No Blood for Lithium?

If you thought that we were leaving Afghanistan anytime soon, think again:

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.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

Russia not far to the north, China to the east, no, we're not leaving Afghanistan.

I have to wonder, though, if the New York Times has rehired Judith Miller, since they seem to be once again carrying water for the Pentagon.