China, India, Iran wait to pounce on Afghan riches
San Francisco Chronicle / Joel Brinkley
June 17, 2012 -- Even before NATO forces begin leaving Afghanistan, predator nations are pouring lavish praise, diplomatic agreements and buckets full of cash on Afghan leaders, trying to win access to the nation's vast natural resources after Western troops are gone.
Chief among them are China, Iran and India - nations that contributed nothing toward the military effort over the past decade but hope to reap benefits from it anyway.
For example, in Beijing late last week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Chinese President Hu Jintao signed a deal allowing China to pursue mineral resources, energy development and agricultural opportunities. Government media quoted Hu as saying China planned to "provide sincere and selfless help to the country."
China's record so far has been far from selfless. Over the past decade, China has given the Afghan government $246 million in aid - while spending $3.5 billion to develop a copper mine there. That doesn't count the $30 million bribe China paid to Afghanistan's minister of mines in 2009 to gain access to that copper mine. The minister has since lost that job.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/17/INPP1P0LDH.DTL
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Did we really think marching in there an killing 'suspected Al Qaeda' along with many innocent civilians was going to get us riches and gain us alliances?
