Afghanistan Pays In Blood While Others Plot: The Great Afghan Heist

Posted by: Soren Dreier







The money and blood pit that is Afghanistan – where the US and Britain have expended more than 2,100 lives and £302bn – is about to start paying a dividend. But it won’t be going to the countries which have made this considerable sacrifice. The contracts to open up Afghanistan’s mineral and fossil-fuel wealth, and to build the railways that will transport them out of the country, are being won or pursued by China, India, Iran, and Russia.
The potentially lucrative task of exploiting Afghanistan’s immense mineral wealth – estimated to be worth around £2trn, according to the Kabul government – is only in the early stages. But already China and India in particular are doing deals and beginning work. Facilities already established are being protected by local army and police, part of whose funding, and most of whose training, has been a US/UK responsibility.



The anomaly of two Afghanistans – one of massacres, roadside bombs, and battles with the Taliban, the other of commercial deals in the hundreds of millions – is not lost on observers. Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell, a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said: “The Chinese are self-interested. I don’t blame them for that. But it is on the backs of the sacrifice made by [the] British and Americans and others, the sacrifices we have made which we hope after 2014 will lead to a more stable and secure Afghanistan, and for the Chinese to capitalise on that doesn’t go down well. I don’t think it will go down well with the British public. China is a wealthy country in today’s world and it’s wrong that they are not prepared and haven’t been prepared to contribute to the enormity of the task that we have had to face in dealing with Afghanistan.”

Dr Richard Weitz, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at Hudson Institute said: “From our perspective, China should have done more in terms of security. From their perspective, they didn’t need to; they could free-ride, we were going to do it anyway. They didn’t see any point because all they would do is incur a lot of sacrifice and antagonise the Taliban and the global terrorist movement, and they’d rather let us incur that.”

But others think any involvement in Afghanistan’s development, especially by regional powers, is beneficial. Peter Galbraith, former deputy head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, said: “Western companies are exceptionally timid when it comes to operating in places where there is even the remotest hint that it might be a little risky, and the Chinese are not and are willing to go to these places. And the Chinese have business practices that Western countries … let’s just say that Chinese generosity towards local officials exceeds that of what Western companies are capable.”

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The Great Afghan Gem Heist



They end up spread far and wide, from East Asia to Western Europe. Some Afghan government officials even play a key role in the illegal excavation and smuggling process.

But the biggest driver is the war that has dragged on for eight years. Security forces understandably spend the vast amount of their resources on fighting insurgents. As a result, smugglers have free rein in some provinces to pick the land clean of precious gems, stones and antiquities.

Alaf Gul, a resident of Nuristan says that local authorities, armed men, and even Taliban groups in his province dig up precious stones and other mineral resources.
“They sell the stones to traffickers who come through this area,” he says. He presumes that the items are then exported to other countries.

Gul says that in nearby Noor Gram district, area commanders and Malaks -village elders – have the authority to put a stop to this, but choose not to do so because they profit from the illicit trade.

Muhibullah Wakeelzada, a resident of Nandraj Valley, Nuristan, says that the Malaks, smugglers and military commanders in his area “join hands” to loot and export Afghanistan’s precious stones and artifacts.

“All day they take these things,” he says. “The government can’t stop them. They dig precious stones and sell them to Pakistan.”

Local people say that there are many precious stones in the Nandraj Valley. Ghulam Sakhi, a tribal leader and advocate during Zahir Shah’s reign, says, “People and smugglers from Laghman, Kunar, Paktia and Nangrahar are coming here. They work here and take the precious stones.”

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Afghanistan Pays In Blood While Others Plot: The Great Afghan Heist « Zen Haven