Dear Editor,
Polls conducted immediately following the abrupt US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, completed on August 30, 2021, suggest Americans believed that the pullout was the right choice but also agreed that it was not handled well.
That critical sentiment stems from the acknowledgment of some hundred US citizens and thousands of America’s Afghan allies not being evacuated prior to the Taliban overrunning the country. Earlier this year, a report from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee indicated that actually 9,000 Americans were left following the withdrawal.
Also, according to a US Department of Defense report, some $7 billion worth of equipment was left and is now under the control of the Taliban, the very enemy that the US was trying to displace for two decades in the name of nation-building and countering terrorism.
Moreover, the military departure resulted in losses by the Afghan people of democratic processes and human rights that they had become accustomed to.
Now that more than a year has passed since the actual troop withdrawal, the administration makes little reference to those dark days as if to intentionally create distance from indelible, harsh and painful images.
Yet, it may be an ineffective tactic given that the Taliban, while being accused of persecuting, torturing and killing members of ethnic groups, remains cozy with the jihadist militant group Al Qaeda and, as such, represent an ongoing threat to US security.
Additionally, on the heels of the Taliban’s takeover, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson indicated Beijing was ready to create friendly cooperation with Afghanistan in the form of developing Afghanistan’s mineral wealth while building China’s own stockpile of Rare-earth elements (REEs) because of their unique properties. REEs are essential to the manufacture of a host of modern technologies (i.e., computer components, lasers, fiber optics, superconductors) as well as the production of military navigation systems, defense components and satellites.
Afghanistan has plentiful mineral deposits including silver, zinc, and cobalt, and China has already won exploration rights for copper, oil, and lithium deposits, reportedly in some instances by bribing Afghan mining officials. However, the real prize is the 1.4 billion metric tons of REEs with an estimated worth of $3 trillion.
China currently produces 97% of the world’s REEs and has proven to be undependable as a supplier, occasionally slowing and even halting the export of some elements.
If China seeks to ally with the Taliban with the means to exploit minerals and REEs, then the US should assume leadership in rallying the international community in an effort to constrain China. Such a global outcry demanding strict humanitarian conditions within Afghanistan whereby human rights and rights for women are preserved would not only heighten attention to the expressed cause but may also have a secondary benefit of shaping some balance in REE supply.
Peter Wibell, Rutledge