J.P. Morgan's hunt for Afghan gold

Source Article

Here is an article (though it is not it's initial goal) that shows the intimate relationship between the Pentagon, and private corporations, in this case J.P. Morgan. The banking company has been chosen (we don't know how or why, to benefit form the conflict in Afghanistan through a Pentagon-sanctioned mineral exploitation project.

The potential risks are admitted, but what is also interesting in this paragraph is the (well-known) history of empires that have counted their last days in trying to dominate this particular area of the globe, and somehow, each thought they could succeed where the others had failed.

But if the risks are absurd, the potential rewards are off the charts. Hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of iron, copper, rare earth metals, and, yes, gold are buried beneath Afghanistan's deserts and mountains. This wealth has lain there mainly undisturbed for thousands of years as armies of Persians, Greeks, Mongols, Britons, Russians, and now Americans tramped above. Invaders have dreamed of exploiting it since the time of Alexander the Great, but no one has yet succeeded on a large scale.

From a purely ideological standpoint, the potential benefit to Afghanis may prove to be very positive...
In an 1841 article in a journal of Asiatic studies, Capt. Henry Drummond, a member of the British 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry,

"Give them, however, but constant employment, with good wages and regular payment; encourage a spirit of industry, both by precept and example; let strict justice be dealt out to them without respect of persons; and we shall shortly see their swords changed into plowshares, industry take place of licentiousness, and these people be converted into peaceable and useful subjects," Drummond wrote. But the Afghans weren't keen on the idea of handing over their minerals to occupiers, or on the British occupation itself, for that matter. A year later they massacred the entire British army, save one English survivor, at Gandamak.

Oops... the fact that people do not enjoy being invaded and having their natural resources stolen from under their feet (literally!) may prove to be a high hurdle indeed!

This following little snippet describes how the same people were somehow given similar insider privileges following the invasion of Iraq.

Hannam was at the banquet hall for a reception thrown by the Trade Bank of Iraq to honor J.P. Morgan. Also at the reception was Paul Brinkley, a deputy under secretary of defense charged with jump-starting Iraq's stalled economy. A former tech company executive, Brinkley served as a matchmaker of sorts between Iraqi entrepreneurs and foreign businessmen. With the blessing of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, he operated outside normal bureaucratic channels, eschewing the bulletproof vests and helmets his civilian colleagues wore in combat zones. In three years he had secured some $8 billion in private investment contracts for Iraq, helping start textile mills, cement factories, and electronics companies. Hannam and Brinkley had heard about each other's work. J.P. Morgan had been one of the first Western companies to plant the flag in Iraq, overseeing the country's currency and setting up a big oil project in Iraqi Kurdistan. Hannam and Brinkley fell into conversation about Afghanistan, which was to be Brinkley's next posting.

And, finally, we are perhaps meant to be relieved that:

J.P. Morgan says it isn't putting any of its own money into the project.

Again, I don't know where, how or why they have access to an exclusive pentagon-policed deal, but I would love to have the possibility of being able to participate in a high-risk, amazingly high-reward potential project, without having to put any of my own money at risk... I'm in! (Oh wait... I'm not a privileged insider... never mind!)

the Billmeister

Don't forget oil from the Caspian Sea. Once Afghanistan is fully secured pipelines will finally be able to transport to the Indian Ocean.

Originally posted by eldard
Don't forget oil from the Caspian Sea. Once Afghanistan is fully secured pipelines will finally be able to transport to the Indian Ocean.

Yeah, but that would bypass both Russia and Iran... how could that be viewed as strategically important for western oil companies, uh, I mean governments? /sarcasm