<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><DIV>Chris Floyd has done that for us, and the answer is both correct and predictable.</DIV>
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<DIV><A href="http://chris-floyd.com/articles/1-latest-news/1978-trillion-dollar-bash-mineral-find-means-more-blood-money-in-afghan-war.html">http://chris-floyd.com/articles/1-latest-news/1978-trillion-dollar-bash-mineral-find-means-more-blood-money-in-afghan-war.html</A><BR></DIV>
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<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13@yahoo.com><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> Peace-discuss <peace-discuss@lists.chambana.net><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Mon, June 14, 2010 10:01:04 AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [Peace-discuss] Fw: Afghanistan has $1 Trillion in mineral deposits (DN! Monday, June 14, 2010)<BR></FONT><BR>
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<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>Friends,<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span><BR></SPAN>
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<TD vAlign=top><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span>This was one of this morning's Democracy Now's headlines. Anybody care to guess what the US will do about this??</SPAN>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span> --Jenifer</SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 15px; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-WEIGHT: bold" class=Apple-style-span><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span>Report: US Discovers $1 Trillion in Afghan Mineral Deposits</SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="LINE-HEIGHT: 15px; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51)" class=Apple-style-span><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span>The </SPAN><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span>New York Times</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span> is reporting the United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, including huge amounts of copper, cobalt, gold and lithium. US officials say the find could alter the Afghan war and make Afghanistan one of the most important mining centers in the world. An internal Pentagon memo states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and cell phones. The value of mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistan’s existing economy. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is only about $12
billion. American geologists have been studying the potential for mining since at least 2004. The timing of the </SPAN><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span>New York Times</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span> article has been questioned by some because it is being published at a time when the Obama administration has little good news to report on Afghanistan. On Saturday the </SPAN><I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span>Times</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span> reported Afghan President Hamid Karzai had lost faith in the United States and NATO to prevail in Afghanistan. Karzai has reportedly been involved with secret negotiations with the Taliban outside the purview of American and NATO officials. Meanwhile, a new report from the London School of Economics includes new evidence that Pakistan’s main spy agency, the ISI, continues to arm and
train the Taliban. The report states, "Without a change in Pakistani behavior it will be difficult, if not impossible, for international forces and the Afghan government to make progress against the insurgency."</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: small" class=Apple-style-span> </SPAN></DIV></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR><BR>-- <BR>This message has been scanned for viruses and <BR>dangerous content by <A href="http://www.mailscanner.info/" rel=nofollow target=_blank><B>MailScanner</B></A>, and is <BR>believed to be clean.
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