Afghanistan thought economic prosperity was only true in fairy tales; made for someone else but not for her. War was out to get her, that’s the way it seemed. Disappointed haunted Afghanistan’s dreams…
Then recent geological surveys determined that the country is sitting upon over $1 trillion in untapped minerals and Afghanistan is a believer. To the impoverished, landlocked nation suffering from perpetual conflict, this discovery could be a dream come true. While the United States Department of Defense set the estimate at around $1 trillion, several more optimistic surveys believe that there is more than $3 trillion dollars worth of iron, cobalt, lithium, copper, and gold pie nestled beneath the dry crust of Afghanistan.
But ever silver lining belongs to a cloud. This information happens to come out in a very violent time in the war, when national and international opinion is leaning away from continued action. Allow me to educate you with the help of a metaphor. You and all of your NATO friends threw Afghanistan a surprise party. Afghanistan is missing an arm, suffering from a skin disease, and suffering from multiple personality disorder. Its late, the chips are gone, and Germany and Poland’s respective parents are calling them telling them to come home. You need to get them to stay, because Afghanistan is getting a pool, and you want to be cool with Afghan so you can take have access. How do you get them to stay? You bring out the surprise pinata!
Long story short, the U.S. brought out a prize to garner public support on the home front and ensure that our international comrades won’t get cold feet. Unfortunately, the idea sounds a little pie in the sky to this stalwart columnist.







