About that $1 trillion Afghan treasure trove ...

Yeah, it's pretty much bullshit.

Blue Girl explains:

The big "news" this morning is about so-called huge new finds of mineral deposits in Afghanistan. The Russians will be amused to learn that the mineral deposits are newly discovered, since they knew about them before they ever invaded the country in the 70s, especially the lithium that has some (extremely gullible) people so excited they seem to be doing the 'gotta pee' dance. This report (.pdf) from the United States Geological Survey on minerals in Afghanistan was written in 2002 and references Soviet white papers detailing discoveries of mineral deposits from the 70s.

This isn't news, it is pure, unadulterated propaganda and they are betting you are stupid enough to buy into it without asking too many questions.

The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

The previously unknown deposits - including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium - are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium," a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

Let's just cut to the chase here. It has been known for decades that Afghanistan has vast, untapped mineral resources. But so what? They are worthless without the infrastructure to exploit them. Afghanistan has no mining infrastructure, it doesn't even have roads. That is why American forces have been providing security for Chinese road-building crews for over a year. Those crews are building the infrastructure to get to a copper mine that they are developing.

I have been saying for over a year that it was a good thing for China to get heavily invested in Afghanistan. That way, we can just drop the whole mess in their lap a year or so down the road, and I still hope that is the ultimate goal of this long game we find ourselves playing.

But if Petraeus and a bunch of dead-weight flag-ranks at the Pentagon start believing their own propaganda, then we're screwed.

Click here for trenchant comments.