The Anti-War movement has been dubious about the reasons for the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan ever since George W. Bush announced that he wouldn’t tolerate states known to harbour terrorists. It was commonly thought that untapped oil reserves may exist in region or that supply corridors were at stake.
US technology and culture website, Wired, has a short article up regarding a New York Times article which claims that the US Government have discovered massive amounts of Lithium. The deposits of Lithium, which are found in compound form, are said to be worth trillions of dollars, not least because the number of devices which use Lithium in batteries is increasing rapidly. Lithium compounds are also used in the medical and nuclear industries.
As the Wired article states, the Lithium deposits in Afghanistan were known about decades ago. The political instability within the country proved to make the it unfeasibly expensive to mine and ship the minerals out of Afghanistan. Until such times as safe corridors have been established in the area, it will remain difficult to extract the mineral wealth of Afghanistan.
The potential benefit for American and European companies (and economies) if the mineral deposits can be tapped is likely to become a major factor to justify maintaining coalition forces in the area. The economic benefit would likely cover the existing (and ever increasing) expenditure on troop upkeep.
It will be interesting to see how this justification sits with the voters in Europe and America, who are increasingly displeased with the constant attrition of NATO troops.
I have previously posted one of New Left Media’s excellent productions. That one interviewed Sarah Palin’s fans outside of a book-signing, revealing a worrying lack of political knowledge amongst some of the former vice-presidential hopeful’s readers.
Their latest video takes a different and more investigative approach by serving to highlight the divides within the so-called Tea Party movement. This loose collection of libertarians, conservatives, American nationalists and far-right figures has grown rapidly and may well have a major effect on the 2010 Mid-Term elections.
The video demonstrates both how bizarre Teabaggers can be. The group I find most mind-boggling are the ‘birthers’, those who believe that President Obama is not a United States citizen on the basis that his birth certificate was lost. As mentioned in the video, there is plenty of evidence to show Obama has every right to be President and certainly a far better claim then George W. Bush did in 2000. It’s worth nothing there there do seem to be a number of people at odds with the birthers in the video.
It’s also interesting seeing people talk about Palin. The more popularity she gains, the more she worries me. She comes across as hawkish and isolationist. A very dangerous combination indeed. On the other hand, if she ever did manage to reach the White House, I strongly suspect it would hasten America’s decline on the international scene and the rise of China to replace it.
New Left Media, a group of left-wing American journalists have created an excellent video in which a reporter quizzes members of the public queuing at a signing of Sarah Palin’s new book.
There is something slightly strange about the answers her supporters are giving. They seem to consist purely of descriptive phrases or soundbites from the lady herself. If you look at it from a particularly cynical viewpoint, it almost seems like they have been indoctrinated into some kind of cult.
Of course, what it actually demonstrates in both more and less sinister. A lot of the people in the video seem to have constructed their political views from Fox News. The only other source that is cited for political information is an older gentleman who attends a church group. Effectively, what these people demonstrate is a lack of political education and awareness.
