{"id":122385,"date":"2018-11-19T13:31:31","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T13:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=122385"},"modified":"2019-11-18T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T10:02:00","slug":"more-american-troops-to-afghanistan-to-keep-the-chinese-out-lithium-and-the-battle-for-afghanistans-mineral-riches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/11\/more-american-troops-to-afghanistan-to-keep-the-chinese-out-lithium-and-the-battle-for-afghanistans-mineral-riches\/","title":{"rendered":"More American Troops to Afghanistan, to Keep the Chinese Out? Lithium and the Battle for Afghanistan\u2019s Mineral Riches"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

18 Nov 2018 – Trump calls for escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Why? Is it part of the \u201cGlobal War on Terrorism\u201d, going after the bad guys, or is it something else?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2019s illegal heroin market.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n

The implication of Trump\u2019s resolve is to plunder and steal Afghanistan\u2019s mineral riches to finance the \u201creconstruction\u201d of a country destroyed by the US and its allies after 16 years of war, i.e \u00a0\u201cWar reparations\u201d paid to the aggressor nation? \u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Screenshot: The Independent.<\/p><\/div>\n

An internal 2007 Pentagon memo, quoted by the New York Times suggests that Afghanistan could become the \u201cSaudi Arabia of lithium.\u201d (New York Times, U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan \u2013 NYTimes.com<\/a>, June 14, 2010, See also BBC, 14 June 2010, see also Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research<\/a>, 2010).<\/p>\n

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\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is stunning potential here,\u201d Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said\u2026 \u201cThere are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis will become the backbone of the Afghan economy,\u201d said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines. (New York Times, op. cit.)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

China\u2019s intent is to eventually integrate land transportation through the historical\u00a0Wakhan Corridor which\u00a0links Afghanistan to China\u2019s Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region (see map below).<\/p>\n

Afghanistan\u2019s 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/strong>. (New Delhi Times,\u00a0July 18, 2015)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Afghanistan has extensive oil reserves which are being explored by China\u2019s National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Source Mining News, August 2010<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWar Is Good for Business\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The US military bases are there to assert US control over Afghanistan\u2019s mineral wealth.\u00a0According to Foreign Affairs,<\/a>\u00a0\u201c<\/a>there are more U.S. military forces deployed there [Afghanistan] than to any other active combat zone\u201d, the official mandate of \u00a0which is \u201cto go after\u201d the Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS as part of the \u201cGlobal war on Terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n

Why so many military bases? Why the additional forces sent in by Trump?<\/p>\n

Read More: \u201cThe War is Worth Waging\u201d: Afghanistan\u2019s Vast Reserves of Minerals and Natural Gas<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The unspoken objective of US military presence in Afghanistan is to keep the Chinese out, <\/strong>i.e hinder China from establishing trade and investments relations with Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

More generally, the establishment of military bases in Afghanistan on China\u2019s Western border is part of a broader process of military encirclement of the People\u2019s Republic of China.\u2013i.e naval deployments in the South China sea, military facilities in Guam, South Korea, Okinawa, Jeju Island, etc. (see 2011 map below)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Source Mining News, August 2010<\/p><\/div>\n

Pivot to Asia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under the Afghan-US security pact, \u00a0established under Obama\u2019s Asian pivot, Washington and its NATO partners have established a permanent military presence in Afghanistan, with military facilities located close to China\u2019s Western frontier.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

US military presence, however, has not prevented the expansion of trade and investment relations between China and Afghanistan. A strategic partnership agreement<\/a> was signed between Kabul and Beijing in 2012. Afghanistan has observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).<\/p>\n

Moreover, neighboring Pakistan \u2013which is now a full member of the SCO\u2013, has established close bilateral relations with China. And now Donald Trump \u00a0is threatening Pakistan, which for many years has been the target of \u00a0America\u2019s \u201cundeclared drone war\u201d.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

China is eventually intent upon integrating Afghanistan into the transport network of Western China as part of the Belt and Road initiative.<\/p>\n

Moreover,\u00a0China\u2019s state owned mining giant, Metallurgical Corporation of China Limited (MCC) \u201chas already managed to take control<\/a> of the huge copper deposit Mes Aynak, which lies in an area controlled by the Taliban. \u00a0Already in 2010, Washington feared \u201cthat resource-hungry China will try to dominate the development of Afghanistan\u2019s mineral wealth which would upset the United States\u201d\u2026 After winning the bid for its Aynak copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more\u201d (Mining.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

China and the\u00a0Battle\u00a0for Lithium<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chinese mining conglomerates are now competing for strategic control of the global Lithium market, which until recently was\u00a0controlled by the \u201cBig Three\u201d conglomerates including\u00a0Albemarle\u2019s Rockwood Lithium<\/a>\u00a0(North Carolina), The Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile\u00a0and FMC Corporation, (Philadelphia) which operates in Argentina. While the Big Three dominate the market,\u00a0China now accounts for a large share of global lithium production, categorized as the fourth-largest lithium-producing country<\/a>\u00a0behind\u00a0Australia, Chile and Argentina. Meanwhile China\u2019s Tianqi Group has taken control of Australia\u2019s largest lithium mine, called Greenbushes. Tianqi now owns a 51-percent stake in\u00a0Talison Lithium, in partnership with North Carolina\u2019s Albemarle.<\/p>\n

This thrust in lithium production is related to China\u2019s rapid development of the electric car industry:<\/p>\n

China is now \u201cThe Center Of Lithium Universe\u201d. 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,<\/a> November 2016 report)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The size of the reserves of Lithium in Afghanistan have not been firmly established.<\/p>\n

Analysts believe that these reserves which are yet to be exploited will not have a significant impact on the global lithium market.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal and Editor of the globalresearch.ca website. He is the author of <\/em>The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order (2003) and <\/em>America\u2019s \u201cWar on Terrorism\u201d(2005). His most recent book is entitled <\/em>Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War (2011).<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 Prof Michel Chossudovsky<\/a>, Global Research, 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 globalresearch.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

18 Nov 2018 – 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\u2019s illegal heroin market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":122386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,48,65,180,219],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-militarism","category-in-focus","category-anglo-america","category-brics","category-central-asia-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}