted uranium in the air while the second reason…well, there is no second reason.

The World Bank helped draft a mining law? Is this a joke? Of course they did. So what? In what court would any mining developer care to enforce its rights against a local war-lord?

The article, its timing and who wanted it printed is suspicious.