U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan (NYT) and 1,114 U.S. military have lost their life.

U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan
By JAMES RISEN
New York Times
Published: June 13, 2010

WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and Blackberries.

The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.

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 even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.

“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”

The value of the newly discovered mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistan’s existing war-bedraggled economy, which is based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is only about $12 billion.

“This will become the backbone of the Afghan economy,” said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines.

American and Afghan officials agreed to discuss the mineral discoveries at a difficult moment in the war in Afghanistan. The American-led offensive in Marja in southern Afghanistan has achieved only limited gains. Meanwhile, charges of corruption and favoritism continue to plague the Karzai government, and Mr. Karzai seems increasingly embittered toward the White House.

So the Obama administration is hungry for some positive news to come out of Afghanistan. Yet the American officials also recognize that the mineral discoveries will almost certainly have a double-edged impact.
Link to complete NYT Article

Grandpa: 1,114 U.S. soldiers have lost their life in the government speak "Operation Enduring Freedom" war and now the U.S. might get their hands on "previously unknown" valuable minerals! Our men and women and being killed and the U.S. government just stumbles on a "stunning" $1 trillion of natural resources! DISGUSTING!!!!

Memorial Day is not about retail sales events, it is about 1+ million soldier deaths

Some very sobering hard core facts regarding the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE:

American War and Military Operations
Casualties: Lists and Statistics
CRS Report for Congress
February 26, 2010

Deaths
    4,435  Revolutionary War
    2,260  War of 1812
  13,283  Mexican War
364,511  Civil War (Union Soldiers)
     2,446  Spanish American War
116,516  WWI
405,399  WWII
   36,574  Korean War
   58,220  Vietnam "Conflict"
        383   Persian Gulf War
            8    Iranian Hostage Rescue Mission
        265   Lebanon Peacekeeping
          19   Grenada
          23    Panama
        383    Desert Shield/Desert Storm
          43    Somalia
            4     Haiti

From icasualties.org

    4,400  Operation Iraqi Freedom
    1,086  Operation Enduring Freedom/Afghanistan 

The numbers and impact on family lineage is heart wrenching. Take a minute and imagine the dads that never made it home to meet their child, the moms that never came back to braid her daughter's hair. Think about those that never came back to embrace their significant other and the family pain of losing one's son or daughter and acknowledging the family tree will never be the same.

Congress is in recess until June 4th; not that anyone notices a difference. Take a minute to remind your representative of THE example of ultimate sacrifice and that their lack of integrity, ineptness and self-centered core is a complete disgrace to those that truly gave to their country.

Do not use the lack of a draft as rationalization for your indifference to those in harms way. It is time to allow dads to meet their kids, for moms to again braid hair and for brothers and sisters to hug and laugh. BRING THEM HOME before another forest of "family trees" are lost.