Osler's Razor

I'd say 1), but another equally important goal would be to encourage poppy farmers to turn to mining work instead of growing opium.
 

Encourage mines, don't allow Massey to run them...

But seriously, this is a good chance to build a solid working class in Afghanistan via mine workers. Strong labor never hurts, and the resource could be a good thing to pump into the recovering economy.
 

Can we get BP to run the operation?
 

4) Colonize!!!!
 

In addition to the lithium (which is enough to make it the "Saudi Arabia of lithium" (yeah...we totally want another Saudi Arabia on the world scene)), there iron, cobalt, copper, and gold. In all, they estimate the total mining wealth to be up to a trillion dollars.

For me there's little question that using some of the wealth -- in the long run -- to pay the U.S. back, makes sense.

What the real question is, I think, is how it is handled. The core question there is whether it will be privatized, and how, or whether the U.S. and Afghan governments will lean towards a more state-run, nationalized model.

If privatized, they will no doubt need foreign "expertise" on all levels, but will this be U.S. companies exclusively? Regardless, will the wealth be siphoned out of the country, with a few Afghans at the top getting rich, and the workers making next to nothing -- this is the standard model for privatized resource extraction industries in the developing world, all the way back to colonialism (which was motivated more than anything by resource extraction, as diadelkendall hints)?

Or will the U.S. and Afghan govts agree that nationalizing this public wealth and spreading its financial windfall to the entire country for education, health care, security, infrastructure development, etc?

Or will Karzai (or a successor) try to go the way of Evo, and nationalize it against the wishes of the dominant foreign interests?

In all of the nationalization models, how does one manage the dangerous corruption that hampers Afghan growth?

In any model, how aggressive and strict will the environmental and labor regulations be, to protect against what Lane and anon 9AM joke about?

Or, as I feel like might be both the most likely and the best, will it be some sort of public-private partnership, where the government regulates the hell outta the private industry -- environmental and labor standards (and pay) certainly more strict than in the U.S. (as BP and Massey show to be too lax); massive national taxes to help Afghan development (which will help their potential to pay the U.S. back in whatever way possible).

What role will Afghans who live in the area have? (Ans: probably not much, but better Ans: they should have some)

Regardless, this could be as utopian as I want it to be, or as normatively dystopian as countries like Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and -- honestly -- sometimes the U.S. seems recently, but regardless it's going to be huge.
 

Septimus has the right of it. Personally, I think the answer for the rampant corruption is a strong, empowered and organized labor force with as much, or more, power than a centralized authority, be it a corporation (foreign or domestic) or a government.
 

Unsurprisingly -- good idea Lane.

The other x factor here: China. WWCD (what will China do)?
 

Let's not forget that Lithium was also the inspiration for a Nirvana song.

And we all know how that one turned out....
 

I sort of wish this wealth of minerals had been left 'undiscovered'. Now the world greed-fest will begin. Does anyone know how lithium is mined? Is it via mountain top removal, strip mining, or good old fashioned tunneling? All dangerous to the populace and environmentaly damaging.

And how wonderful that lithium is used for the production of Meth. The drug lords can just shift from opium to a drug equally rampent in our society. It would at least give the Afghan's more incentive to grow food crops.

For some reason I just don't see this discovery ending well from anyone.
 

As for option #2, I quote your fellow W&M alum, the great Jon Stewart. In the course of slamming Fox News' Brian Kilmeade for suggesting the Afghan people could now pay for the war: "Yes Brian. Perhaps now the Afghan people will pay some sort of price for the war. You hear that Afghan people? The free ride to Rubbletown is over!"
 

1) Encourage mines for national income BUT take steps to ensure a reasonable levels of environmental and worker protection. The US is going to be there for the foreseeable future. If you want to win the hearts and minds, make sure the new industry doesn't tear up the country and abuse the populace (more than they already are).

(Side note) If they could find a way to get coca leaves to grow in the colder climate, Afghanistan could corner the world's market for the trifecta of really bad drugs.
 

Meth can be manufactured from components bought at your local Wal-Mart, and frequently is. Sometimes, the apparatus necessary for its production need be no more significant than a three-liter bottle and a lighter.

I highly doubt that increased lithium production in Afghanistan would be anywhere near as lucrative as opium production. For one thing, meth is popular as a drug in the United States because someone without much money or brains can make a fair amount of it, meaning it is cheap. Opium and heroin aren't nearly so popular because they are harder to make and more expensive. Pound for pound, if you're going to make and export drugs, opium brings in more money than would cocaine, marijuana, or methamphetamine.
 

I was just joking around but I appreciate your factual intensity.
 

No blood for lithium!