Re: U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan

Industry owns and runs the planet for the most part - governments make money off of them with resource leasing rights (among other things), in return, governments give them huge kickbacks, subsidies, and tax breaks... today, governments and their armies, seem to only exist to secure (invade) and protect (occupy) the resource rich areas.

>>"One area of particular concern is "rare earth elements", important for defence and many green technologies from low-energy lightbulbs to wind turbines, as well as industries as varied as electronics and lasers, film and lighting, aircraft engines, nuclear reactors, and pain-relieving drugs, Phil Dolley, AEA's resource efficiency director, said.

Elsewhere, the US, the EU and Mexico have announced that they want to bring a World Trade Organisation case against Chinese restrictions on exports of nine key raw materials, including coke, bauxite, magnesium and fluorspar, all important for producing steel, aluminium and other chemicals."<<

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/31/world-resources-shortage-threa...

Other such articles list other metals such as lithium, niobium, tantalum, etc.

The real reason for the war in Afghanistan? Control of rare strategic metals in Afghanistan.

Note the date on the article... there are others published long before this one.

http://smarteconomy.typepad.com/smart_economy/2009/09/the-real-reason-for-the...

Rare earths have been an issue for a long while... and we are depleting reserves in South America, while sitting on our own reserves in the West, specifically the desert SW.

Of course there are other strategic business interest reasons as well.

Nearly all of the chaos we see in the world today is due to industry resource grabs backed by their governments....

Most of the *terrorist* opposition is people with little means protecting their way of life... much like we are protecting our way of life and highly consumptive practices through the securing of these available resources.

A few 10s of thousands in deaths and millions injured and sick, along with the protection of the environment seems to matter not.

While I am very supportive, and fond of Ron Paul and those of like mind, it is the one very sticky point that I have with him... his approach would be to harvest our own resources (read more mining, drilling, etc. in our own back yards) and leave others alone to develop and trade on their own... which, in today's world does not seem very feasible given other country's business interests actively competing for third world resources.

I would prefer to see a dramatic reduction in consumption.

We are at a global crossroads in many ways... we (first world countries) need to either dramatically decrease our consumptive practices... or, choose to support the military (government) backed and protected pillaging (environmental destruction) of our own land and the resources abroad through the purchasing of needless *things*.

grz-

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