What's Our Cut?
by James Glaser
June 15, 2010

Well, we have lost over 1,100 troops killed, thousands have been wounded, and still others face a lifetime of suffering with Post Traumatic Stress from almost a decade of war in Afghanistan. Who would have thunk it, but the Pentagon was running all around that country looking for Osama bin Laden and interesting rock formations.

We never did find that bin Laden fellow, but we did find gold, and a lot of other valuable minerals. Yep, the USA has struck it rich! Betcha didn't know that we were over there prospecting all this time.

Now I know all that sounds unbelievable, but this isn't some column from Common Dreams or some obscure web site. This is from the New York Times, and maybe they got the Weapons of Mass Destruction thing in Iraq all wrong, but I think they got this one right. You can read it for yourself on the New York Times site, or here is an excerpt:

U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan
By JAMES RISEN

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.

The vast scale of Afghanistan's mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists.

So, we had these "Pentagon officials" running all around Afghanistan digging, and we thought they were fighting a war. Well, we did it, and even if it took thousands of Americans giving their all so we could look for that pot of gold, it seems only fair that we get our cut.

We don't want it all, in fact I would bet that we would be satisfied if just some of our major mining corporations got the rights to develop these new found resources. It is not like we went to war so we could look for gold, we must have somehow just stumbled on to these strikes.

You know America never fights a war to gain anything for the American people, we are better than that. We just want to bring peace and freedom to the countries we attack. I doubt we would pump Iraqi oil even if they asked us to. But these minerals in Afghanistan are different. Nobody knew they were there, and it would only be fair for us to get a piece of the pie. Really, who could blame us. We paid for those mining claims with blood, and even if the world says we are claim jumpers, we know differently and some day, just to prove it, we will get that Osama bin Laden fellow, and then we will name every mine after some dead Soldier or Marine. What a tribute that will be huh?

Post Script:

Here is a little look at our future as reported by CBS News:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) —

A nonprofit group says that up to 90 percent of young Philadelphians are ineligible for military service because of criminal records, obesity or lack of education.

Pennsylvania-based Mission: Readiness released its report Monday. It says 1 million Pennsylvanians are ineligible for the same reasons. Mission: Readiness is made up of more than 150 retired generals and admirals. The group wants state and federal funding for pre-kindergarten programs that it says give children a solid foundation for academic and personal success.

The report says 145,000 Philadelphians ages 18 to 24 cannot meet the military's medical, moral and mental standards.

Nationally, the Department of Defense estimates that 75 percent of young adults are disqualified from military service.

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