Friday, December 2, 2011  "Pentagon Preps Afghans for Trillion-
Dollar Treasure Hunt"  You already knew this but I needed an
internet searchable bookmark. From Wired's Danger Room blog:
The Pentagon wants the world to know: When the American military
stops spending billions per week in Afghanistan and eventually
goes home, the Afghan economy is gonna be totally fine. After
all, they’re sitting on trillions in mineral deposits, just
waiting to be mined.  Too bad many of the mines are in regions
too dangerous or geographically treacherous for companies to set
up camp. And it’ll take at least a decade before the mines yield
tangible goods, and the profits that accompany them.  A year
ago, the New York Times gushingly pronounced that Afghanistan,
with at least $1 trillion in untapped minerals, was poised to
become “the Saudi Arabia of lithium.” Now, the Pentagon has
announced plans to train Afghans in “airborne geophysical
exploration.” The project will harness the latest in geophysical
mapping technology, which