“The war in Afghanistan has
morphed; it’s not about al-Qaeda anymore, and it’s not about the Taliban
anymore. It’s about China; Russia – the soft underbelly which is mostly
Muslim of Russia; about Pakistan; about Iran; about Syria; about Iraq;
about whether a Kurdistan is stood up or not; and ultimately about oil,
water and energy in general. And the US presence in Afghanistan, I’ll
predict right now, will not go away for another half-century… And it
will grow, it will not decrease.”
This revelation by Wilkerson is
important as the majority of the Western public continues to believe
that the war in Afghanistan is predominately to do with fighting
terrorism. Realistically, the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan never really
had anything to do with terrorism, but everything to do with geopolitics
and the vast amount of economic riches the country possesses.
Similar to many other imperial
wars we have seen in recent years, evidence suggests that the war in
Afghanistan was pre-planned at least months prior to 9/11. The BBC
reported on the 18th of September 2001 that Niaz Naik, a former
Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by US officials in July that the
US was planning to attack Afghanistan in the coming months. A report by a
bipartisan commission of inquiry in 2004 also revealed that the Bush
administration had agreed on a plan to attack Afghanistan the day before 9/11.
Then, perfectly on time, 9/11
(also dubbed by the neoconservatives the “new Pearl Harbour” event)
happens, giving the West the ideal justification to invade and occupy
the country in addition to launching the global war on terror.
A look at the map reveals the
geostrategic importance of Afghanistan, as it sits between Iran, China,
Pakistan and the Central Asian Republics. As Wilkerson emphasizes, US
military presence in Afghanistan is about an array of factors, most
notably “about China,” “Iran” and “Russia.” Similar to the great game in
previous centuries, Afghanistan and Central Asia will be a place of
fierce competition between major powers in the coming years.
Broken Promises
Withdrawing troops from
Afghanistan has been one of the biggest pledges Obama has made since
being elected President in 2008. Afghanistan is the most unpopular war in history according to some US polls, and Obama has repeatedly said he would pull all US troops out of the country. In 2012, he reiterated his position once again, stating that all US troops would be “out of there by 2014.”
Unsurprisingly, this was yet another broken promise by the puppet in chief. In October of last year, Obama announced
that he would keep almost 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, and unless
there is a dramatic shift in US foreign policy when the next President
takes office, US troops will remain in the country for decades to come.
Even if all US troops are withdrawn in the years to come, the legions of
private armies comprised of mercenaries and contractors will continue
to operate in the country.
An Abundance of Riches
As the New York Times reported in a 2010 article titled: US Identifies Vast Mineral Resources in Afghanistan,
the country is home to vast amounts of precious minerals. From copper
to iron, gold to lithium, the mineral wealth of Afghanistan is estimated
to worth approximately $1 trillion. In the modern world, materials such
as lithium are extremely valuable, with the light-weight metal being
used in the majority of laptops and smartphones.
The NYT article is filled with
its usual spin and disinformation however, as it tries to argue that the
mineral discovery is somehow a recent one. Contrary to this narrative,
Afghanistan’s mineral wealth has been well-known since at least the 1970’s, and was clearly known by strategists in Washington for decades.
Add the dramatic surge
in opium production since the 2001 invasion of the country to its
geopolitical importance and mineral wealth, and it’s clear to see why
the US will continue to have a presence in Afghanistan for “another
half-century.”
Steven MacMillan is an independent writer, researcher, geopolitical analyst and editor of The Analyst Report, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.