Why we are still in Afghanistan: One trillion $ in minerals/NPR

 Mines, like this one in  Badahkshan, could lift Afghanistan out of poverty (NPR)

From National Public Radio, information on how the Pentagon is working to develop business opportunities in Afghanistan for US corporations:

There's close to a $1 trillion waiting to be unearthed beneath the rocky soil of Afghanistan. The massive deposits of iron, copper, gold and lithium could potentially turn the troubled nation's economy around.
"Afghanistan, with certainty I can say, in 20 years is going to be a mining country," Paul Brinkley, head of a Pentagon group called the Task Force for Business Stability Operations, tells NPR's Rachel Martin. "That is going to happen."...

As part of his efforts, Brinkley brings in corporate executives on trips to Afghanistan to try to get them to invest. An array of executives, including from Citibank, IBM and even Kate Spade, have accompanied Brinkley on these types of trips. When he's making his pitch, he wants to make it clear this is not a charity opportunity. It's strictly business.
"I want them to come in and see that they can make actually make money, that there's a market," Brinkley says, "that there's talent that can be brought to bare for their particular business interests."
High-Risk Investments
But these possible business opportunities are still located in a volatile, dangerous environment. With the task force moving to the civilian-run U.S. State Department, the risk is greater.
State Department personnel are "not trained to be in combat zones," notes Nathan Hodge, author of Armed Humanitarians, "they're not trained to be in combat zones, and very often you're talking about doing this kind of armed development work while being shot at."
Those are the same concerns some lawmakers have on Capitol Hill, saying Brinkley's task force blurs the line between military and civilian missions. They think taking CEOs around Afghanistan is not something the Pentagon should be doing.
Brinkley has had his own close calls. In January 2010, a bomb went off in a Baghdad hotel where he was holding a meeting. Even after that close shave, Brinkley and his team only had one thought.
"Our immediate reaction was we're going right back in," he recalls.
Having A Stake
Once the minerals are extracted from the ground, Brinkley is faced with the reality of possible corruption — his greatest concern. He doesn't want minerals to become the blood diamonds of Afghanistan. To combat this worry, the task force makes sure Afghans have access to mining industry experts.
The overall key, according to Brinkley, is engagement. By staying involved, he says, the U.S. has the ability to better shape the outcome. He also notes, the U.S. does have a strategic interest in seeing Afghanistan develop...