By GI Korea on June 16th, 2010 at 1:28 pm

Picture of the Day: Eureka In Afghanistan

• SJ
  7:32 am on June 16th, 2010 1

  There is tremendous untapped mineral wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other dysfunctional African nations, but you don't see the United States deep in there.

• Leon LaPorte
  7:57 am on June 16th, 2010 2

  #1. The new AFRICOM isn't in full swing yet.

• Gerry
  11:17 am on June 16th, 2010 3

  I wondered how long it would take.

• Leon LaPorte
  11:26 am on June 16th, 2010 4

  I wondered how long it would take. Waddaya mean?

  Never mind that we've known about the minerals since the days of our proxy war against the USSR in the 1970s.

  In the early 1970s the U.S. government, the Soviets, the World Bank, the U.N. and others were all highly focused on the wide range of Afghan mineral deposits. Cheap ways of moving the ore to ocean ports has always been the limiting factor.

  http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/…

  http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/06/no-the-mi…

  Someone thinks us a bunch of nimrods.

• ChickenHead
  12:38 pm on June 16th, 2010 5

  O.K.

  Tinfoil hats aside, can someone kindly tell me why we ARE in Afghanistan again?

• Leon LaPorte
  2:08 pm on June 16th, 2010 6

  #5 Something that happened in 2001. Can't quite recall the date. It was just a little thing.

• ChickenHead
  2:21 pm on June 16th, 2010 7

  Leon… hmmm…

  That's why we went… but why are we there now?

  Almost unnoticed, the focus has shifted from counter-terrorism payback to endless counter-insurgency…

  …which seems like a euphemism for years of attempted nation-building.

  So, once again, why are we there now?

• Teadrinker
  2:55 pm on June 16th, 2010 8

  #4,

  Did you see the Fox News guys talking about this? You could almost smell the stench of greed through the screen.

• Leon LaPorte
  3:24 pm on June 16th, 2010 9

  #8 Now you're giving me the headache.

  This is not news. It has been well known that the country had resources since the beginning. Someone at the turn of the last century even noted that while they had abundant natural wealth, the locals seemed uninterested in exploiting it.

  I'd like them to use it to build a prosperous country with democracy (for all citizens) governed by the rule of law. Unfortunately politics and religion, which embraces poverty, ignorance and "warlords" is likely going to prevent it. Not to mention history isn't really on their side. Too bad really.

• JoeC
  3:42 pm on June 16th, 2010 10

  The real reason we are in Afghanistan now has more to do with Pakistan. With nukes in Pakistan, we have to do everything we can to help the eradicate the Taliban there. That means not giving them free transit back and forth through Afghanistan.

  Hopefully our position in Afghanistan provides an anvil for the Pakistani military to hammer their Taliban against.

• Teadrinker
  7:30 pm on June 16th, 2010 11

  #10,

  What do you make of this:

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10302…

• GI Korea
  10:44 pm on June 16th, 2010 12

  Michael Yon is suspicious of this recent news:

  http://www.facebook.com/MichaelYonFanPage?v=wall#…

• Gerry
  10:38 am on June 17th, 2010 13

  Leave Afganistan, let it fall to the taliban who will attack Pakistan and take the nukes and attack India who will retaliate and destroy Pakistan and Afganistan forever. No US involvement is the only solution.

• Bridgett
  4:09 pm on September 16th, 2011 14

  I make contact with my doggy Ben. As a result of Ben Harper. The tunes is usually a a a part of my located for sure

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