MSNBC: Karzai: Japan gets priority in Afghan mining

[heyholetsgogrant]

Karzai: Japan gets priority in Afghan mining

Visiting president woos companies to explore trillions in untapped minerals

TOKYO - Afghan President Hamid Karzai prepared to wrap up a five-day visit to Japan on Sunday after pledging the host nation would be granted priority to explore and extract untapped mineral resources recently valued at more than $1 trillion.

Karzai said the leg up in mineral exploration would be granted in return for the aid Japan has given his nation.

"Morally, Afghanistan should give access as a priority to those countries that have helped Afghanistan massively in the past few years," he said, noting Japan has been his country's No. 2 aid donor.

Source: MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37803781/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

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So much for being number one donor Once we finally get our troops and security blanket, I say let the Japanese have at it (wanna bet they complain?). Let the Japanese deal with the Taliban!

[Thiebear]

Blah! its my understanding by that article.

Japan will profit as the number 2 contributor after the United States.

and

We will not profit so much..

No good deed goes unpunished.

[Madison Redskin]

We're not there for the minerals and I think it would look rather bad if U.S. companies were the ones mining the minerals.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

We're not there for the minerals and I think it would look rather bad if U.S. companies were the ones mining the minerals.

I agree. I'm actually somewhat relieved by this news. Let is be someone else's problem.

[haithman]

We're not there for the minerals and I think it would look rather bad if U.S. companies were the ones mining the minerals.

You honestly can't say we won't be over there mining. It will happen.

[Thiebear]

I think anyone that finds something FOR YOU should get a cut.

especially if they follow through and make sure YOU can get to something you normally wouldn't be able to reach.

[BadKarma]

We should just loot their minerals and use the proceeds to pay off a chunk of our own debt. What are they gonna do about it? Seems like we are getting the short straw on this one, Obama needs to break out his pimp hand, this is weak.

[Braxford]

This actually benefits the U.S...in a way. Karzai does not look like an U.S. "puppet" with this, so it can help with Afghan support. Also , Japan gets rewarded for helping out, might encourage more support in rebuilding from other nations. Also it keeps China from dominating the mining. Lastly, the U.S. has usually decent trade relationships with Japan and they are an ally, plus all the materials Japan mines from there will go to build all the electronics they sell to America, which will help the retail economy in America.

[Madison Redskin]

We should just loot their minerals and use the proceeds to pay off a chunk of our own debt. What are they gonna do about it? Seems like we are getting the short straw on this one, Obama needs to break out his pimp hand, this is weak.

Ordinarily, I would agree with you. However, Afghanistan is not an ordinary country. If the Afghan government granted American companies licenses to extract the minerals, don't you think a lot of people at home and abroad would accuse the U.S. of occupying Afghanistan for the purpose of looting the country of its wealth? I don't think that the U.S. government and the international effort in Afghanistan should lose credibility so a few U.S. companies can get their hands on some minerals.

[Jrew1223]

We're not there for the minerals and I think it would look rather bad if U.S. companies were the ones mining the minerals.

The number one reason why we are in Afghanistan is because of its natural resources and geopolitical location in the Asian continent. We are there mainly to secure a path for oil to travel from the Caspian basin to the Indian ocean.

Oil interests have had their eye on that region pre 9/11 and invited members of the Taliban to Houston to iron out details of an agreement for access to build this pipe line through Afghanistan, but because of regional instability main investors pulled out of the project.

Post 9/11, it is interesting to point out how the president we put in power, Hamid Karzai was a Unocal Consultant on oil matters and one of the first things he did in office was void a deal previously accepted by Afghanistan to allow the construction of a natural gas piple line from Iran to India via Afghanistan. He then made an agreement with Pakistan for the north/south pipe line which was green lit upon our invasion. Again, we knew the minerals were there back in the 1980's along with the Soviets.

I would only be speculating as to what the ends are the the means of these actions, but the facts are the facts and we can draw our own conclusions... It is actually kind of frightening what you can find out when you dig a littler deeper...

[Madison Redskin]

The number one reason why we are in Afghanistan is because of its natural resources and geopolitical location in the Asian continent. We are there mainly to secure a path for oil to travel from the Caspian basin to the Indian ocean.

Oil interests have had their eye on that region pre 9/11 and invited members of the Taliban to Houston to iron out details of an agreement for access to build this pipe line through Afghanistan, but because of regional instability main investors pulled out of the project.

Post 9/11, it is interesting to point out how the president we put in power, Hamid Karzai was a Unocal Consultant on oil matters and one of the first things he did in office was void a deal previously accepted by Afghanistan to allow the construction of a natural gas piple line from Iran to India via Afghanistan. He then made an agreement with Pakistan for the north/south pipe line which was green lit upon our invasion. Again, we knew the minerals were there back in the 1980's along with the Soviets.

I would only be speculating as to what the ends are the the means of these actions, but the facts are the facts and we can draw our own conclusions... It is actually kind of frightening what you can find out when you dig a littler deeper...

I am well aware of the facts you cited above. However, do you really think then that GWB simply used 9/11 as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and that Obama is increasing troop levels to ensure that we can exploit Afghanistan's resources? That's certainly what you're implying.

I realize that's a popular theory among far left conspiracy theorists, but it's one that is woefully misguided IMO.

[elkabong82]

We should just loot their minerals and use the proceeds to pay off a chunk of our own debt. What are they gonna do about it? .

umm, how about they'll continue to be a poor nation and the hostility and poverty which allow terrorism and terrorist networks to survive there, even after 9 years of US occupancy, will gain further legitimacy in the eyes of our enemies. it's this exact kind of meddling and screwing over others for our own needs which has created so much resentment in the past and served as a motivator in the 9/11 attacks.

and your attitude, or indifference, is disturbing. would you like it if such a thing happened to us? I doubt it, so we shouldn't be doing it to others. Allowing Afghanistan to get rich off these minerals and to run it themselves can create a wealthier nation which in turn creates a happier population and in turn eliminates much of the cause for the hostility there which allows terrorists to operate.

the better Afghanistan gets, the sooner we can get out and the more weakened terrorist networks become. much better than incorporating a completely selfish attitude and screwing over a poor country just to help ourselves a little more eventho we're one of the wealthiest nations already.

[Jrew1223]

I am well aware of the facts you cited above. However, do you really think then that GWB simply used 9/11 as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and that Obama is increasing troop levels to ensure that we can exploit Afghanistan's resources? That's certainly what you're implying.

I realize that's a popular theory among far left conspiracy theorists, but it's one that is woefully misguided IMO.

I do believe that 9/11 was the pretext that was used in order to further the established goals that were on the table pre-9/11. Certain interests from geopolitical strategists to corporate visionaries have had their sights set on that region for decades prior to 9/11.

I don't know exactly why Obama raised the troop levels in Afghanistan as only members on this inside would really know, but I can say that they were not in place to go after the Taliban. You might find that to be far fetched, but you probably don't know a whole lot about the culture of that region other than what you've been told.

I don't take offense when you compare my thoughts with far left conspiracy theorists because if I know that you would have to have spent the same amount of time researching this region to be able to understand it fully in the context of what is currently going on.

[Jrew1223]

We should just loot their minerals and use the proceeds to pay off a chunk of our own debt. What are they gonna do about it? Seems like we are getting the short straw on this one, Obama needs to break out his pimp hand, this is weak.

Ryman of the North, is that you? :-P

[Madison Redskin]

I do believe that 9/11 was the pretext that was used in order to further the established goals that were on the table pre-9/11. Certain interests from geopolitical strategists to corporate visionaries have had their sights set on that region for decades prior to 9/11.

You really think that, but for the proposed oil pipeline, the U.S. would not have invaded Afghanistan? Okay ...

[Jrew1223]

You really think that, but for the proposed oil pipeline, the U.S. would not have invaded Afghanistan? Okay ...

The pipeline was not the only factor but it did represent a major one. You have to look at it from a broader perspective. There were many benefits to invading Afghanistan from the pipeline, to the mineral resources, to establishing a presence in an area of the world to where we can better influence our will against nations we are competing against.

Check it out for yourself man, I'm not sitting here asking you to take my words for gold...

[Madison Redskin]

The pipeline was not the only factor but it did represent a major one. You have to look at it from a broader perspective. There were many benefits to invading Afghanistan from the pipeline, to the mineral resources, to establishing a presence in an area of the world to where we can better influence our will against nations we are competing against.

Check it out for yourself man, I'm not sitting here asking you to take my words for gold...

GWB viewed the invasion of Afghanistan as a no-brainer and I seriously doubt that the pipeline played any role in that decision.

But let's just assume that you're right, and the major reason why we invaded Afghanistan was to help construct the pipeline. Could you tell me why the U.S. government has devoted so few resources to the construction of the pipeline? It's been almost a decade since we invaded the country and the project is being financed by private entities, the U.S. government hasn't lifted a finger in its construction, and Unocal withdrew from the project.

I believe that people should question the "official government line," but having a knee-jerk reaction to the official line and automatically rejecting it is just as bad as buying it without question.