Afghanistan: Graveyard of the Empires and the Breeding Ground for the Neo-feudal
Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires! At least, that is what history has demonstrated!
Historically, the country has been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including Alexander the Great, Mauryas, Muslim Arabs, Mongols, British, Soviets. It has been called “unconquerable.”
Afghanistan has been invaded many times and has served as the source of Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khaljis Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, and others have sprung. The invasion of the United States in 2001 with the alliance of NATO countries has been the latest and probably won’t be the last.
So, what makes Afghanistan such a tempting place to invade?
Afghanistan’s economy ranks 96th in the world. The country lines much worse in terms of per-capita GDP, ranking 169th out of 186 countries as of 2018. It is centrally located with overwhelming strategic significance regarding access of the northern hemisphere to the south.
In every war that transpires almost always, there is a cause rationing if we dig deep enough. And the reason for the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was to fight against 911 terror.
It was seemingly in response to the hijack of four commercial airliners hijacked mid-flight by Taliban-backed al-Qaeda incendiaries and flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in lower Manhattan at 8:46 of September 2001.
It is the prevalent opinion that Osama Bin Laden was the mastermind behind the 911 attack. An agent who, conferring to Wikipedia:
“According to some CIA officers, beginning in early 1980, Bin Laden acted as a liaison between the Saudi General Intelligence Presidency (GIP) and Afghan warlords, but no evidence of contact between the CIA and Bin Laden exists in the CIA archives. Steve Coll states that although bin Laden may not have been a formal, salaried GIP agent, “it seems clear that bin Laden did have a substantial relationship with Saudi intelligence.” Bin Laden’s first trainer was U.S. Special Forces commando Ali Mohamed.”
Thousands of U.S. military and non-military people and hundreds of thousands (if not more) of Afghan civilians died and were injured in the war with the Taliban. It was all done to “capture” Osama Bin Laden; at last, he was allegedly eliminated by the special forces in “Pakistan;” even though no 3rd party (non-governmental official) confirmed his demise.
So, the big question is; why did the war last twenty years only to capture Bin Laden in Pakistan?
Does anyone wonder why a country like the United States, with overwhelming influence in the world arena and central intelligence sophistication, should go to war in a poor country with dark chronological history.? — I doubt that it was for human rights reasons! Because if it was, they would not be leaving the vulnerable civilians at the mercy of adversaries. Or are the Taliban really the American foe?
When the communist Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, in an attempt to establish a pro-Soviet regime in Kabul, rebellion became swift and broad, and the Soviets dealt harshly with the Mujahideen rebels. Hence, the foreign support prompted a diverse group of rebels into the country from various countries. But for the United States and western countries, the Taliban’s invitation to the Whitehouse by President Ronald Reagan highlighted the importance of establishing a government in Afghanistan whose ideological vision varies from neighboring Iran. Because Taliban are Saudi Arabian style Sunni factions, northern afghani rebels (and historically official government of Afghanistan) are mainly Persian speaking Shi’a’s. Thus, In the brutal nine-year battle, an estimated one million civilians were killed, including 90,000 Mujahideen fighters, 18,000 Afghan troops, and 14,500 Soviet soldiers. Civil war raged after the soviet withdrawal, setting the stage for the Taliban’s takeover of the country in 1996. That was when the Iranian ambassador was assassinated by the incoming Taliban regime.
Mission accomplished Osama bin laden eliminated then What to do with the Taliban?
Undoubtedly, the Taliban have all the leverage they need and little to lose regarding its future. United States occupation mission was never meant to be permanent, and to the same extent, Humanitarianism was just another wool over citizens’ eyes. Ironically, Myanmar and Yemen genocide needed close global attention too but never got U.S. involvement.
Maybe it is about corporate profit and neo-feudal agenda after all!
“We are at risk of the curse of plenty, [the] curse of resources.” — President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan said once!
The comment is a kind of curse the oil-rich countries have been facing for the past century.
Corporate access to the oil of the 21st century, Lithium, is clearly imminent. And monopolizing Rare Earth Elements (REE) resources is the race against time.
Afghanistan is Thriving on one of the richest mineral treasure troves in the world. The value of these resources is estimated between $1–3 trillion. The country holds vast reserves of platinum, gold, silver, copper, iron, chromite, Lithium, uranium, and aluminum, along with high-quality emeralds, rubies, sapphires, turquoise, and lapis lazuli have long charmed the gemstone market.
According to the Pentagon, their initial analysis at one location in Ghazni province showed the potential for lithium deposits as large as Bolivia, which has the world’s largest known lithium reserves. Some reports estimate Afghanistan Khanneshin REE deposits in Helmand province are among the largest on earth, yielding up to 1.4 million metric tons of REEs.
Rare Earth Elements comprise the essential part of current technology so that they are used in cell phones, televisions, hybrid engines, computers, lasers, and batteries. U.S. Congressional findings have called REEs critical to national security.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in July 2019, amended section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, thus authorizing the domestic production capability for separation and processing of light REEs, which are essential to national defense. Moreover, the Trump administration has commenced the Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI), intended to promote minerals in high demand.
On February 29, 2020, an Agreement was proposed between the Taliban and the United States to bring peace to Afghanistan. Contingent to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the agreement contained a vague but significant loophole for the United States. That is:
“The United States will seek economic cooperation for reconstruction with the new post-settlement Afghan Islamic government as determined by the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations, and will not intervene in its internal affairs.”
Amid international interest in investing in the Afghan lithium mining industry (including China) during the president Karzai administration, renegotiation with the Taliban would have seemed a convenient strategy to secure western corporate interests in that country. Especially in the face of increasing Taliban interest in the abuse of Muslim minorities in China.
Now that the treaty between Taliban and the U.S. politicians has etched the economic treaty for the benefit of mining corporations, the ultimate hidden ambitions of the neo-feudal corporations are becoming a mission accomplished.
Taliban may be controlling one of the biggest lithium mines of the world and have kicked the Americans in the teeth by the fist of warmongers in Washington. Still, the Military-industrial complex has once again been set in motion to profiteer the globalist elites.
The ultimate ration to invade Afghanistan was a business endeavor, but such work could not have been legitimized unless the government vessels of corporations can convince their citizens. Then what is a better rationale than the 911 tragedy, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban?
The honest answer is not as what the rationale is behind military action in Afghanistan. But what is the primary agenda for doing so!
The American constitution has been bent, as it is nothing like what is defined in the original U.S. makeup. The law of the land today is only writing for display in the museum. Today executive orders are implemented as quickly as 1,2,3, and congresses vote seems to be the sentiment. And the executive order is the key to an outcome like what we see in the Afghan conflict today, where lithium excavation is the central agenda in administration operations. The future appears grave, as Globalism and corporatism will potentially abolish individual and even social values. The corporate neo-feudalism will most likely create a world that will benefit the lords, corporatize the human culture without healthy, diverse societies at the expense of loss of opportunity for individuals. Hence, the current status quo is simply in contrast to America’s founding fathers’ vision and mission. So, let us maintain the notion; “We the People” and dodge the idea- “We the serfs.”