Mineral miracle

If there’s a game changer in Afghanistan, the U.S. military just revealed it.

Together with the U.S. Geological Survey, the military announced discovery of huge deposits of minerals such as iron, copper and lithium.

The deposits are so large — the lithium will rival the largest known deposits in the world — they have the potential to change the economic climate of Afghanistan forever.

No longer will Afghanistan’s economy be reliant on opium, drugs and foreign aid. If properly developed, mining and industry will provide jobs not previously available to the Afghani people. Economic stability should lead to greater political stability.

There’s risk, of course. Graft, corruption, foreign interlopers and competing interests among the Taliban, tribal chieftains and the national government all will make development of these resources challenging.

But from the United States’ point of view, this gives our nation an opportunity to engage Afghanistan on a different level and in a more positive way long into the future.

It will provide an opportunity for American investment, but perhaps more importantly to this troubled area of the world, it will change how the people there live and relate to one another and to other nations.

This is extremely good news for virtually everyone involved.

— Loveland (Colo.) Daily Reporter-Herald