Afghanistan is a faraway place that we perhaps would prefer not to think about — except that the United States is engaged in a terrible war there, with more than a thousand of our soldiers having been killed.
The United States is fighting there in an effort to prevent even “worse” consequences in that distant part of the world.
But now comes word that Afghanistan, backward and desolate in many ways, is really very “rich” in untapped minerals. Some say a trillion dollars in iron, copper, cobalt, gold and vital industrial minerals such as lithium could be recovered there.
Just consider how much better off all the people of Afghanistan would be if they quit fighting, lived in peace despite their tribal and political differences — and developed their natural mineral riches!
Unfortunately, human nature often doesn’t work in reasonable ways — which is why Afghans are poor and why Americans are tragically engaged in war in Afghanistan.