Why The United States will not leave Afghanistan anytime soon!

                                                                        

                                                 The flag of Afghanistan                                        Coat of Arms of Afghanistan 

                                                            Jomhūrī-ye Eslāmī-ye Afġānistān جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان

Above a 5th century BC carving of Median and Achaemenid soldiers at a time when the region was known as Aryana.

                                     Darius the great mentions the “Kabul Valley” in a list of the 29 countries he had conquered

 

 

                                               

The invasion

The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by the United States of America was direct response to the 9/ 11 incidents masterminded by the Al Qaida. At that time the above terrorist group’s headquarters was located in Afghanistan which was under the protection of the Taliban government.

 

                                                                    1997 Osama Ben Laden interview in Afghanistan

                                                                                         By a Pakistani journalist

 

The invasion was solely for security purposes. At that time the U.S. had no knowledge of the existence of any natural resource in Afghanistan in significant amount to justify an invasion, such as those that existed in Iraq, namely the oil.

 

The discovery of minerals

Sometimes after the invasion the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have found out that Afghanistan is rich in undiscovered natural resources. The Pentagon hired a major mining-consulting firm to compile information on the most promising sites in a format attractive to foreign investors. The effort paid off when western investors, led by J.P. Morgan Capital Market, injected $50 million into a small artisanal gold prospect in an alpine valley east of Mazar-e Sharif.

In 2009 the USGS, by using satellite imagery remote sensing, surveyed Afghanistan’s arid plains and high mountains and also on-the ground fieldwork, under military cover, have mapped Afghanistan’s deposits of critical mineral and found out that, beside the existence of the ordinary minerals such as; gold, copper, iron, lead, zinc, mercury, etc, there are rich reserve of “rare-earth elements”.

 

The usage of the rare-earth elements

The rare-earth elements are used in high-tech industry such as; Scandium in Aerospace; Yttrium in laser, TV, computer, microwave etc; Lanthanum in oil refining, hybrid car batteries; Cerium in Catalytic converters, oil refining, glass lens production; Praseodymium in aircraft engines, carbon arc lights; Neodymium in computer hard drive, cell phone, high powered magnets.

There are rich deposits of, at least fourteen other known, rare-earth elements in ragged mountains of Afghanistan that all can be used in high-tech consumer products similar to those mentioned above. For more detail information about mineral deposits found in Afghanistan pleas refer to Scientific Americans magazin, October 2011 issue, pages 58 through 65.

 

At the present time China provides 97 percent of the world’s rare-earth element which makes the other industrialized countries of the world nervous. By some estimate, when the Afghanistan’s rare-earth elements become marketable, it will put an end to China’s monopoly of those elements.

 

Regional problems

Production in Northern Afghanistan, where the Taliban influence is minimal, has already begun by Chinese and Indian companies. But most of the deposits, specially the important rare-earth elements, are located in the Southern region which is under the Taliban influence that at the present time is not safe for investment.

 

Estimated income for Afghanistan

The experts believe that when these resources come to full production, Afghanistan will become the Saudi Arabia of rare Earth elements. These resources will create, annually, billions of dollars of revenue for the government and millions of jobs for the Afghans that could put an end to the dependency of the nation to foreign aids and could, tremendously, reduce the cultivation of the elicit opium.

For example; the value of iron concentrated in Haji-Gak mountainous terrain near Kabul is estimated at whopping $420 billion that could bring $300 million a year revenue for the government of Afghanistan.

            

Conclusion

 

With above in mind the United States presumably, while will pull out its combat troops as scheduled, has following double edged interests in having political and economic presence in Afghanistan for a very long time.

1-      To make sure that the American companies will have the chance to get portion of the future contracts, especially on the discovery and production of the rare-earth elements. Chinese and Indians companies have already signed long term contracts for the discovery and production of several types of ordinary minerals in Northern Afghanistan.

2-      The income from the above resources will put an end to the U.S. financial aid to Afghanistan and also will reduce the dependency of the nation on cultivation of opium that is the source of drug trafficking to the U.S. and the rest of the world. 

 In my opinion if the Talibans come to their senses, they will realize that the exploration of these natural resources will be a win/win situation which will pull Afghanistan out of poverty. But unfortunately that is a long-shot since Islamist are too fnatic and emotional not rational. That is why all countries with Islamic oriented culture are poor, backward, and so far behind the rest of the world. 

It is your intellect that takes you to a prosperous status not your emotion or your religious belief.  

Present day Aghani men dressed in yesteryears fashion

When the day comes that Afghanistan will realize the income from those natural resources, if Afghan leaders are wise enough they will allocate a great portion of that income toward educational programs which is the best way to campaign against ignorance and religious fanaticism. In that sense Afghanistan has a long way to go.