More American Troops to Afghanistan - To Keep the Chinese Out Lithium
and the Battle for Afghanistan’s Mineral Riches. By Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, August 24, 2017
Trump calls for escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Why? Is it part of the “Global War on Terrorism”, going after the bad guys, or is it something else?
Unknown to the broader public, Afghanistan has significant oil,
natural gas and strategic raw material resources, not to mention opium, a
multibillion dollar industry which feeds America’s illegal heroin market.
These mineral reserves include huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt,
gold and lithium, which is a strategic raw material used in the production of
high tech batteries for laptops, cell phones and electric cars.
The implication of Trump’s resolve is to plunder and steal
Afghanistan’s mineral riches to finance the “reconstruction” of a country
destroyed by the US and its allies after 16 years of war, i.e “War
reparations” paid to the aggressor nation?
An
internal 2007 Pentagon memo, quoted by the New York Times suggests that
Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium.” (New York Times, U.S. Identifies Vast
Mineral Riches in Afghanistan – NYTimes.com, June 14, 2010, See also BBC, 14 June 2010, see also Michel
Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2010).
While
it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so
great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract
heavy investment…
“There
is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United
States Central Command, said… “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think
potentially it is hugely significant.”
“This
will become the backbone of the Afghan economy,” said Jalil Jumriany, an
adviser to the Afghan minister of mines. (New York Times, op. cit.)
What
this 2007 report does not mention is that this resource base has been known to
both Russia (Soviet Union) and China going back to the 1970s.
While
the Afghan government of President Ashraf Ghani has called upon President
Donald Trump to promote US. investments in mining, including lithium, China is
in the forefront in developing projects in mining and energy as well as
pipeline projects and transport corridors.
China
is a major trading and investment partner with Afghanistan (alongside Russia
and Iran), which potentially encroaches upon US economic and strategic
interests in Central Asia
China’s
intent is to eventually integrate land transportation through the
historical Wakhan Corridor which links Afghanistan to China’s
Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region (see map below).
Afghanistan’s estimated
$3 trillion worth of unexploited minerals, Chinese companies have acquired
rights to extract vast quantities of copper and coal and snapped up the first
oil exploration concessions granted to foreigners in
decades. China is also eyeing extensive deposits of lithium,
uses of which range from batteries to nuclear components.
The Chinese are also investing in hydropower, agriculture and construction. A direct road link to China across the remote 76-kilometer border between the two countries is in progress. (New Delhi Times, July 18, 2015)
The Chinese are also investing in hydropower, agriculture and construction. A direct road link to China across the remote 76-kilometer border between the two countries is in progress. (New Delhi Times, July 18, 2015)
Afghanistan
has extensive oil reserves which are being explored by China’s National
Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).
Source
Mining News, August 2010
“War is Good for Business”
The
US military bases are there to assert US control over Afghanistan’s mineral
wealth. According to Foreign Affairs, “there are more U.S. military
forces deployed there [Afghanistan] than to any other active combat zone”, the
official mandate of which is “to go after” the Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS
as part of the “Global war on Terrorism”.
Why
so many military bases? Why the additional forces sent in by Trump?
The
unspoken objective of US military presence in Afghanistan is to keep
the Chinese out, i.e hinder China from establishing trade and
investments relations with Afghanistan.
More
generally, the establishment of military bases in Afghanistan on China’s
Western border is part of a broader process of military encirclement of the
People’s Republic of China.–i.e naval deployments in the South China sea,
military facilities in Guam, South Korea, Okinawa, Jeju Island, etc. (see 2011
map below)
Pivot to Asia
Under
the Afghan-US security pact, established under Obama’s Asian pivot,
Washington and its NATO partners have established a permanent military presence
in Afghanistan, with military facilities located close to China’s Western
frontier. The pact was intended to allow the US to maintain their nine
permanent military bases, strategically located on the borders of China,
Pakistan and Iran as well as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
US
military presence, however, has not prevented the expansion of trade and
investment relations between China and Afghanistan. A strategic
partnership agreement was
signed between Kabul and Beijing in 2012. Afghanistan has observer status in
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Moreover,
neighboring Pakistan –which is now a full member of the SCO–, has established
close bilateral relations with China. And now Donald Trump is threatening
Pakistan, which for many years has been the target of America’s
“undeclared drone war”.
In
other words, a shift in geopolitical alignments has taken place which favors
the integration of Afghanistan alongside Pakistan into the Eurasian trade,
investment and energy axis.
Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Iran and China are cooperating in oil and gas pipeline projects.
The SCO of which Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are full members is
providing a geopolitical platform for the integration of Afghanistan into the
Eurasian energy and transport corridors.
China
is eventually intent upon integrating Afghanistan into the transport network of
Western China as part of the Belt and Road initiative.
Moreover, China’s
state owned mining giant, Metallurgical Corporation of China Limited
(MCC) “has already managed
to take control of
the huge copper deposit Mes Aynak, which lies in an area controlled by the
Taliban. Already in 2010, Washington feared “that resource-hungry China
will try to dominate the development of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth which
would upset the United States”… After winning the bid for its Aynak copper mine
in Logar Province, China clearly wants more” (Mining.com)
China and the Battle for Lithium
Chinese
mining conglomerates are now competing for strategic control of the global
Lithium market, which until recently was controlled by the “Big Three”
conglomerates including Albemarle’s Rockwood Lithium (North Carolina), The Sociedad
Quimica y Minera de Chile and FMC Corporation, (Philadelphia) which
operates in Argentina. While the Big Three dominate the market, China now
accounts for a large share of global lithium production, categorized as
the fourth-largest
lithium-producing country behind Australia,
Chile and Argentina. Meanwhile China’s Tianqi Group has taken control of
Australia’s largest lithium mine, called Greenbushes. Tianqi now owns a
51-percent stake in Talison Lithium, in partnership with North Carolina’s
Albemarle.
This
thrust in lithium production is related to China’s rapid development of the
electric car industry:
China
is now “The Center Of Lithium Universe”. China is already the largest market
for electric cars. BYD, Chinese company backed by Warren Buffett, is the
largest EV manufacturer in the world and Chinese companies are producing the
largest amount of lithium chemicals for the batteries. There are 25 companies,
which are making 51 models of electric cars in China now. This year we will see
over 500,000 EVs sold in China. It took GM 7 years to sell 100,000 Chevy Volts
from 2009. BYD will sell 100,000 EVs this year alone! (Mining.com, November 2016 report)
The
size of the reserves of Lithium in Afghanistan have not been firmly
established.
Analysts
believe that these reserves which are yet to be exploited will not have a
significant impact on the global lithium market.
Disclaimer: The
contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The
Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate
or incorrect statement in this article.
Copyright © Prof Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2017
Copyright © Prof Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2017
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