However, as of now the US is in the driving seat
so far as the mining affairs of the country are concerned. The Pentagon who made
the startling discovery, has set up a task force to help Afghanistan government
develop a system to deal with mining affairs. The entire affair of seeking
international bids will be managed by the US as Afghanistan’s mining ministry is
not capable of handling such a gigantic task. It clearly means that all the mining rights will
be awarded to the American and European companies. It will, therefore, not be an
exaggeration to say that the ‘mineral war’ will end in the economic
balkanisation of Afghanistan. The Taliban will play a crucial role in this new war as a large part
of the minerals are beneath the area dominated by them. The Taliban has been
carrying on its ‘jihad’ with the money earned through opium trade which is worth
$4billion annually. The haram money
was a constant embarrassment for the fighters of jihad. Now, they can dictate
terms to the bidding countries, to the Afghan government and the US and earn
‘legitimate’ money by allowing them to start mining operations in their area,
thus giving legitimacy to their ‘jihad’. At the same time the wealth may further
strengthen their physical base and, therefore, their political clout. --
Sohail Arshad
By Sohail Arshad
The recent discovery of large
deposits of iron, copper, cobalt, gold, lithium and other precious metals worth
$1 trillion in Afghanistan by the Pentagon could well change the political
equations in the war-torn impoverished country.
An internal Pentagon memo states
that with this discovery, Afghanistan could become the ‘Saudi Arabia of
Lithium”.
If that is to be believed, there
will be a mad rush among the powerful countries like China, the US, India and
the NATO countries, especially the UK, France and Germany to get a share in the
mining rights because Afghanistan, according to US officials, is going to become
the largest mining county in the world in decades to come. It will shift the
US’s focus from the war on terror to the ‘mineral war’ preparations for which
have just begun.
China, one of the powerful
contenders in the region, is already in the fray as it has won the Aynak copper
mines for $4 billion last year. The communist country has become a reason for
worry for the US as it believes that China will try to get the lion’s share of
the developing mining industry in the country.
India is also a strong contender
with five Indian companies – Sesa Goa, Essar Minerals, Ispat Industries, JSW
Steel and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam bidding with Chinese companies for 1.8 billion
tonnes Hajigak iron ore mines in the Hindukush mountains. The bids were
postponed last year as the US had alleged that the minister of mines of
Afghanistan had accepted a $20 million bribe to grant the Aynak mining rights to
China.
However, as of now the US is in
the driving seat so far as the mining affairs of the country are concerned. The
Pentagon who made the startling discovery, has set up a task force to help
Afghanistan government develop a system to deal with mining affairs. The entire
affair of seeking international bids will be managed by the US as Afghanistan’s
mining ministry is not capable of handling such a gigantic
task.
It clearly means that all the
mining rights will be awarded to the American and European companies. It will,
therefore, not be an exaggeration to say that the ‘mineral war’ will end in the
economic balkanisation of Afghanistan.
The Taliban will play a crucial
role in this new war as a large part of the minerals are beneath the area
dominated by them. The Taliban has been carrying on its ‘jihad’ with the money
earned through opium trade which is worth $4billion annually. The haram money was a constant embarrassment
for the fighters of jihad. Now, they can dictate terms to the bidding countries,
to the Afghan government and the US and earn ‘legitimate’ money by allowing them
to start mining operations in their area, thus giving legitimacy to their
‘jihad’. At the same time the wealth may further strengthen their physical base
and, therefore, their political clout.
Recently the US envoy for Af-Pak
Richard Holbrooke famously said, “Reformed Taliban are acceptable”. The US has
already realised that the war against the Taliban cannot be won. Of late, the
US-led war on terror in Afghanistan is going through a slump. The NATO forces
are being killed by Taliban quite regularly. In the changing circumstances, the
US has made it clear that it can shake hands with the Taliban if they respect
certain ‘red lines’. He said that they could be involved in the government if
they lay down the arms and agree to work within the political system. Obviously,
respecting the ‘red lines’ means ‘not harming the political and economic
interests of the US and its allies in the region and not killing their troops’.
In return, they can get their fair share in the development.
But the acquiescence of the
Taliban alone will not guarantee a smooth sailing for all concerned because
Afghan society comprises of powerful Tribal leaders who weild considerable clout
in their respective regions or provinces. Their rivalry can lead to serious
strife and could even spark a civil war. And worse, the rampant corruption and
nepotism in the rank and file of the government will facilitate the pilferage
and plunder of the country’s mineral wealth by the Western countries. Josh
Marshall has rightly summed it up:
“The unfortunate but very common
pattern is that extractable natural resources produce autocratic, often
kleptocratic, regimes, ruling by violence, which reliably get the stuff out of
the ground and into the hands of more developed and wealthier foreign countries.
You can come up with morality tales about exploitative first world countries but
a lot of it is structural – tied to the scale of the wealth involved, the
relatively limited involvement of the local population required to get the stuff
out of the ground and transformative political effect of the wealth on
offer”.
Sohail Arshad is a freelance journalist and can be contacted
at sohail.arshad07@gmail.com
5:37 AM
Sultan Shahin
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